Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

CSS Scan VS Microlink

Compare CSS Scan VS Microlink and see what are their differences

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CSS Scan logo CSS Scan

Instantly check or copy computed CSS from any element for only ~95$

Microlink logo Microlink

Extract structured data from any website
  • CSS Scan Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-14
  • Microlink Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-24

CSS Scan features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    CSS Scan offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy for developers of all skill levels to inspect and copy CSS styles directly from the browser.
  • Time-Saving
    It significantly reduces the time needed to debug and replicate styles by allowing quick copying of well-structured CSS rules from any element on the page.
  • Accuracy
    The tool ensures that the copied CSS maintains the exact styling, including computed styles and vendor prefixes, providing high accuracy in replication.
  • Live Edits
    CSS Scan enables live editing of styles, allowing developers to make real-time changes and see the results instantly, which is beneficial for testing and adjustments.
  • Visual Representation
    The extension visually displays how CSS rules are applied, making it easier to understand complex styling hierarchies and cascades.

Possible disadvantages of CSS Scan

  • Cost
    CSS Scan is a paid tool, so there is a financial investment required, which might not be feasible for all developers, especially those working on personal or non-commercial projects.
  • Browser Compatibility
    As a browser extension, its functionality may be limited to supported browsers, potentially excluding users of less common or unsupported browsers.
  • Limited Scope
    While CSS Scan is powerful for copying and analyzing CSS, it does not offer features for editing or managing CSS files directly, requiring another tool or manual intervention for those tasks.
  • Dependency
    Relying on a third-party tool can be a downside if the tool experiences downtime, changes its pricing, or ceases development, leaving users in a difficult position.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Using browser extensions can raise privacy concerns, as they typically have access to the pages you visit; ensuring the trustworthiness of the extension is crucial.

Microlink features and specs

  • Ease of Implementation
    Microlink provides a straightforward API that is easy to integrate into various applications, enabling users to quickly extract web data.
  • Customizability
    The platform allows users to tailor the extraction process to their specific needs, including modifying data extraction settings and using custom rules.
  • Performance
    Microlink's infrastructure is built for handling large-scale requests efficiently, providing fast data retrieval from various sources.
  • Versatile Data Extraction
    It supports a wide array of data extraction use cases, such as scraping metadata, articles, and other web page elements from different websites.
  • Support & Documentation
    The service offers comprehensive documentation and reliable customer support to help users effectively utilize the platform.

Possible disadvantages of Microlink

  • Pricing Structure
    For smaller projects or individual use, the cost might be prohibitive, as Microlink generally targets larger-scale operations that require frequent data extraction.
  • Limited Free Tier
    The free tier of the service has limitations in terms of the number of requests, which may not be sufficient for users with substantial data needs.
  • Potential Overhead
    Depending on the project's complexity, there might be additional overhead in setting up API requests and handling data management post-extraction.
  • Reliance on Web Stability
    Like any web scraping service, its effectiveness can be impacted by changes in the target websites' structures or anti-scraping measures.

Analysis of CSS Scan

Overall verdict

  • CSS Scan is considered a valuable tool for web developers, particularly for those who frequently work with CSS. Its user-friendly interface and time-saving features make it highly effective for both learning and practical development needs.

Why this product is good

  • CSS Scan is popular among developers because it provides a fast and easy way to inspect and copy CSS styles from any website. It enhances productivity by simplifying the process of understanding and replicating complex styles without manually digging through source code.

Recommended for

  • Front-end developers seeking to understand and replicate existing styles.
  • Web designers aiming to improve their CSS skills through real-world examples.
  • Developers needing to quickly prototype or analyze website designs.
  • Teams looking for an efficient tool to streamline CSS workflows.

Analysis of Microlink

Overall verdict

  • Microlink (microlink.io) is a good tool, especially for those looking to easily extract and process content from web pages.

Why this product is good

  • Microlink provides a powerful API for extracting content from websites, making it useful for developers and businesses looking to automate data retrieval.
  • It is easy to integrate into projects, with straightforward documentation and support.
  • Microlink supports various data processing features, such as screenshot generation, PDF conversion, and data transformation, adding versatility.
  • The tool is efficient in terms of speed and reliability, ensuring quick and accurate data retrieval.
  • Microlink offers customization options, which allow users to tailor the output according to their needs.

Recommended for

  • Developers who need to automate web content extraction.
  • Businesses or individuals needing to gather web data for analysis or reporting.
  • Digital marketers wanting to scrape or monitor competitor content.
  • Content creators automating content collection for aggregation or curation services.

CSS Scan videos

Chrome CSS Viewer CSS Scan 2.0 - All Your CSS Secrets Revealed

More videos:

  • Review - CSS Scan and Microthemer are buddies

Microlink videos

Update: Microlink Extensions on NATURAL HAIR | HONEST REVIEW!

More videos:

  • Review - FIRST TIME GETTING MICROLINKS (EXTENSIONS) + REVIEW: ARE THEY WORTH THE PRICE!?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CSS Scan and Microlink)
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Web Scraping
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Automation
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CSS Scan should be more popular than Microlink. It has been mentiond 13 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

CSS Scan mentions (13)

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Microlink mentions (5)

  • This weird IFRAME thing wasted my 2 days (and counting...)
    It's a very basic idea. Few days back, I got to know about this tool named 'microlink' which is a free Browser-as-API sdk. One of its feature was that you provide it a url and it will give you a screenshot of that particular page. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Newpipe/yt-dlp stops working
    How do the multiple startups that import YouTube video into their platform work - one's that need the video/audio files? There seems to be a lot of webapps supporting this but I always wondered if they have a goto API for doing this. I myself have used microlink at some points for automated video source extraction. https://microlink.io. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Creating a serverless function to scrape web pages metadata
    Metascraper is baked by Microlink, which uses it internally in its browser automation product. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago
  • Show HN: Till – Unblock and scale your web scrapers, with minimal code changes
    These guys bypass cloudflare https://microlink.io it's open source but it's just more convenient to pay and forget about it. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago
  • Free for dev - list of software (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.)
    Microlink.io – It turns any website into data such as metatags normalization, beauty link previews, scraping capabilities or screenshots as a service. 250 reqs/day every day free. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CSS Scan and Microlink, you can also consider the following products

CSS Scan Pro - The easiest way to get and edit the CSS of any website, live

BrowserCat - Easy, fast, and reliable browser automation and headless browser APIs. The web is messy, but your code shouldn't be.

Hoverify - All-in-one browser extension to improve your web dev experience.

Apify - Apify is a web scraping and automation platform that can turn any website into an API.

CSS Peeper - Smart CSS viewer tailored for Designers.

Scrapy - Scrapy | A Fast and Powerful Scraping and Web Crawling Framework