Top 8 Web Scraper Alternatives You Need to Try in 2023

WebscrapingAPI on Oct 28 2022

You might have set your eyes on Web Scraper for years. Use it as a matter of fact for your web scraping service. Yet, you may realize that you might need a Web Scraper alternative to suit your various needs.'

Come along with me as I take you through the eight best Web Scraper alternatives. You might find pricing, infrastructure, and integration differences in the alternatives. This will make it easier for you to choose what suits you best.

Before we proceed, I would like to explain web data extraction. This way, you will have a clear view of what everything in web scraping is all about.

What is Web Data Extraction?

Web data extraction is extracting data and content from a website using bots. The extracted data is then exported to the user’s desired format. Web data extraction can be done manually but most users prefer automated tools. They are fast and cost-effective.

It is important to note that extracting data from websites is not a simple task. Websites are constantly changing and you require the right tools for the process. You might even encounter captchas and need to deal with them.

You should note that data extraction from websites is legal. But, if you extract data that is not publicly available it becomes illegal. There is a beginner guide to web scraping using APIs you can follow.

What is Web Data Extraction Used For?

Web scraping is utilized in a wide range of data-driven digital enterprises. Among the legitimate use cases are:

• Search engine bots crawl a website, analyze its content, and rank it.
• Price comparison websites use bots to get prices and product information. 
• Market research firms use scrapers to get data from social media and forums. Examples of such forums include sentiment forums.

Web scraping is sometimes used for criminal objectives. Criminals can undercut prices and steal copyrighted content.

An online firm might face significant financial losses from web data extraction.  It affects a business that relies on competitive pricing or trades in content distribution.

Now that is the essential information you need to have on web scraping. Before jumping into which tools will suit you, it is best to know this. But, you can read more on web scraping to learn more since it is not only limited to those uses.

Let's dive in on understanding Web Scraper and its possible alternatives.

Web Scraper

Web Scraper is a web scraping tool for the current web with a simple point-and-click interface. It is a simple and free web scraping tool for everyone.

It can scrape thousands of data from a website with a point-and-click interface. You need only a few minutes of scraper setup.

Web Scraper employs a modular framework comprised of selectors. The selectors tell the scraper how to navigate the target and what data to gather. Data mining from dynamic websites such as Amazon, or eBay is simple by this framework.

With Web Scraper, you can perform data extraction in your browser. There is no need to install any software on your machine. You don't need coding knowledge to start with  PHP, Python, or JavaScript.

Features

Web Scraper is a primary web data extraction tool. It uses complex capabilities to retrieve the specific data you need. It has the following features: 

•  Data extraction from various pages
• Various data extraction kinds (photos, text, URLs)
• Data extraction from dynamic websites
• Exploring scraped Data
• Exporting data collected from a webpage to Excel 
• It is dependent on the web browser. You need no other software to begin scraping.

Why You Need a Web Scraper Alternative

Web Scraper might offer you what you need. Yet, you might wonder why you need to choose a Web Scraper alternative. I've got you covered with 4 points explaining why you might consider it in your decision.

1. Daas Solution

You want a DaaS solution and a hands-off method. Your only function is to submit the specifications and integrate the data stream. A good tool should deliver a bespoke solution. The tool should be designed end-to-end to meet your objectives at reasonable pricing.

1. Pricing

Import.io packages start from $299 per month or $1999 per year. That is expensive as you can get a better offer with WebScrapingAPI. Apart from free solutions, WebScrapingAPI offers the most affordable options. Web Scraping APIs prices begin at $25 per month. 

Most full-fledged cloud-based services provide personalized quotes. With certain restrictions, companies like Parsehub and Bright Data provide solutions for less than $500 per month.

1. Proxies and Privacy

You need an alternative with access to multiple proxies. One that guarantees websites do not hinder your scraping attempts. Even though import.io offers this you can get a better offer with the other rivals. Every enterprise-grade scraping operation needs it.

1. Scaling

This is a significant issue because most systems limit you. Depending on the plan you select, it may be a particular number of concurrent runs. You need a greater scalability degree if you have varied workloads and frequencies. 

Import.io offers this but a service provider like PromptCloud or WebScrapingAPI might be a better fit. You would only be paid depending on consumption rather than a hefty flat rate per month. 

