Free Web Scraper Tool: Are they worth it in 2023

WebscrapingAPI on Nov 22 2022

A practice used to extract data from websites is web scraping. Market analysis, pricing analysis, machine learning initiatives, and other uses for such data are all possible. This is unquestionably one of the critical abilities a data scientist must possess.

As a data analyst, one of the essential qualities you need to develop is web scraping; you need to know how to find, gather, and process your data so that your findings are precise and insightful. You may utilize the free tools that are presented in this article for a variety of data-collecting initiatives. There are a few things to consider when choosing an agency to scrape the web, such as API connectivity and extendability for large-scale crawling.

Although mastering programming languages like Python and tools like Scrapy or Selenium is often required to scrape details off webpages, even non-programmers may do so.

In this article, I'll show you the best free web scraper tool that will make it simpler for you to retrieve the data you need without creating any code.

How to Pick a Free Web Scraping Tool?

Web data may be accessed in several ways. Even when you have reduced it to a web data extraction tool, tools that have appeared in the search engine results with a bewildering array of functions might still make it challenging to choose.

While selecting a web scraping tool, you may want to examine the following factors:

• Hardware

If you use a Mac or Linux, check that the utility is compatible with your operating system. A cloud service is essential if you wish to retrieve your data from any device at any time.

• Learning

If programming is not your strong suit, you should make sure mentors and resources are available to you at every step of the data-scraping process.

• Integration

How will you utilize the information later? Improved automation of the entire data handling process is made possible through integration possibilities.

• Pricing

Yes, a tool's price should always be considered. Vendor differences in price are significant.

Top 9 free web scraper tools

A selection of the best web scraping tools is provided below.

WebAutomation.io

Using pre-made feature extraction methods, WebAutomation enables you to quickly and easily retrieve information from any webpage without writing any code. With their one-click extraction, you can quickly extract data from 400+ well-known websites, like eBay, Amazon, Airbnb, and Google Maps.

Furthermore, you may use their point-and-click UI to create different extractors. Point to and choose text and picture items to design your extractor graphically. Some of its additional capabilities include a re-captcha solution, IP spinning, and the capacity to collect interactive JavaScript webpages.

Pros

• The WebAutomation website states that the free plan has no restrictions. You will receive 10,000 credits to spend on website scraping.
• Should you decide to purchase, the premium plan begins at $29 per month.

Cons

• On the free version, data is only retained for seven days.
• API use restrictions and a lack of MySQL integration in the accessible and most affordable plans

Octoparse

Anyone may easily scrape the web with Octoparse. The only point is to click, and the extract is required! Without coding, you can instantly scrape online data.

The entire scraping procedure is divided into three phases by this tool. It would help if you first input the desired website's URL. Then, tap on the relevant information that you want to extract. Finally, execute the extraction; the information will be available in minutes. The extracted data may be saved in a CSV file, API, Excel, or database. Choose the one that best suits you.

Octoparse's sophisticated features include endless scrolling, login, dropdown menus, and AJAX support. Furthermore, Octoparse provides IP Rotation to prevent an IP from being blocked. 

Pros

• Unlimited number of pages per crawl
• Countless computers
• 14-day data retention
• ten crawlers

Cons

• The disadvantages of the free version
• The premium plan starts at $75 per month if you wish to upgrade.

WebScraper.io

WebScraper aims to enable online data collection as straightforwardly as possible. Unlike other utilities, this is a Firefox and Opera extension. By dragging and tapping on components, you may configure a scraper.

WebScraper may also scrape information from active websites. It can collect information from websites with numerous routing layers and explore all website levels. The data may be transferred to Dropbox, CSV, JSON, and XLSX formats.

It allows queuing for Ajax requests, loop handlers, site navigation, and JavaScript-driven websites. Furthermore, it has a flexible selector system, allowing you to create site maps using various selectors.

Pros

• The free version has several sophisticated features.
• The premium plan begins at $50 per month. It is one of the more affordable solutions.

Cons

• Only for personal use.
• The free version only supports CSV output.

ParseHub

ParseHub is a sophisticated free web scraper tool that allows you to retrieve data by clicking on the information you want. To accomplish so, you must first download its desktop program. After installing the program, use it and select a website from which to collect data. Then, to retrieve the data, click on the desired data. 

The data will then be gathered by their databases and retrieved in JSON, Excel, API, or whatever format you want. Retrieving data from many pages and connecting with dropdowns, AJAX, forms, and more complex capabilities are possible with Parsehub.

Pros

• Each run produces 200 pages.
• 14-day database retention

Cons

• Five public projects (a reasonable quantity, though less than Octoparse)
• The premium plan begins at $149 monthly if you wish to upgrade. 

