Best Scraping & Crawling APIs

Best overall: ScrapFly

██████▓░░░ 68 / 100 data score

ScrapFly is a web scraping API that handles JavaScript rendering, anti-bot bypass, CAPTCHA solving, and proxy rotation across 190+ countries, targeting use cases from price monitoring and e-commerce data to AI training and SERP analysis. Paid plans start at $30/month with a free tier of 1,000 credits, self-serve signup, and no sales call required. SDKs are available for Python, TypeScript, Go, and Rust, with OAuth2 and API key auth, webhooks, and an MCP server. ScrapFly holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR certifications, and screens roughly 30% of signup requests through KYC before activation.

From $30 month.

How it stacks up

• ✓ Bright Data Web Scraper API offers a free tier while ScrapFly does not, so Bright Data Web Scraper API is easier to trial before committing.
• ✓ ScrapFly starts lower at $30 per month vs $49 for Oxylabs.
• ✓ Apify starts lower at $29 per month vs $30 for ScrapFly.

Best for: Regulated or enterprise workloads - compliance attestations and an enterprise plan; AI agents and automation - an agent-ready surface (MCP / llms.txt); Teams needing broad API coverage out of the box.

The catch: Polished SDKs and the broadest compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA), but every account is screened by KYC before activation and there is no recurring free tier.

ScrapFly profile → · ScrapFly vs Bright Data Web Scraper API →

At a glance

Quick pick by use case

If you only have thirty seconds, find your situation:

• If you want the strongest all-round pick, pick ScrapFly - our default pick: strongest across pricing, trust and breadth.
• If you want to start free, pick Bright Data Web Scraper API - free tier: 5,000 records/month recurring free allowance; no credit card required; renews on the 1st….
• If you're buying for a regulated or large team, pick ScrapFly - for regulated or large teams: SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, enterprise plan.
• If you want the lowest published entry price, pick Firecrawl - from $16 month to start; compare on your real usage, not the entry price.
• If you're wiring this into coding agents or AI workflows, pick ScrapFly - easiest to wire up programmatically: MCP server + llms.txt.
• If you want the broadest documented surface, pick Apify - 88 documented actions; breadth isn't quality, but it's the most to build on.

The picks in depth

• #1 ScrapFly

  ██████▓░░░ 68 / 100
  • Best overall
  • Best for enterprise
  • Best for agents

  ScrapFly is a web scraping API that handles JavaScript rendering, anti-bot bypass, CAPTCHA solving, and proxy rotation across 190+ countries, targeting use cases from price monitoring and e-commerce data to AI training and SERP analysis. Paid plans start at $30/month with a free tier of 1,000 credits, self-serve signup, and no sales call required. SDKs are available for Python, TypeScript, Go, and Rust, with OAuth2 and API key auth, webhooks, and an MCP server. ScrapFly holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR certifications, and screens roughly 30% of signup requests through KYC before activation.

  PricingSubscription · from $30 month · free tier ✗

  TrustSOC 2 Type II · HIPAA · GDPR · ISO 27001

  Does

  • JavaScript rendering
  • Residential proxies
  • Structured / AI extraction
  • Site crawling
  • SERP scraping
  • Anti-bot bypass

  Strengthstransparent public pricing · self-serve signup · SOC 2 Type II

  The catchPolished SDKs and the broadest compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA), but every account is screened by KYC before activation and there is no recurring free tier.

  ScoresAgent 65 · Pricing 85 · Setup 60 · Docs 45 · Procurement 85 · Trust 70

  ScrapFly profile →

• #2 Bright Data Web Scraper API

  ███████▓░░ 78 / 100
  • Best free pick

  Bright Data Web Scraper API is a REST-based web scraping service covering common extraction jobs such as price monitoring, e-commerce data, SERP results, real estate, and AI training data, with built-in proxy rotation across 195 countries, JavaScript rendering, and anti-bot bypass. Pricing starts at $1.50 per 1,000 records on a subscription model with a free tier of 5,000 records per month, self-serve signup, and no sales call required. The API supports Python, JavaScript, and CLI SDKs, offers webhooks and an MCP server, and holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and GDPR compliance certifications with a published SLA.

