diff --git a/render-wasm/package.json b/render-wasm/package.json
index ca03750588..50e68c2bbb 100644
--- a/render-wasm/package.json
+++ b/render-wasm/package.json
@@ -10,8 +10,14 @@
     "url": "https://github.com/penpot/penpot"
   },
   "type": "module",
+  "scripts": {
+    "test:headless": "node --test visual-tests/",
+    "test:headless:update": "UPDATE_SNAPSHOTS=1 node --test visual-tests/"
+  },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/node": "^20.12.7",
-    "esbuild": "^0.27.4"
+    "esbuild": "^0.27.4",
+    "pixelmatch": "^6.0.0",
+    "pngjs": "^7.0.0"
   }
 }
diff --git a/render-wasm/src/render/images.rs b/render-wasm/src/render/images.rs
index 16f3d1a0a8..1d9cd450a4 100644
--- a/render-wasm/src/render/images.rs
+++ b/render-wasm/src/render/images.rs
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ enum StoredImage {
 pub struct ImageStore {
     images: HashMap<(Uuid, bool), StoredImage>,
     /// GPU context for decoding images to textures. `None` in headless mode,
-    /// where image fills are skipped (other shapes render normally).
+    /// where image fills are decoded on the CPU instead (see `get_cpu_image`).
     context: Option<Box<DirectContext>>,
 }
 
diff --git a/render-wasm/visual-tests/README.md b/render-wasm/visual-tests/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..52e141a8a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/render-wasm/visual-tests/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# Headless visual tests
+
+Image-diff tests for the **headless** render path — the GPU-free Skia pipeline
+(`init_headless` + `render_shape_raster`) that powers server-side export. They're
+the Playwright-snapshot equivalent for code that runs with no browser/WebGL:
+boot the built WASM in Node, render a scene to PNG, and compare against a
+committed baseline with pixelmatch.
+
+## Running
+
+```bash
+./build                       # produce frontend/resources/public/js/render-wasm.*
+pnpm install                  # one-time, pulls pngjs + pixelmatch
+pnpm test:headless            # diff against baselines in __snapshots__/
+pnpm test:headless:update     # (re)generate baselines, then review + commit them
+```
+
+A failing case writes `__snapshots__/<name>.diff.png` highlighting the changed
+pixels. Baselines are produced by CPU Skia, so they're deterministic across
+machines.
+
+## Scenes
+
+Scenes are built through the WASM FFI in `scenes.mjs` (no `.penpot` file needed),
+so the suite is self-contained on this branch. Rendering real files headless
+needs the shape-tree serialization that lives in the exporter; once that's
+exposed as a JS module it can feed `renderToPng` through this same harness.
+
+- `harness.mjs` — load/boot the headless module, build fills, render to PNG,
+  snapshot compare.
+- `scenes.mjs` — FFI scene builders.
+- `*.test.mjs` — `node:test` cases.
+- `__snapshots__/` — committed baseline PNGs.
diff --git a/render-wasm/visual-tests/harness.mjs b/render-wasm/visual-tests/harness.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..952b120397
--- /dev/null
+++ b/render-wasm/visual-tests/harness.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+// Image-diff harness for the headless render path. Loads the built render-wasm
+// artifact in Node (no browser/WebGL), boots it with `init_headless`, renders a
+// shape to PNG, and compares against a committed baseline with pixelmatch —
+// the Playwright-snapshot equivalent for the headless renderer.
+//
+// Requires `./build` first (it loads frontend/resources/public/js/render-wasm.*,
+// built with -sENVIRONMENT=web,node). Baselines live in ./__snapshots__; run
+// with UPDATE_SNAPSHOTS=1 to (re)generate them.
+
+import { readFileSync, writeFileSync, existsSync, mkdirSync } from "node:fs";
+import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+import { dirname, resolve, join } from "node:path";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+
+// pngjs/pixelmatch are loaded lazily (only when actually diffing), so loading +
+// rendering can be exercised without the diff dependencies installed.
+
+const here = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const ARTIFACT_DIR = resolve(here, "../../frontend/resources/public/js");
+const SNAPSHOT_DIR = resolve(here, "__snapshots__");
+const UPDATE = !!process.env.UPDATE_SNAPSHOTS;
+
+export const FILL_U8_SIZE = 160; // 4 + max(gradient 156, image 36, solid 4)
+
+let modulePromise;
+
+/// Loads + boots the headless module once (memoized). Returns `{ Module, call }`,
+/// where `call(name, ...args)` invokes the `_<name>` export.
+export function loadHeadlessModule(width = 800, height = 600) {
+  modulePromise ??= (async () => {
+    const wasmBytes = readFileSync(resolve(ARTIFACT_DIR, "render-wasm.wasm"));
+    const factory = (await import(pathToFileURL(resolve(ARTIFACT_DIR, "render-wasm.js")).href))
+      .default;
+
+    const Module = await factory({
+      instantiateWasm(imports, success) {
+        WebAssembly.instantiate(wasmBytes, imports).then(({ instance }) => success(instance));
+        return {};
+      },
+      locateFile: (p) => resolve(ARTIFACT_DIR, p),
+      printErr: () => {},
+    });
+
+    const call = (name, ...args) => {
+      const fn = Module["_" + name];
+      if (typeof fn !== "function") throw new Error(`export _${name} missing`);
+      return fn(...args);
+    };
+
+    call("init_headless", width, height);
+    return { Module, call };
+  })();
+  return modulePromise;
+}
+
+/// Writes `colorsARGB` (one solid fill each, ARGB) to the current shape.
