A modular scraping API from Decodo: choose Standard or Premium proxies and toggle JavaScript rendering per request, billed per 1,000 successful requests.
- From
- $19/mo
- Free
- Free plan available
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
18 tools compared
Best web scraping tools in 2026
Every scraping tool in the database: APIs, AI crawlers, SERP APIs, platforms and no-code scrapers, compared on entry price and free tier.
- Compared
- 18
- Lowest price
- $19/mo
- Top score
- 8.7 / 10
Decodo Web Scraping API
Decodo Web Scraping API
By Adrien Borel
Updated Web scraping tools are not one product. A scraping API takes a URL and returns HTML or JSON. A no-code tool is a point-and-click robot. A platform rents you the runtime and a store of ready-made actors. An AI crawler aims at markdown for a model.
Good to knowThis page is the full set, so you can see the shape of the market before you pick a category. The score mixes entry price, free tier, JavaScript rendering and residential IP support. It is not a success-rate test.
Web scraping tools comparison
Firecrawl is an AI-oriented crawl and scrape API that returns LLM-ready markdown, HTML or structured extracts from sites and sitemaps.
- From
- $19/mo
- Free
- Free tier available
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
Browserless is a hosted browser API (Chrome, WebKit and Firefox) for teams that run their own scraping or automation code and do not want to operate a browser fleet.
- From
- $25/mo
- Free
- Free: 1,000 units / month and 2 concurrent browsers
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
Octoparse is a no-code scraper with a desktop app and a cloud runner. You build a task by pointing at the data, then run it locally or, on higher plans, in the cloud.
- From
- $19/mo
- Free
- Free plan: 2,000 template rows / month
- JS
- Not verified
Verified November 4, 2026
Scrape.do uses monthly successful-credit plans where core features (proxies, JS rendering, geo-targeting, browser actions) are unlocked on every tier.
- From
- $29/mo
- Free
- 1,000 free credits and 5 concurrent requests, no card
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
SerpApi returns structured JSON for Google and other search engines, including organic results, ads and rich features. The unit of work is a search, not a page.
- From
- $25/mo
- Free
- Free monthly searches
- JS
- Not verified
Verified November 4, 2026
ScraperAPI returns page HTML or structured data while handling proxies, JavaScript rendering and CAPTCHAs. Credits scale with render mode and with hard domains.
- From
- $49/mo
- Free
- Free trial credits
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
ScrapingBee is a headless-browser scraping API for JS-heavy public pages, billed in credits across classic, premium and stealth proxy modes.
- From
- $49/mo
- Free
- Free credits to test rendering
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
Geonode sells unlimited monthly plans priced by concurrent threads, or pay-as-you-go packs from roughly $0.13 to $0.35 per 1,000 requests.
- From
- $47/mo
- Free
- 1,500 requests per month plus a short unlimited trial
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
ZenRows' Universal Scraper API publishes credit multipliers for JavaScript rendering and premium proxies, with a short trial before buying a monthly bucket.
- From
- Not verified
- Free
- Short free trial
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
Bright Data's Web Scraper API is a catalog of maintained scrapers that return structured records. It is a different product from Bright Data's proxy plans.
- From
- Not verified
- Free
- 5,000 records / month, no card
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
Scrapingdog is a scraping API with dedicated endpoints for search, commerce and social pages, including X, Walmart, Zillow, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok.
- From
- $40/mo
- Free
- Free: 100 credits, no card
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
Apify is a platform of ready-made scrapers (Actors) and a runtime for your own, billed on platform usage plus per-Actor pricing.
- From
- Not verified
- Free
- Free monthly platform credit
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
Crawlbase bills per successful request with rates that depend on domain complexity and on regular versus JavaScript requests, plus Smart AI Proxy credit plans.
- From
- $149/mo
- Free
- Free requests to start
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
PhantomBuster runs cloud automations (Phantoms) that collect public data from sites such as LinkedIn, X and Instagram, then export it or send it to a CRM.
- From
- $56/mo
- Free
- Trial: 5 slots, 2 hours, exports capped at 10 rows
- JS
- Not verified
Verified November 4, 2026
Thordata's Web Scraper API sits next to its proxy products and exposes ready-made scrapers for popular sites.
- From
- Not verified
- Free
- Not verified
- JS
- Not verified
Verified November 4, 2026
Browse AI is a point-and-click scraper and monitor for operators who need structured web data without maintaining scraping code.
- From
- Not verified
- Free
- Free plan available
- JS
- Not verified
Verified November 4, 2026
Oxylabs Web Scraper API is the parsed-data product, separate from Oxylabs proxy plans. Dedicated endpoints cover commerce, search, YouTube and a Zillow URL target.
- From
- Not verified
- Free
- Not verified
- JS
- Yes
Verified November 4, 2026
Scores blend entry price, free tier, JavaScript rendering and residential IP support from published data. Missing values are ignored, never guessed. Read the methodology. Some links are affiliate links.
Profiles
Notes on each option
A modular scraping API from Decodo: choose Standard or Premium proxies and toggle JavaScript rendering per request, billed per 1,000 successful requests.
- Strength: Lowest paid entry price in this comparison
- Strength: Per-request toggles for proxies and JS
- Strength: Templates and MCP support
- Watch-out: Premium proxies and rendering raise the per-request cost
Firecrawl is an AI-oriented crawl and scrape API that returns LLM-ready markdown, HTML or structured extracts from sites and sitemaps.
- Strength: LLM-ready markdown output
- Strength: Crawls whole sites and sitemaps
- Strength: Built for agents and RAG
- Watch-out: Not a classic unblock API for heavily protected sites
Browserless is a hosted browser API (Chrome, WebKit and Firefox) for teams that run their own scraping or automation code and do not want to operate a browser fleet.
