Scraper8 vs ScrapingBee
ScrapingBee charges 5–75 credits per request with multipliers. Scraper8 charges 1 credit per request — always. Here's the full breakdown.
The Credit Multiplier Problem
ScrapingBee uses credit multipliers that silently inflate your costs. A single JavaScript-rendered request costs 5 credits. Add a premium proxy and it's 10 credits. Need stealth mode? That's 75 credits for one request.
With Scraper8, every request is exactly 1 credit— whether it's a simple HTML page or a JavaScript-heavy site behind Cloudflare. No surprises on your bill.
| Feature | Scraper8 | ScrapingBee |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 50 requests/day | No free plan |
| Starting price | $0/month | $49/month |
| Credit multipliers | None — 1 request = 1 credit | 1x to 75x per request |
| JS rendering cost | 1 credit (included) | 5 credits per request |
| Stealth/premium proxy cost | 1 credit (included) | 10–75 credits per request |
| Effective requests on $49 plan | 50,000+ requests | ~1,000–10,000 (after multipliers) |
| Anti-bot bypass | Automatic 3-level escalation | Stealth proxy (extra credits) |
| Open source engine | Yes — self-host free | No |
| Auto engine selection | Yes — smart escalation | Manual parameter toggle |
| Domain intelligence | Learns per site over time | No |
| Batch scraping | Up to 100 URLs per request | Not available |
| Self-host option | pip install scraper8 | Cloud only |
Real Cost Comparison
Scraper8 — $9/month
- 50,000 requests/month
- All requests cost 1 credit
- JS rendering: 1 credit
- Stealth browser: 1 credit
- Cloudflare bypass: 1 credit
- = 50,000 actual page scrapes
ScrapingBee — $49/month
- 150,000 API credits/month
- Simple HTML: 1 credit
- JS rendering: 5 credits → 30,000 pages
- Premium proxy: 10 credits → 15,000 pages
- Stealth: 75 credits → 2,000 pages
- = 2,000–30,000 actual page scrapes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Scraper8 a good alternative to ScrapingBee?
Yes. Scraper8 offers the same core functionality — web scraping with JavaScript rendering and anti-bot bypass — but without credit multipliers. You get predictable pricing where every request costs exactly 1 credit, plus a free tier and an open source engine you can self-host.
Can I migrate from ScrapingBee to Scraper8?
Absolutely. Scraper8's API is a simple REST endpoint. Replace your ScrapingBee API calls with a POST to our /api/scraper8/scrape endpoint with your API key. The response includes parsed HTML, text, links, images, and metadata.
Does Scraper8 handle JavaScript rendering like ScrapingBee?
Yes. Scraper8 automatically detects when a page needs JavaScript rendering and escalates to a stealth browser — at no extra credit cost. With ScrapingBee, JS rendering costs 5x more credits.
Is Scraper8 really free?
Yes. The free plan gives you 50 requests/day (1,500/month) with all features included. No credit card required. The open source engine can also be self-hosted for unlimited free use.
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