ScrapingBee is a decent web scraping API, but its credit multipliers is headache. A plain request costs 1 credit, JavaScript rendering costs 5, premium proxies with JavaScript cost 25, and stealth proxies cost 75.
Because JavaScript rendering is on by default, most requests cost 5 credits, so a plan’s credit total says little about how many pages you can actually scrape.
This guide compares ScrapingBee alternatives on the things that make people switch.
What 10,000 and 100,000 JavaScript Requests Cost
Credit totals aren’t comparable across APIs, because each one charges a different number of credits per request. I’ve converted them into dollars for successful JavaScript-rendered requests with standard proxies, on the cheapest monthly plan that covers the volume.
| API | Credits per JS request | 10K requests/month | 100K requests/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekflare | 1 (rendering included) | $19 (Starter) | $69 (Growth) |
| ScrapingBee | 5 | $19 (Hobby) | $99 (Startup) |
| ZenRows | 5 | $29 (Build 80K) | $99 (Launch 500K) |
| Scrapfly | 6 (1 + 5) | $30 (Discovery) | $100 (Pro) |
| ScraperAPI | 10 | $49 (Hobby) | $149 (Startup) |
| Scrapingdog | 5 | $40 (Lite) | $90 (Standard) |
| Scrape.do | 5 | $29 (Hobby) | $99 (Pro) |
| Zyte API | Priced per site tier | From $10.10 pay as you go | From about $101 |
| Bright Data Web Unlocker | Flat per request | $15 pay as you go | $150 pay as you go |
| Oxylabs | Flat per result | $15 of usage on a $30 plan | About $130 to $150 |
| Firecrawl | 1 per page | $44 (Hobby + extra credits) | $99 (Standard) |
Two things…
At 10,000 requests, Geekflare and ScrapingBee cost the same.
The gap opens with scale and with premium proxies. A JavaScript request through a premium proxy costs 25 credits on ScrapingBee and 5 on Geekflare.
Best ScrapingBee Alternatives
Geekflare
Geekflare Web Scraping API is the closest replacement for ScrapingBee with the simple pricing. Every scrape costs 1 credit whether or not the page needs JavaScript, because the API decides on its own when to render. A premium proxy adds 4 credits.
It covers most of what ScrapingBee users rely on like JavaScript rendering, Markdown and text output, CSS and XPath extraction, ready-made product and contact templates, AI extraction, country targeting, device emulation, and ad blocking. The same API key and credit pool also cover screenshots, search, PDF generation, and 10 other APIs, and we have an MCP server for AI agents.
Our test
On TestingURL.dev, a page whose products only appear after JavaScript runs came back as Markdown with all 10 products in 4.5 seconds, with rendering switched on automatically. A CSS schema returned 10 products as JSON in 4.0 seconds, the product template returned title, brand, rating, price, and stock with no selectors, an AI question about the price answered “$86.00”.
Moving from ScrapingBee
| ScrapingBee parameter | Geekflare equivalent |
|---|---|
render_js | renderJS (automatic by default) |
return_page_markdown, return_page_text | format: ["markdown"] or ["text"] |
extract_rules | extractionMode: "cssSchema" with extractionSchema |
ai_query, ai_extract_rules | aiPrompt with type prompt or schema |
premium_proxy, country_code | proxyMode, proxyCountry |
stealth_proxy | stealth: true |
wait (ms) | waitTime (seconds) |
device, block_ads | device, blockAds (on by default) |
screenshot | Separate Screenshot API, 5 credits |
wait_for, js_scenario | No direct equivalent |
For a side-by-side of both products, see ScrapingBee vs. Geekflare.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Free gives you 500 credits a month.
- Starter is $19/month for 10,000 credits.
- Growth is $69/month for 100,000.
- Business is $349/month for 1,000,000.
Credit packs from $10 for 5,000 credits, valid for a year.
ZenRows
ZenRows uses almost the same credit math as ScrapingBee, 5 credits for JavaScript rendering and 25 with premium proxies, so switching is mostly a matter of renaming parameters.
Its free plan is 5,000 credits a month. It offers screenshots, Markdown and plain-text output, CSS extraction, and an extract option that returns structured JSON without selectors and a MCP server. Country targeting requires premium proxies, which raises the cost of geo-specific scraping.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Free: 5,000 credits a month.
- Build: from $19/month for 45,000 credits.
- Launch: from $69/month for 250,000 credits.
Scrapfly
Scrapfly suits developers who want scraping request control. Requests cost 1 credit on datacenter proxies, plus 5 for JavaScript rendering, and its anti-scraping protection upgrades proxies automatically when a site blocks you.
The trade-off is predictability. Anti-scrapnig protection has no fixed price, and bandwidth above 1 MB for plain requests or 3 MB for rendered pages adds credits. It includes screenshots, an extraction API, and an MCP server.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Free: 1,000 credits.
- Discovery: $30/month for 200,000 credits.
- Pro: $100/month for 1,000,000 credits.
ScraperAPI
ScraperAPI is one of the oldest scraping APIs, with structured endpoints for Google and Amazon and a hosted MCP server.