Top 8 Web Scraper Alternatives You Need To Try

Here are my top 8 Web Scraper Alternatives for Data Scraping

• WebScrapingAPI
• Apify
• ScrapingBee
• Grepsr
• GigaScraper
• Oxylabs
• Retailgators
• Bright Data

Let’s dive in to get a deeper understanding of each alternative.

1. Apify

Apify provides tools for scraping data from specific sources. Large corporations such as Microsoft and, Samsung, YouTube Scraper use it. Amazon Product Scraper, Instagram Profile Scraper, and Google Search Results Scraper also use it.

It functions as a platform for several web scraping technologies—these technologies, each with their price and use cases. If none of the options available meet your needs, you may look at the Apify platform.

 If you are a developer, you may construct a tool or request an automated web data extraction solution. It will suit your specific scraping operation.

Advantages

• Assists in reaching a larger audience.
• Quick response time from the help center.
• Excellent at skimming Instagram
• Flexibility in a variety of scraping and automated activities.

Disadvantages

• The UI is not user-friendly. 
• It does not function on websites that use limited IP-related services.

Pricing

Apify's pricing starts at $49 per month, and it offers a 30-day free trial

2. ScrapingBee  

ScrapingBee deals with online scraping issues. It employs headless browsers and switches proxies. This guarantees that your web data extraction operation goes well.

It can scrape websites produced using Angular JS, React, and Vue.js among others. It has features like geotargeting and a big proxy pool. These features guarantee that web scraping jobs execute.

Advantages

• Excellent technical assistance
• Makes automatic data extraction from websites that post
• Human-readable and periodic Data collection is much simpler.
• ScrapingBee is the ideal Black Box solution.

Disadvantages

Internal server issues may annoy you.

Pricing

The pricing plan of ScrapingBee starts at $49 per month. It also offers a free trial of up to 1000 API calls. It also offers a free trial of up to 1000 API calls

3. Grepsr

Grepsr provides a DIY web data extraction tool that can be installed as a browser plugin. Grepsr provides tailored solutions in eCommerce, Retail, Data Research, Real Estate, and Journalism.

Yet, no costs are listed on their website to get an estimated price. You must submit a specific requirements document to get a quotation. 

Grepsr promises to analyze 500 million+ records each day. It also promises to analyze 750K+ online sources and search 30k+ keywords. It hopes to maintain 99% data dependability while doing so.

Advantages

• Data Transformation
• Data Visualization
• Dashboard Creation

Disadvantages

Latency due to differences in timezones 

Pricing

Grepsr provides custom-priced data solutions to meet your specific data demands and scale

4. GigaScraper 

Gigascraper assists businesses in making data-driven choices. It uses structured data from many sources to make these choices.  

Gigascraper can provide you with a single service for a specific task. You can also get ongoing web scraping operations if you want data regularly. 

Gigascraper is like PromptCloud. It is a DaaS solution provider hence you may supply them with the specifications. In turn, they will provide the data in an agreed-upon manner. 

Advantages

• Custom solutions designed at scale
• Competitive analysis
• Clear pricing

Disadvantages

• None provided yet

Pricing

Pricing starts at $50 per month for small projects

5. Oxylabs

Oxylabs allows you to use their proxy networks and scraper APIs to retrieve any data from the public web. Oxylab's network is among the biggest in the market, with over 12 million IPs globally.

They also provide specialized account managers and live assistance 24 hours a day. You can opt for seven days a week for crucial projects requiring high uptime. The service is also helpful for choices based on live data feeds.

It also applies to any disruption that requires immediate resolution. Oxylabs offers an eCommerce-specific Scraper API for obtaining location-specific and real-time search data.

Advantages

• Extensive proxy tool
• Global network coverage
• Great performance

Disadvantages

It is on the pricier side

Pricing

Residential proxies pricing is $5 per GB, while DataCenter proxies pricing is from $1.2 per IP

6. Retailgators

As the name suggests, Retailgators concentrate on retail data scraping. It is a DaaS solution in which you share the issue statement. The engineers determine how to get the data and solve the problem. Then you get the data after a few corrections and configurations.

They can handle dynamic websites like Walmart, Etsy, Amazon, and Aliexpress. Their technology can scrape data, including text, photos, links, etc.

You may also scrape all data utilizing navigations. You can use categories, product sites, or relevant pages to do this, depending on your needs.

