Polotno SDK and Switchboard Canvas overlap on one job, generating images from templates and data, and are built for different owners of that job. Switchboard is an image-generation API: your team designs responsive templates in Switchboard's web designer, your code POSTs element values, and one call can return several sizes at once. Polotno SDK is a design editor you embed in your product, with a programmatic API and rendering on your infrastructure, all sharing one open JSON schema. The question is whether your users need to design, or only to receive the finished image.
Pick the one that matches who owns the design
Pick Switchboard Canvas if…
- Your team owns the templates and your code triggers the renders: no end user ever touches a canvas.
- You need many sizes and languages per request: one call can return several sizes with per-size overrides, and the Agency and Enterprise plans translate text into 70+ languages.
- You want batches without writing code: Zapier, Pabbly Connect, Airtable and Google Sheets all connect to it.
Pick Polotno SDK if…
- Your users need to create or edit designs: the editor is white-label and composes into your UI.
- Design data belongs on your side: designs are documented JSON you store yourself.
- You need rendering on your own servers: every Polotno license includes self-hosted editing and rendering.
- You need more than images and PDF: Polotno also exports SVG, HTML, PPTX, GIF and MP4, and has a video timeline.
How Switchboard Canvas and Polotno differ
1. End-user editing
Switchboard documents no embeddable editor. The Template Designer is a tool for your team inside Switchboard's web app. Your app's users can trigger renders, and we found no way for them to create or edit designs.
Polotno's embedded editor is the product: white-label, composable into your UI, with element locks and user roles deciding what users can change. If your roadmap says "users customize their own graphics", a render API leaves you building that editor yourself.
2. Templates and data ownership
Switchboard templates live in Switchboard's cloud in a proprietary format, and you author them in its designer. A Canva popup inside the designer can supply flattened artwork. Renders reference templates by API name, and requests override element values.
Polotno designs are documented JSON you store yourself. The same file drives the editor, batch pipelines, and rendering, and moves with you between deployment modes.
3. Multi-size and multi-language output
Switchboard's standout feature is responsiveness. You build templates with pinning, so one design adapts across output sizes, and a single API call can render several sizes with per-size overrides. Add built-in translation into 70+ languages and you have a tidy pipeline for multi-format, multi-locale ad and social creative.
Polotno's multi-size output is a loop over the same JSON, and magic resize moves and scales elements to fit each size. It is less elegant than one call, but self-hosted renders carry no per-render fee. Translation stays with you: your code sets the translated values in the JSON.
4. Rendering and scale
Switchboard renders in its cloud, with plan-based limits on sizes per call and batch size. Output covers images, PDF on the upper plans, and image overlays on a video you host. Delivery includes S3 export and webhooks.
Polotno renders where you choose. The Cloud Render API is the quickest route: you send the JSON and get the file back in seconds, with no servers to run. Server rendering handles batches on your hardware when your data has to stay on your side, and browser rendering gives users instant exports.
5. Pricing model
Switchboard sells monthly tiers metered by API calls (Creator, Agency, and Enterprise) with a larger call allowance at each tier, extra features such as translation and PDF on the upper tiers, and per-call overage above the included volume. See Switchboard's pricing for current tiers. It offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
Summary
| Polotno SDK | Switchboard Canvas | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Embeddable SDK: editor, API, renderer | Image-generation API + hosted designer |
| End-user editor | Yes, white-label, in your app | None documented |
| Design format | Open JSON, stored on your side | Proprietary, in Switchboard's cloud |
| Rendering | Cloud Render API, your servers, or the browser | Cloud |
| Design data | Reaches Polotno servers only with Cloud Render or AI features | Stored and rendered in Switchboard's cloud |
| Output | PNG, JPEG, PDF, PPTX, GIF, MP4, plus SVG and HTML outside Cloud Render | Images, PDF on the upper plans, image overlays on a video you host |
| Multi-size output | Loop over the JSON, with magic resize | Native: several sizes per call |
| Localization | Your code sets translated values in the JSON | Built-in translation, 70+ languages |
| Pricing model | Fixed license fee by custom quote, no per-render fee when self-hosted under fair use, Cloud Render billed per use | Monthly tiers metered by API calls + overage |
When Switchboard Canvas is the right call
Switchboard Canvas suits a specific pipeline: one team, many formats, many locales, all generated in the background. The multi-size call and built-in translation give ad-ops workloads a real advantage, and you build no editor at all. If your users only ever receive finished images, an SDK is more than you need.
Polotno SDK is for products: end users create and edit designs under your brand, design data belongs on your infrastructure, and one schema powers the editor, the automation, and the rendering. Polotno has been in market since 2020, with 300+ businesses in production, including Amazon and BMW. You can start a 30-day free trial with no credit card, or request a quote.
