The best replacement for a credit-based scraping API depends on what's going wrong: credits draining on hard targets, country limits, concurrency caps or no real free plan to test. Check your own target sites on both tools before switching, because credit maths varies widely by site and options.
One credit for an ordinary page. Twenty-five for a Google search. Seventy-five for an ultra premium rendered request. That's the spread ScraperAPI's own docs describe, and it's why so many developers who picked it for its one-line API end up searching for alternatives: the plan sounded big, and the pages ran out early.
If that's you, this page is built around the complaint, not the brand. I've grouped nine scraping tools by the problem each one answers, listed them in no particular order, and put a quick way to check your own numbers before you move anything.
Why a credit total isn't a page count
ScraperAPI is a capable product. It's a web scraping API with synchronous and asynchronous endpoints, JavaScript rendering, structured data endpoints, DataPipeline, a Crawler and an AI Parser, and it handles proxies and blocks for you. The friction is in how usage is counted. According to ScraperAPI's docs as of Nov 2026, a request uses a different number of credits depending on the target and the options:
- An ordinary page: 1 credit.
- Ecommerce domains: 5 credits.
- Bot-protected domains: 10 extra credits.
- Google or Bing: 25 credits; LinkedIn: 30.
- Premium proxies or rendering: 10 each; ultra premium: 30; ultra premium with rendering: 75.
So a plan that sounds generous can cover far fewer real pages than the headline suggests if your targets are search engines or protected sites. The same docs offer an endpoint that reports how many credits a given URL and set of options will use. Run your top five target sites through it before you compare anything else.
Three other limits push people away. Geotargeting is US and EU only on the lower self-serve plans and global on the higher ones. Concurrency is a plan feature, so scraping more pages in parallel means moving up a tier. And the free offer is a time-limited trial, not a standing free plan. One more thing worth watching: a banner on its home page and plans page says ScraperAPI has acquired Traject Data. Ownership changes don't break products overnight, but keep an eye on the terms.
My advice before you switch
Don't move on a hunch. Take the five sites you scrape most, note the options each needs, and work out what a month of your real traffic uses on your current plan. Then do the same on two alternatives. Credit maths is different everywhere, and a tool that looks lighter on ordinary pages can be heavier on the exact targets you care about.
If your problem is a handful of specific sites, a ready-made scraper for those sites is often easier than a general API. If it's sheer volume and you've got the engineers, an open-source library with your own proxies takes per-request charges off the table. And keep your scraping calls behind one small function in your own code, so the next switch takes an afternoon.
Nine scraping tools, in no particular order
Apify
Best for: Teams that would rather run a ready-made scraper, called an Actor, from a large store, with proxy rotation and an MCP server for agents.
Bright Data
Best for: Large jobs that keep hitting blocks and CAPTCHAs, using an unblocking API inside a bigger platform with SERP, browser and site-specific scraper APIs.
Crawlee
Best for: Developers in JavaScript or Python happy to run their own crawler, with a free open-source library that handles blocking, proxies and browsers.
Decodo
Best for: Testing a web data API with scrape, map, crawl and search endpoints, plus a big set of pre-built templates and a video downloader.
HasData
Best for: Projects needing Google SERP, Google Maps or Amazon data through dedicated APIs, with docs, a CLI and an MCP server.
Scrapfly
Best for: Scrapers that need JavaScript rendering and residential or datacenter proxies across many countries, plus cloud browser, screenshot and crawler APIs.
ScrapingBee
Best for: Developers who want AI data extraction, a markdown scraper, screenshots and JavaScript scenarios from one API, with a vendor claim of zero data retention.
Spider
Best for: Crawling, scraping and searching through one API backed by its own browser engine and proxy network, with results streamed back as markdown.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
ZenRows
Best for: AI agent builders who want fetch, extract, crawl, browser, monitor, batch and search primitives, with SDKs for Python, Node and Go.
Side by side
| Tool | Type | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Apify | Ready-made scrapers | Picking a ready-built scraper for one site |
| Bright Data | Unblocker API and proxy platform | Wide proxy and country coverage when geotargeting is the limit |
| Crawlee | Open-source library | Running scrapers yourself with no per-request vendor charge |
| Decodo | Scraping API with templates | A free plan to test, plus templates for common sites |
| HasData | Scraping API with a free plan | A standing free plan and written credit rules |
| Scrapfly | Scraping API and cloud browser | Rendering and many countries on each request, per the vendor |
| ScrapingBee | Scraping API with AI extraction | Trying without a card and getting markdown output |
| Spider | Crawler API | Markdown results and wide country coverage |
| ZenRows | Web data platform for agents | Agent-ready building blocks and batch runs for long URL lists |
Which tool answers which complaint
If you want usage you can predict
Start by taking the vendor out of every request. Crawlee is a free, open-source library for JavaScript and Python, so you run it, bring your own proxies and pay nobody per page. Apify sits in the middle: instead of a generic API with multipliers, you pick a ready-made scraper for the site you need from its store of Actors. Our guide to web scraping APIs covers more of the general-purpose options.
If country coverage is the limit
These lean on large proxy networks. Bright Data puts its Web Unlocker inside a wider platform with SERP and browser APIs and datasets. Scrapfly says it covers residential and datacenter proxies across a long list of countries, with rendering and AI extraction on every request. Spider runs its own browser engine and proxy network and streams results back as markdown.
If you need a real free plan to test
Testing on your actual targets matters more than any feature list, so a standing free plan helps. HasData lists a free plan the vendor describes as free forever with a monthly request allowance, and its docs explain how requests use credits and concurrency. Decodo advertises a free plan and says you're charged by request complexity through one API. ScrapingBee offers free scraper API credits with no card required, as of Nov 2026.
If you're feeding AI agents
Some scraping tools now ship building blocks for agents rather than a single endpoint. ZenRows splits its platform into primitives such as fetch, extract, crawl, browser and batch, with an MCP server, which suits long URL lists going into an AI pipeline. If you're weighing tools that turn pages into clean text for language models, our list of tools for turning web pages into AI-ready data goes deeper on that job.
Do you make a web scraping API or crawler? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Frequently asked questions
Why do my scraping API credits run out so fast?
Because many APIs charge different credit amounts per request. Search engines, protected sites, premium proxies and rendering can each multiply the credits a single page uses, so a plan's credit total isn't the number of pages you'll get.
How do I compare scraping APIs fairly?
Take your real target sites and options, check what each request uses on each vendor, and multiply by your monthly volume. Run a small live test too, because success rates differ by site.
Is there a free alternative to a commercial scraping API?
An open-source scraping library is free to use, but you run it and supply your own proxies. Several APIs also list a free plan or free credits; check the vendor's page for the current terms.
Do I need residential proxies to scrape?
Not for every site. Ordinary pages often work without them, but heavily protected sites and country-specific results usually need residential or premium proxies, which tend to use more credits.
Is web scraping legal?
It depends on what you collect, where you are and the site's terms. Requirements vary by country, so check with your data protection regulator and take legal advice for anything involving personal data.
Can I switch scraping APIs without rewriting my code?
Yes, if you plan for it. Keep every scraping call behind one small function in your own code, so a new provider means changing that function rather than your whole project.