Advantages

• Ease of use
• Campaign monitoring
• Mobile app scraping

Disadvantages

There have been none

Pricing

Not provided by the vendor

7. BrightData

Bright Data is one of the best online scraping firms. The code in it is adaptive to website changes and configurable scrapers. The features use Bright Data's IDE, Robot Process Automated Scraping solutions. You might use them on real-time or batch-wise scraping.

It is also wholly GDPR and CCPA compliant. This allows it to be used by organizations based in different countries. You can also scrape data from firms and individuals based on different continents. 

Bright Data's scraping architecture is cloud-based. It has minimum downtime, and its AI-based solutions arrange the scraped data.

Advantages

• It contributes significantly to the creation of scattered traffic.
• Port developments may interfere with Local Patterns Mining.
• Premium technical help will address your problems as quickly as feasible.

Disadvantages

• API documentation is difficult to comprehend.
• It is possible to mix services with other apps.

Pricing

Bright Data has a pay-as-you-go pricing plan. It also offers a seven-day free trial

8. WebScrapingAPI

My experience with WebScrapingAPI’s highly user-friendly interface has been undoubtedly one of my best. Furthermore, I don’t worry about the price since it has a starting price of $25 per month. That gives me a reasonably pocket-friendly experience with such an interface.

In addition, I get an advanced customization feature. WebScrapingAPI's advanced functionality allows you to change your queries. You may use this feature to tailor functions, such as IP geolocation, headers, and sticky sessions to your requirements.

Let me also mention that WebScrapingAPI has a transparent backend. Apart from providing every client’s knowledge base and API documentation, It has exceptional technical proficiency with over 100 million proxies. That means you can’t get blocked. Cool!

Moreover, WebScrapingAPI lets you activate Javascript rendering. How? Well, you can use a real browser and get the same information displayed to users. This includes single-page applications using AngularJS, React, Vue, or other libraries. How cool is that? 

Think about it this way. What users see is what you get. Talk about having a competitive edge right?

Further to that, WebScrapingAPI has an infrastructure that is built in Amazon Web Service. That means you have access to a secure, extensive, and reliable data center. And for what price? Only $49 per month. 

Honestly, how better can this deal get? You cannot resist what WebScrapingAPI offers.

Advantages:

• Capture data from any form of webpage
• Control over IP rotations, and Javascript rendering, among others
• Amazon Web Services built infrastructure
• Speed Obsessive Architecture
• High-quality services uptime 

Disadvantages

The disadvantages are yet to be found

Pricing

The starting plan is $25 per month. WebScrapingAPI has a 14-day free trial. You will have full access that is downgraded once the free trial ends.

It also offers you a 7-day return policy if you are unhappy with its services. You do not have to explain why you opt out of the service. How great is that? 

Why is WebscrapingAPI my pick:

I will say WebScrapingAPI is my pick for this one. Why? Because you get all your solutions in one API. While other competitors are compensating for their incapability to offer user-friendly interfaces, WebScrapingAPI has one of the best.

You just need to integrate it with your preferred language and customize your request in 30 seconds

Although it is cute, it is aggressive enough to get the job done.

Let’s not forget Its infrastructure is built on Amazon Web Services. How is this beneficial? Let me put it this way. If you want information on, for example, the very first programming language, would you have a better shot at finding it in a world library than a local library? 

Having AWS infrastructure access means you have access to the most reliable, extensive, and secure data store. You can deploy your tasks wherever and whenever. That is why companies like Deloitte and Perrigo trust WebScrapingAPI with their needs

Moreover, the customizability that WebScrapingAPI offers makes it one of the best tools. With simple mouse clicks, you can play with IP geo locations, headers, and sticky sessions to get the exact data you require. Cool, right?

What would you do with such data?

Think of it this way. You can use the tool to get competitive costs and offer better deals to your customers. An investor can also use the latest financial data to make financial investments to know if they will fail or succeed. 

Let's not forget about the pricing. For as little as $49 per month, you get access to next-generation infrastructure. Who doesn’t want affordable pricing for quality service? Hence, WebscrapingAPI is the most pocket-friendly web scraping tool out there. 

It is simple, affordable, and reliable to individuals, small businesses, and big enterprises. That makes it my top web data extraction tool out here! You get all the best features of a data extraction tool and saves you time and unwanted headaches.

Go ahead and give WebScrapingAPI a shot.