Skip to content
Contact us
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

What Prerender.io does

Prerender.io renders and caches your site for search engine bots—so your server doesn’t have to.

Overview

Prerender.io helps your content get indexed by search engines by delivering a fully rendered HTML snapshot to bots like Googlebot and Bing. When a crawler requests your page, we take care of rendering it using a headless browser, cache the result, and serve it directly—without burdening your server.

This ensures your site's dynamic content (especially JavaScript-heavy pages) is discoverable and crawlable, leading to better SEO performance. And while storing cached pages is free, the pricing is based on how often a page is rendered or re-rendered (recached).

Detailed Explanation / How It Works

1. Crawler Requests a Page

When a bot sends a request to index a page on your site, Prerender.io steps in to handle that request. This removes the load from your own infrastructure.

2. Prerender Renders and Caches the Page

We fetch, render, and convert the page into an indexable HTML snapshot. This snapshot is then cached. You don’t pay for the space used to store cached files—it’s included in the service.

3. Render Counts Determine Billing

Every time a new page is rendered—either on first-time access or during a recache—it counts as a render. Your monthly render count is the basis of your billing and chosen plan.
We count every time a page is rendered, including cache refreshes. This is what you pay for.

4. Cached Pages Are Served to Bots

Once rendered, the page is available immediately from our cache for any subsequent visits. This means bots receive fast-loading content, and your server remains unaffected.

5. Cache Lifetime Is Adjustable

You have control over how often a page is recached. Setting an appropriate cache expiration time (or TTL) helps limit the number of renders while ensuring your content stays fresh.

How Prerender works

Step-by-Step Usage

  1. Integrate Prerender into your server, CDN, or middleware.
  2. Configure which crawlers and routes should trigger rendering.
  3. Set your cache expiration or set up scheduled or manual recaching.
  4. Monitor render usage via your Prerender Dashboard.

Common Pitfalls / Tips

  • Misconfigured cache expiration can cause more renders than needed. Keep cache lifetimes in sync with your needs.
  • Dynamic URLs with many parameters can increase render count—review your parameterized URLs as needed.
  • You don’t pay for storage—rendering volume is the only cost-related metric.

Related Articles