- Strength: Headless Chrome, WebKit and Firefox
- Strength: Free tier with 1,000 units
- Strength: Residential and datacenter proxies on the pricing page
- Watch-out: The $25/mo Prototyping price is the yearly rate
Octoparse is a no-code scraper with a desktop app and a cloud runner. You build a task by pointing at the data, then run it locally or, on higher plans, in the cloud.
- Strength: No code, desktop or cloud
- Strength: Free plan for template rows
- Strength: API and MCP on the Standard plan
- Watch-out: Cloud runs and scheduling start at Standard, from $69/mo
Scrape.do uses monthly successful-credit plans where core features (proxies, JS rendering, geo-targeting, browser actions) are unlocked on every tier.
- Strength: All features on every plan
- Strength: Free plan without a card
- Strength: 5 concurrent requests on free
- Watch-out: Credit consumption still varies by target
SerpApi returns structured JSON for Google and other search engines, including organic results, ads and rich features. The unit of work is a search, not a page.
- Strength: Structured JSON for many search engines
- Strength: Covers ads and rich SERP features
- Watch-out: Only for search results, not general web pages
ScraperAPI returns page HTML or structured data while handling proxies, JavaScript rendering and CAPTCHAs. Credits scale with render mode and with hard domains.
- Strength: Handles proxies, rendering and CAPTCHAs
- Strength: Structured endpoints for popular domains
- Watch-out: Credit multipliers make unit cost depend on the target
ScrapingBee is a headless-browser scraping API for JS-heavy public pages, billed in credits across classic, premium and stealth proxy modes.
- Strength: Headless-browser rendering
- Strength: Stealth proxy mode for harder targets
- Watch-out: Premium and stealth modes consume more credits
Geonode sells unlimited monthly plans priced by concurrent threads, or pay-as-you-go packs from roughly $0.13 to $0.35 per 1,000 requests.
- Strength: Unlimited-request plans
- Strength: Cheap PAYG packs
- Strength: Free monthly requests
- Watch-out: Throughput is capped by concurrent threads
ZenRows' Universal Scraper API publishes credit multipliers for JavaScript rendering and premium proxies, with a short trial before buying a monthly bucket.
- Strength: Transparent credit multipliers
- Strength: Trial to validate unblock modes
- Watch-out: Plan prices not verified yet
Bright Data's Web Scraper API is a catalog of maintained scrapers that return structured records. It is a different product from Bright Data's proxy plans.
- Strength: Maintained scrapers for X, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, Zillow and Walmart
- Strength: JavaScript rendering and residential proxies included
- Strength: Free 5,000 records a month
- Watch-out: No small monthly bundle: the first paid plan with a fee is Scale at $499/mo
Scrapingdog is a scraping API with dedicated endpoints for search, commerce and social pages, including X, Walmart, Zillow, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok.
- Strength: Dedicated X, Walmart and Zillow endpoints
- Strength: Free plan with no card
- Strength: YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn APIs
- Watch-out: Dedicated social calls cost more credits than a plain page
Apify is a platform of ready-made scrapers (Actors) and a runtime for your own, billed on platform usage plus per-Actor pricing.
- Strength: Marketplace of ready-made scrapers
- Strength: Run your own code on the platform
- Watch-out: Total cost depends on the Actor you choose
Crawlbase bills per successful request with rates that depend on domain complexity and on regular versus JavaScript requests, plus Smart AI Proxy credit plans.
- Strength: Pay only for successful requests
- Strength: Proxy-style integration through Smart AI Proxy
- Watch-out: Highest monthly entry price of the group
PhantomBuster runs cloud automations (Phantoms) that collect public data from sites such as LinkedIn, X and Instagram, then export it or send it to a CRM.
- Strength: Ready-made automations, no code
- Strength: Cloud runs, browser can be closed
- Strength: LinkedIn, X and Instagram listed on the pricing page
- Watch-out: The $56/mo price is the annual plan
Thordata's Web Scraper API sits next to its proxy products and exposes ready-made scrapers for popular sites.
- Strength: Bundled with Thordata proxy products
- Watch-out: Pricing and capabilities not verified yet
Browse AI is a point-and-click scraper and monitor for operators who need structured web data without maintaining scraping code.
- Strength: No code required
- Strength: Scheduled monitoring of pages
- Watch-out: Plan prices not verified yet
Oxylabs Web Scraper API is the parsed-data product, separate from Oxylabs proxy plans. Dedicated endpoints cover commerce, search, YouTube and a Zillow URL target.
- Strength: Parsed Walmart product and search endpoints
- Strength: YouTube metadata, search and subtitles
- Strength: Zillow as a named URL target
- Watch-out: The Zillow target returns the page, with parsing as an option
Buying guide
How to choose
01
Who operates it
An API fits a developer. No-code fits someone who will not maintain selectors. A platform fits a team that wants ready-made actors and will watch two bills.
02
Billing unit
Credits, successful requests, searches and platform minutes are not the same number. Model a pilot.
03
The target
A dedicated endpoint for your site beats a generic fetch. The platform rankings list those.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the best web scraping tool?
For a developer, start with the scraping API ranking. For a spreadsheet and no code, start with the no-code ranking. For search results only, use a SERP API. The full table is here so those choices sit next to each other.
Scraping tool or proxies?
A tool returns the page or the fields. Proxies are only the IP. Use proxies when you already run the scraper.
Is web scraping legal?
Public data collection is lawful in many places. Terms of use, privacy law and copyright still apply to the site you collect from.