+export function setSolidFills({ Module, call }, colorsARGB) {
+  const size = 4 + colorsARGB.length * FILL_U8_SIZE;
+  const ptr = call("alloc_bytes", size);
+  const buf = Module.HEAPU8.subarray(ptr, ptr + size);
+  buf.fill(0);
+  buf[0] = colorsARGB.length; // num fills (bytes 1..4 are padding)
+  const dv = new DataView(buf.buffer, buf.byteOffset, size);
+  colorsARGB.forEach((argb, i) => {
+    const off = 4 + i * FILL_U8_SIZE;
+    dv.setUint8(off, 0x00); // Solid tag
+    dv.setUint32(off + 4, argb >>> 0, true); // ARGB, little-endian
+  });
+  call("set_shape_fills");
+}
+
+/// Renders the subtree rooted at `id` (a [u32, u32, u32, u32] quartet) to PNG
+/// bytes via `render_shape_raster`.
+export function renderToPng({ Module, call }, id, scale = 1) {
+  const [a, b, c, d] = id;
+  const ptr = call("render_shape_raster", a, b, c, d, scale);
+  const base = ptr >>> 2;
+  const len = Module.HEAPU32[base];
+  const png = Module.HEAPU8.slice(ptr + 12, ptr + 12 + len); // skip [len][w][h]
+  call("free_bytes");
+  return Buffer.from(png);
+}
+
+/// Compares `pngBytes` against ./__snapshots__/<name>.png. Creates the baseline
+/// when missing or when UPDATE_SNAPSHOTS=1; otherwise fails (and writes a diff
+/// PNG) when more than `maxDiffPixels` differ.
+export async function expectMatchesSnapshot(
+  name,
+  pngBytes,
+  { maxDiffPixels = 0, threshold = 0.1 } = {},
+) {
+  const baseline = join(SNAPSHOT_DIR, `${name}.png`);
+
+  if (UPDATE || !existsSync(baseline)) {
+    mkdirSync(SNAPSHOT_DIR, { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(baseline, pngBytes);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const { PNG } = await import("pngjs");
+  const { default: pixelmatch } = await import("pixelmatch");
+
+  const actual = PNG.sync.read(pngBytes);
+  const expected = PNG.sync.read(readFileSync(baseline));
+  assert.equal(
+    `${actual.width}x${actual.height}`,
+    `${expected.width}x${expected.height}`,
+    `${name}: dimensions differ from baseline`,
+  );
+
+  const diff = new PNG({ width: actual.width, height: actual.height });
+  const n = pixelmatch(actual.data, expected.data, diff.data, actual.width, actual.height, {
+    threshold,
+  });
+  if (n > maxDiffPixels) {
+    const diffPath = join(SNAPSHOT_DIR, `${name}.diff.png`);
+    writeFileSync(diffPath, PNG.sync.write(diff));
+    assert.fail(`${name}: ${n} differing pixels (> ${maxDiffPixels}); diff written to ${diffPath}`);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/render-wasm/visual-tests/render.test.mjs b/render-wasm/visual-tests/render.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..63bfe3f808
--- /dev/null
+++ b/render-wasm/visual-tests/render.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import { test } from "node:test";
+
+import { loadHeadlessModule, renderToPng, expectMatchesSnapshot } from "./harness.mjs";
+import { solidRect } from "./scenes.mjs";
+
+test("solid red rect", async () => {
+  const mod = await loadHeadlessModule();
+  const id = solidRect(mod, { width: 120, height: 80, fills: [0xffff0000] });
+  await expectMatchesSnapshot("solid-red-rect", renderToPng(mod, id, 1));
+});
+
+test("stacked translucent fills", async () => {
+  const mod = await loadHeadlessModule();
+  // fills[0] draws on top: 50% blue over opaque red → blended purple
+  const id = solidRect(mod, { width: 120, height: 80, fills: [0x800000ff, 0xffff0000] });
+  await expectMatchesSnapshot("stacked-fills", renderToPng(mod, id, 2));
+});
diff --git a/render-wasm/visual-tests/scenes.mjs b/render-wasm/visual-tests/scenes.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a3812f7573
--- /dev/null
+++ b/render-wasm/visual-tests/scenes.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+// Scene builders for the headless image-diff tests, constructed through the
+// WASM FFI (no .penpot file needed). Real files require the shape-tree
+// serialization that lives in the exporter; once that's available as a JS
+// module it can build scenes for this same harness.
+
+import { setSolidFills } from "./harness.mjs";
+
+const ROOT = [1, 2, 3, 4]; // any fixed non-nil uuid; the pool is reset per scene
+
+/// A single rectangle with one or more stacked solid fills (ARGB). `fills[0]`
+/// draws on top, matching Penpot's fill order.
+export function solidRect(mod, { width, height, fills }) {
+  const { call } = mod;
+  call("init_shapes_pool", 1);
+  call("use_shape", ...ROOT);
+  call("set_shape_selrect", 0, 0, width, height);
+  setSolidFills(mod, fills);
+  return ROOT;
+}