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Yes. Chromatic’s standard free plan supports private Storybooks. Published Storybooks are private by default for projects that qualify for private visibility, and publishing alone does not use billed snapshots when UI Test and UI Review are disabled. The free plan also includes 5,000 billed snapshots per month for testing and review.
What Chromatic’s free plan includes
Chromatic separates hosted Storybook publishing from its UI Test and UI Review features. You can publish a Storybook without billed snapshots if you disable both testing and review. If you enable them, the standard free plan includes 5,000 billed snapshots per month across the account’s projects.
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The free plan is not a time-limited trial: Chromatic says it has no trial period and can be used indefinitely.
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Published Storybooks are private by default, and visitors must sign in with a profile that has access to the project. There is an important exception: Chromatic says projects linked to public repositories publish public Storybooks. A project’s Storybook visibility can also be changed to public, making the published Storybook viewable by anyone with its link.
Public Storybook visibility does not make the Chromatic Library, tests, settings, Git provider details, or other project metadata public, according to Chromatic’s documentation. Before publishing sensitive work, check both the repository’s visibility and the Storybook visibility setting in Chromatic; do not assume one determines the other in every case.
What happens when the 5,000 snapshots are used?
When the monthly free allowance is exhausted, UI Test and UI Review pause until the allowance resets. Upgrading resumes those features immediately. Snapshot consumption depends on the builds, tests, browsers, modes, and test types you run, and usage is counted at the account level across projects.
Reduce usage with TurboSnap
Chromatic’s TurboSnap analyzes code changes and dependencies to focus new captures on affected stories. Chromatic documents the following billing weights: a captured snapshot costs 1 billed snapshot, a copied snapshot costs 0.2, and a bypassed snapshot costs 0. These values describe Chromatic’s documented billing method; actual usage depends on your project and runs.
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Open-source sponsorship is a separate offer
Some eligible open-source design systems and UI component libraries may qualify for Chromatic’s separate sponsorship plan. Its stated allowance is 35,000 snapshots per month, with Chrome-only testing and publicly visible Open Source Storybooks. Eligibility is subject to Chromatic’s listed contributor, npm-download, GitHub-star, or organization criteria, and Chromatic directs applicants to contact it through in-app chat. This is not the standard free plan and does not provide private hosted Storybooks under the stated sponsorship terms.
When hosted publishing may not be the right fit
If you do not want Chromatic to host your Storybook, Chromatic’s own comparison article lists deployment options including Heroku, Netlify, Vercel, and Surge, as well as infrastructure such as S3, GCP, and DigitalOcean. Compare access control, review and commenting workflows, CI and Git integration, and the setup and maintenance work you will own. Those comparative recommendations come from Chromatic, so treat them as the vendor’s perspective.
ScreenshotNeo is for screenshot capture, not Storybook review
If what you need is a website screenshot API rather than hosted Storybook publishing and visual-review workflows, ScreenshotNeo is the alternative to try first: it removes known cookie-consent banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture, and only clean shots are billed. It is a different kind of tool, not a replacement for Chromatic’s Storybook testing and collaboration features.
ScreenshotNeo’s one-request API can return a screenshot or PDF. See the API documentation for parameters and response details.
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpScreenshotNeo removes cookie banners, popups, and chat widgets before the shot; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are never billed; and its MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month without a card, and paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up free for ScreenshotNeo.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Frequently Asked Questions
Does Chromatic’s free plan expire?
No. Chromatic says the free plan has no trial period and can be used indefinitely.
Does a public Git repository expose all Chromatic project information?
No. Chromatic says a linked public repository results in a public published Storybook, while project metadata such as tests, settings, and Git provider details remains private.
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