  PricingSubscription · from $1.50 1,000 records · free tier ✓

  TrustSOC 2 Type II · GDPR · ISO 27001

  Does

  • JavaScript rendering
  • Residential proxies
  • Structured / AI extraction
  • Site crawling
  • SERP scraping
  • Anti-bot bypass

  Used byBitget, Kernel, Raylu, Remazing GmbH

  Strengthstransparent public pricing · a free tier · self-serve signup

  The catchThe most capable scraper with 876+ prebuilt scrapers and the largest proxy pool, but residential-proxy access requires a live-video KYC and compliance review, and certain targets are blocked.

  ScoresAgent 65 · Pricing 100 · Setup 85 · Docs 45 · Procurement 100 · Trust 75

  Bright Data Web Scraper API profile →

• #3 Oxylabs

  ███████░░░ 71 / 100

  Oxylabs is a proxy and web scraping platform backed by 175M+ residential and datacenter IPs, used for AI training and RAG, e-commerce, marketing intelligence, and cybersecurity data collection. The REST API supports basic and API-key auth, webhooks, two SDKs, and an official MCP server. Pricing is published and self-serve on a hybrid model from $49/month, with 2,000 results free. It holds SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and ISO 27001. Used by Trivago, Forbes, and the European Commission.

  PricingHybrid · from $49 month · free tier ✓

  TrustSOC 2 Type II · GDPR · ISO 27001

  Does

  • JavaScript rendering
  • Residential proxies
  • Structured / AI extraction
  • Anti-bot bypass

  Used byTrivago, Forbes, European Commission, Stanford University

  Strengthstransparent public pricing · a free tier · self-serve signup

  ScoresAgent 55 · Pricing 100 · Setup 80 · Docs 35 · Procurement 100 · Trust 55

  Oxylabs profile →

• #4 Apify

  • Broadest surface

  Apify is a cloud platform for web scraping, browser automation, and AI-agent data collection, built around reusable Actors. The REST API offers API-key auth, webhooks, four SDKs, and an official MCP server. Pricing is published and self-serve on a hybrid model: $5 of platform usage free each month, then plans from $29/month. It holds SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and a published SLA. Used by Groupon, Intercom, and the European Commission.

  PricingHybrid · from $29 month · free tier ✓

  TrustSOC 2 Type II · GDPR

  Used byGroupon, Intercom, European Commission

  Strengthstransparent public pricing · a free tier · self-serve signup

  Apify profile →

• #5 Crawlbase

  ███████▒░░ 76 / 100

  Crawlbase is a web data infrastructure platform, launched in 2017, that provides scraping and crawling APIs for developers, enterprises, and AI/LLM training pipelines, with support for JavaScript rendering, CAPTCHA solving, anti-bot bypass, and structured data extraction. It draws on 140 million rotating residential proxies and 98 million datacenter proxies across 195 countries for geo-targeting. Pricing starts at $3 per 1,000 requests with a free tier of 1,000 requests requiring no credit card, and the REST API ships with SDKs for seven languages including Python, Node.js, and Go. Notable customers include Intel, Airbnb, Shopify, and Expedia, and a published SLA and GDPR compliance are in place.

  PricingHybrid · from $3 1,000 requests · free tier ✓

  TrustGDPR

  Does

  • JavaScript rendering
  • Residential proxies
  • Structured / AI extraction
  • Site crawling
  • SERP scraping
  • Anti-bot bypass

  Used byIntel, Pinterest, Airbnb, Honda

  Strengthstransparent public pricing · a free tier · self-serve signup

  Avoid ifYou have strict compliance requirements

  ScoresAgent 75 · Pricing 100 · Setup 85 · Docs 60 · Procurement 100 · Trust 35

  Crawlbase profile →

• #6 Diffbot

  ██████▓░░░ 67 / 100

  Diffbot turns the web into structured data for AI, with products for market intelligence, news monitoring, machine learning, and e-commerce, including a knowledge graph. The REST API offers API-key auth, webhooks, eleven SDKs, and an official MCP server. Pricing is published and self-serve on a hybrid model from $299/month, with 10,000 credits free each month. It is GDPR compliant. Used by Snapchat, AstraZeneca, Klarna, and Indeed.