It’s the most expensive here for JavaScript-heavy work, because rendering costs 10 credits per request. Bypassing Cloudflare and similar protection adds 10 more, and sites like Google and LinkedIn have higher fixed costs. On the two cheapest plans, geotargeting is limited to the US and EU.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Hobby is $49/month for 100,000 credits.
- Startup is $149/month for 1,000,000 credits.
Scrapingdog
Scrapingdog pairs a general scraping API with many dedicated endpoints for Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, and other sites.
Its credit costs match ScrapingBee’s for rendering (5) and premium proxies with rendering (25). Geotargeting costs 10 credits, AI parsing adds 10, and screenshots cost 5. Credits roll over on Standard plans and above.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Lite: $40/month for 200,000 credits.
- Standard: $90/month for 1,000,000 credits.
Scrape.do
Scrape.do is a low-cost option that keeps nearly every feature on every plan.
It charges 5 credits for rendering on datacenter proxies and 25 with residential proxies and rendering. It doesn’t charge for failed requests, and it supports geotargeting in more than 160 countries.
Some sites carry fixed costs, from 10 credits for Google to 200 for the hardest targets.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Hobby: $29/month for 250,000 credits.
- Pro: $99/month for 1,250,000 credits.
Zyte API
Zyte API prices each request by how hard the target site is, instead of by the features you switch on.
Zyte assigns every site one of five tiers automatically. A browser-rendered request on an easy tier 1 site costs $1.01 per 1,000 on pay as you go, while a tier 5 site costs $16.08 per 1,000. Unsuccessful responses and rate limiting are free, and AI extraction, screenshots, and a hosted MCP server are available.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Pay as you go, or monthly commitments of $100, $200, or $500 with lower rates.
- Browser-rendered requests from $1.01 to $16.08 per 1,000, depending on the site tier.
Bright Data Web Unlocker
Bright Data Web Unlocker is the option for heavily protected sites. It charges a flat price per successful request and includes full browser rendering on every plan.
It runs on one of the largest proxy networks available, so it suits targets where other APIs get blocked. It has a free tier of 5,000 requests a month and an MCP server. For scripted interactions, Bright Data points you to its separate Scraping Browser product.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Pay as you go: $1.50 per 1,000 requests.
- Scale: $499/month for 383,000 requests.
Oxylabs Web Scraper API
Oxylabs Web Scraper API charges per result rather than per credit, with JavaScript rendering on custom sites at $1.50 per 1,000 results on the entry tier.
It includes AI parsing for $3 per 1,000, Markdown and JSON output, and an MCP server. One subscription covers all Oxylabs products. Its pricing pages don’t list a free plan, only $5 in welcome credits.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Starter: $30/month. Basic: $100/month. Flexible: $500/month.
- JavaScript rendering from $1.50 per 1,000 results, lower at volume.
Firecrawl
Firecrawl is built for AI applications to convert web page into LLM-ready Markdown. Each page costs 1 credit, and JSON extraction adds 4.
It’s open source, so you can self-host it, and it includes search, screenshots, and a hosted MCP server. Its plans include far fewer credits than ScrapingBee’s, so at 10,000 pages a month you’d need extra credits on the Hobby plan or the $99 Standard plan.
Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
Pricing
- Hobby: $19/month ($16 yearly) for 5,000 credits.
- Standard: $99/month for 100,000 credits.
See how Geekflare is better than Firecrawl.
How to Choose a ScrapingBee Alternative
- If most of your pages need JavaScript, compare the cost per rendered request, not the plan’s credit total. That’s where flat pricing like Geekflare’s pays off.
- If you scrape heavily protected sites, look at the premium proxy price and success rate. Bright Data, Zyte, and Scrapfly’s ASP are built for hard targets.
- If you only scrape a few thousand pages a month, free tiers from ZenRows, Bright Data, Firecrawl, and Geekflare may cover you entirely.
If you’d rather run ready-made scrapers than call an API, see our list of Apify alternatives.
If you’re still deciding whether a scraping API is the right approach at all, read our comparison of web scraping vs. API.
Good to Know
What is the best ScrapingBee alternative?
For most users, the Geekflare Web Scraping API, because every request costs 1 credit with JavaScript rendering included and one credit pool covers 14 APIs.
How many credits does ScrapingBee charge for JavaScript rendering?
JavaScript rendering costs 5 credits per request, and it’s on by default. Premium proxies with rendering cost 25 credits, and stealth proxies cost 75.
Is there a free ScrapingBee alternative?
Several have free plans. ZenRows gives 5,000 credits a month, Bright Data Web Unlocker 5,000 requests a month, Firecrawl 1,000 credits a month, and Geekflare 500 credits a month.
Which ScrapingBee alternative is cheapest?
It depends on volume. At 10,000 JavaScript requests a month, Geekflare and ScrapingBee both cost $19. At 100,000, Geekflare’s $69 Growth plan is the cheapest monthly plan.
How hard is it to migrate from ScrapingBee?
For most scrapers, it’s a parameter rename. JavaScript rendering, Markdown output, CSS extraction, AI extraction, and country targeting all have equivalents in the main alternatives.
