Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ScrapingBee VS Web Scraper

Compare ScrapingBee VS Web Scraper and see what are their differences

ScrapingBee logo ScrapingBee

ScrapingBee is a Web Scraping API that handles proxies and Headless browser for you, so you can focus on extracting the data you want, and nothing else.

Web Scraper logo Web Scraper

Web site data extraction tool โš’๏ธ
  • ScrapingBee Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-12

Web Scraping is hard, scraping at scale can be very challenging.

You have to handle:

  • Javascript rendering ๐Ÿ’ป
  • Chrome headless ๐Ÿ› 
  • Captcha ๐Ÿค–
  • Proxy ๐Ÿ•ต๏ธโ€โ™€๏ธ

ScrapingBee is a simple API that does all the above for you, and much more.

  • Web Scraper Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-28

ScrapingBee

$ Details
freemium $49.0 / Monthly (Freelance / 10,000 searches / 100,000 credits)
Platforms
REST API
Release Date
2019 July

ScrapingBee features and specs

  • Easy to Use
    ScrapingBee provides a simple API that allows developers to scrape web pages without worrying about handling proxies or web browser rendering.
  • JavaScript Rendering
    With built-in JavaScript rendering, ScrapingBee can handle complex web pages that rely heavily on JavaScript for content display, making it suitable for scraping modern websites.
  • Proxy Management
    ScrapingBee automatically manages proxies, meaning developers don't have to deal with proxy rotation, blacklisting, or bans.
  • Rate Limiting Control
    The service offers control over rate limits, making it possible to scrape at a custom speed that suits your needs and prevents being blocked by target websites.
  • Custom Headers Support
    ScrapingBee allows the use of custom headers, enabling users to mimic different browsers or add specific headers required by the target site.
  • Geolocation
    It provides geolocation-based scraping, which is useful for accessing content that is region-restricted.

Possible disadvantages of ScrapingBee

  • Cost
    ScrapingBee is a paid service, and costs can add up depending on the volume and complexity of your scraping needs.
  • Rate Limits
    Even though it offers control over rate limits, there are still predefined limits depending on your plan, which might not suit very high-volume scraping needs.
  • Dependency on External Service
    Relying on an external service means that you are dependent on ScrapingBee's uptime and performance, which may affect your operations if the service faces downtime.
  • Data Privacy
    Using a third-party service for web scraping means sharing your scraping activities with ScrapingBee, which could raise data privacy concerns.
  • Limited Customization
    While ScrapingBee handles many aspects of web scraping for you, it may not offer the level of customization that a self-built scraping solution could provide.

Web Scraper features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Web Scraper offers a user-friendly interface with a visual scraper builder that makes it accessible for users with minimal technical expertise. The browser extension facilitates easy setup and execution of scraping tasks.
  • Cost-effective
    It has a free tier that supports a wide range of scraping needs. The paid plans are reasonably priced, offering advanced features and capabilities for those who need them.
  • Multi-site Scraping
    Users can scrape data from multiple websites with support for pagination, which is essential for scraping large datasets spread across different web pages.
  • Cloud Scraping
    Web Scraper provides cloud services that allow users to run scraping jobs on their servers, thus freeing up local resources and ensuring more reliable execution of tasks.
  • Data Export Options
    It supports various data export formats, including CSV, JSON, and Excel. This flexibility makes it easier to integrate scraped data into different data processing workflows.

Possible disadvantages of Web Scraper

  • Limited Free Plan
    The free tier has limitations in terms of the number of scrapers, sitemap sizes, and scraping frequency. Users with higher demands may need to upgrade to a paid plan.
  • Learning Curve
    While the interface is user-friendly, there is still a learning curve, especially for more complex scraping tasks involving intricate website structures or dynamic content loaded via JavaScript.
  • Cloud Dependency
    For large-scale scraping tasks, reliance on the cloud service can be a downside if there are any service outages or latency issues, which could disrupt scraping jobs.
  • Limited Dynamic Content Handling
    Handling websites with heavy JavaScript content can be challenging. Although there are some capabilities for dealing with dynamic content, it might require additional tools or manual interventions for more complex scenarios.
  • Browser Extension Compatibility
    The Web Scraper extension is primarily designed for Google Chrome, which may be a drawback for users who prefer or are restricted to using other browsers.

Analysis of ScrapingBee

Overall verdict

  • ScrapingBee is generally considered a good choice for web scraping, especially for users who want to streamline the process and avoid the complexities of managing their own infrastructure. It is well-regarded for its ease of use, reliability, and comprehensive feature set.