  PricingHybrid · from $299 month · free tier ✓

  TrustGDPR

  Does

  • Structured / AI extraction
  • Site crawling

  Used bySnapchat, AstraZeneca, Klarna, Indeed

  Strengthstransparent public pricing · a free tier · self-serve signup

  Avoid ifYou have strict compliance requirements

  ScoresAgent 55 · Pricing 100 · Setup 75 · Docs 55 · Procurement 100 · Trust 15

  Diffbot profile →

• #7 Firecrawl

  ███████▓░░ 78 / 100
  • Cheapest to start

  Firecrawl is a REST API to search, scrape, and crawl the web at scale, built for AI agents, RAG pipelines, deep research, and lead enrichment, turning sites into LLM-ready data. It uses API-key auth, webhooks, six SDKs, and an official MCP server. Pricing is published and self-serve: 1,000 credits/month free, with subscriptions from $16/month. It carries SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and a published SLA. Used by Shopify, Canva, and Zapier.

  PricingSubscription · from $16 month · free tier ✓

  TrustSOC 2 Type II · GDPR

  Does

  • Structured / AI extraction
  • Site crawling
  • SERP scraping

  Used byShopify, Lovable, Canva, Zapier

  Strengthstransparent public pricing · a free tier · self-serve signup

  ScoresAgent 65 · Pricing 100 · Setup 85 · Docs 55 · Procurement 100 · Trust 60

  Firecrawl profile →

• #8 Bright Data Web Unlocker

  ██████▓░░░ 68 / 100

  Bright Data Web Unlocker automates access to bot-protected sites, rotating IPs and user agents and solving CAPTCHAs so scrapers can reach JavaScript-heavy and blocked content. The REST API uses API-key or basic auth, webhooks, two SDKs, and an official MCP server. Pricing is published and self-serve at about $1.50 per 1,000 results, with $5 of free credit. It carries SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and ISO 27001 with a published SLA. Used by Shopee and Under Armour.

  PricingHybrid · from $1.50 1,000 results · free tier ✗

  TrustSOC 2 Type II · GDPR · ISO 27001

  Does

  • JavaScript rendering
  • Anti-bot bypass

  Used byBitget, Shopee, Convert Group, Under Armour

  Strengthstransparent public pricing · self-serve signup · SOC 2 Type II

  Avoid ifYou want to try it free before paying

  ScoresAgent 65 · Pricing 85 · Setup 55 · Docs 45 · Procurement 85 · Trust 75

  Bright Data Web Unlocker profile →

See all 16 Scraping & Crawling APIs compared →

How we rank

The headline score is the average of six 0-100 axes computed only from each API’s published, sourced fields: agent-friendliness, pricing transparency, setup speed, docs quality, procurement ease, and trust readiness. An unknown signal scores 0 for its axis - we credit what’s confirmed, never guess. The score is one input, not the verdict: we lead with each pick’s trade-off, and where a job has only one real option we say so rather than crown it. Full method on the methodology page.

Why trust apio

• ✓ Every field cited. Each profile links the source for every claim - check us.
• ✓ Public audit log. Every change to this data is recorded per field, with who changed it and why.
• ✓ Published, deterministic methodology. The score is a formula over the same fields you can see - recompute it yourself.
• ✓ Zero affiliate links, zero ads, zero paid placement. Money never moves rank.
• ✓ No reviews yet - and we say so rather than synthesizing them.

Frequently asked questions