Apify

Apify can convert any webpage into an API. It may assist you with online scraping, web automation (which simplifies conventional web activities such as typing out surveys or submitting data), and web integration.

It provides several exciting products, such as players (a processing framework that makes it simple to design, operate, and distribute serverless web programs) and proxies. You may also transfer the collected data to CSV, Excel, or JSON formats, as with the other tools described.

Pros

• The premium plan begins at $49 per month.

Cons

• On the free plan, data is retained for only seven days.

Bright Data

Bright Data is a online data platform that offers a cost-effective means to do quick and reliable open online data collection at scale, quickly transforming unorganized data into organized data and improving user experience while being completely accessible and compliant.

Focus on your main business by having automated access to reliable data in your sector. Data sets are suited to your company's needs, ranging from e-commerce patterns and social network information to competition insight and market research. 

Bright Data's next-generation Data Collector enables an automatic and customizable data flow in a single dashboard, regardless of collection size.

Pros

• Network uptime of 99.99%
• Rotation without End
• Significant network architecture is provided, as well as competent assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Cons

• The setup might take a lot of work.
• The available bandwidth is restricted. 

Oxylabs

Oxylabs is a global leader in providing high-quality gateways and data scraper tools for large-scale online data extraction. Three Scraper APIs may assist in fast obtaining real-time search engine data and extracting product, Q&A, and best-selling statistics from most e-commerce sites.

It is resistant to SERP style modifications, organized JSON data, and customizable request variables.

Pros

• A simple visual user interface for creating agents.
• A fantastic customer service team
• There are several sophisticated features and integrations available.
• There is no coding necessary.
• An easy-to-use interface
• There are no traffic limitations.

Cons

• The free trial period lasts one week. 

Smartproxy

Since its inception in 2018, Smartproxy has been a successful gateway service. They now provide extraction APIs for diverse use cases that include 40M+ personal and corporate proxies, a web scraper, and occasionally - even a database parser, in addition to premium proxies.

The service, recognized for its consumer-centric approach, enables data collection easily even for non-coders. Smartproxy just released the No-Code Scraper, which operates on the click-and-collect process.

Pros

• 100% successful data transmission (no CAPTCHAs or errors)
• Full-stack solution: acquire data warehouse while saving money.
• pleasant user interface
• No mistakes or CAPTCHAs
• Scraping without codes
• 24/7 expert assistance
• Scraper provides a 3-day free trial.

Cons

• Only API crawling is eligible for the free trial. Instead, you get a 3-day money-back guarantee on other purchases.

WebScrapingAPI

A straightforward, rapid, and reliable REST API called WebScrapingAPI can extract HTML from any internet page. The backend takes care of all potential obstructing elements, such as routers, JavaScript parsing, IP rotations, CAPTCHAs, and others. You could run across several challenges while web-scraping a website, which WebScrapingAPI takes care of.

Pros

• There is a free product introduction plan available.
• Simple to navigate
• Your product search is sped up with the help of daily updated, efficient filters.
• Easy to access product information
• Information on well-known, expanding, and underappreciated companies are helpful.
• A blog and forum that is useful.

Cons

• The free membership service has a time restriction.
• Some elements are essential.

Recommended Free Web Scraper Tool

My favorite free web scraper tool is WebScrapingAPI since it allows you to gather 50+ million web pages from more than 10,000 products. You may also acquire excellent services with a straightforward user interface.

The configurable options are also excellent for brand scraping: Bookmark, logo, and persistent session customization with only a few mouse clicks. You then receive the precise product information you want.

You receive information about costs, goods, and client opinions. The finest items may then be obtained by customizing this data.

Noticed is the diverse collection of Proxy servers from several ISPs. Now, you may scrape items from any page without being concerned about filters. This allows you to enable automated IP spinning and real-world applications.

Features

• JavaScript responses

For reliable data collection, use JavaScript sites like a professional by waiting for elements to download, selecting, navigating, and executing customized JS code on the target page.

• Stability

Create automatic data extraction workflows from any webpage using several websites at once to discover hazardous content or suspicious data.

• Data graphics

In your tools or programs, include high-resolution pictures of the web browsers or page portions you want to focus on. Basic HTML, unformatted JSON, or visuals may all be returned using the Web Scraper API.

• Commercial-grade scaling

It cuts expenses by utilizing hardware or software architecture. You may rapidly and effectively get accurate data on a wide scale using cloud infrastructure.

Additionally, the architecture of the API is constructed using AWS. This indicates that everything is linked together via its first-rate network. AWS and its data centers are hence the foundation of WebScrapingAPI.

Starting with just $49 a month, you can scrape data from sites like eBay, Amazon, and many more. Additionally, you can access concurrent requests, proxies, and JavaScript rendering.

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