Why this product is good

  • ScrapingBee is a popular web scraping service because it provides a simple and efficient way to scrape websites without the need to manage proxy servers or deal with headless browser setup. It offers features like rendering JavaScript, handling CAPTCHAs, and supporting various customization options, making it suitable for different scraping needs.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking to automate data extraction from websites
  • Businesses needing reliable web scraping solutions without investing in infrastructure
  • Users who require JavaScript rendering and CAPTCHA handling in their scraping tasks
  • Projects that require scalable and customizable web scraping options

Analysis of Web Scraper

Overall verdict

  • Web Scraper is a reliable and efficient tool for web data extraction. It combines ease of use with robust features, making it suitable for users who need to extract data without writing code.

Why this product is good

  • Web Scraper (webscraper.io) is considered good due to its user-friendly interface and powerful scraping capabilities. It offers a browser extension for easy setup, allows data export in multiple formats, and provides features like pagination handling and element selection, making it accessible for both beginners and advanced users. Additionally, it supports scheduled scraping and has cloud services for large-scale projects.

Recommended for

    Individuals and small to medium-sized businesses looking for a straightforward and effective way to collect data from web pages without the need for advanced programming skills. It is also ideal for marketers, researchers, and data analysts who require regular web data extraction.

ScrapingBee videos

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Web Scraper videos

Web Scraper intro tutorial

More videos:

  • Review - Web scraper review
  • Tutorial - How to Extract Multiple Web Pages by Using Google Chorme Web Scraper Extension

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ScrapingBee and Web Scraper)
Web Scraping
61 61%
39% 39
Data Extraction
58 58%
42% 42
Web Scraping API
81 81%
19% 19
Data
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Web Scraper seems to be a lot more popular than ScrapingBee. While we know about 34 links to Web Scraper, we've tracked only 3 mentions of ScrapingBee. 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.

ScrapingBee mentions (3)

  • Self-hosted, simple web browser service โ€“ send URL, get screenshots
    If youโ€™re worried about the security risks, edge cases, maintenance pain and scaling challenges of self hosting there are various solid hosted alternatives: - https://browserless.io - low level browser control - https://scrapingbee.com - scraping specialists - https://urlbox.com - screenshot specialists* Theyโ€™re all profitable and have been around for years so you can depend on the businesses and the tech. *... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Are there any APIs that maintain a database of subscriptions?
    If you really just need the data you can use something like https://scrapingbee.com to scrape the info from the various price pages to make sure your info is always up to date. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Our bootstrapped SaaS just turned 3 and reached $1.5m ARR: the lessons learned.
    Well done! And posting here was a great idea. Not sure I would have found scrapingbee.com otherwise. We will probably become a customer. Signed up for the trial account. Source: about 3 years ago

Web Scraper mentions (34)

  • How do I create a script that inspect the website and click all the button(parse address)?
    Point and click web browser plugin GUI: https://webscraper.io/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Web scraper for a flight price comparison website?
    In my 5+ years of experience as the scraper guy in the office, paying for these services could take a lot of money. So automated scraping might be your option. If you need help, tap me. Or you could use webscraper.io for easier nocode approach to it if you wanna do it yourself. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Data from EuroNews.com
    I don't know what corpus linguistic analysis is, but you can scrape the articles off of their website and analyse it in whichever software you're comfortable with. If you're not familiar with a programming language, you can use a GUI scraper like this one. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Issues scouting the right web scraper
    I'm looking into VPNs that have rotating IPs with time-set features. Didnt find any yet that I can try for free first. For the scraping Im using a free chrome browser extension from https://webscraper.io/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • [Help] how to make a copy of an online database
    For text only dbs a even a scraper addon would do. Try something like webscraper.io, it takes a bit of fucking around to get it working but it's foolproof. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ScrapingBee and Web Scraper, you can also consider the following products

Zyte - We're Zyte (formerly Scrapinghub), the central point of entry for all your web data needs.

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

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

Bright Data - World's largest proxy service with a residential proxy network of 72M IPs worldwide and proxy management interface for zero coding.

Data Miner - Data Miner is a Google Chrome extension that helps you scrape data from web pages and into a CSV file or Excel spreadsheet.

Oxylabs - A web intelligence collection platform and premium proxy provider, enabling companies of all sizes to utilize the power of big data.