When it comes to web scraping at scale, choosing the right scraping API can make all the difference, whether you’re tracking prices, extracting SERP data, or collecting leads. Among the top contenders in the market are Scrapingbee, ScraperAPI, and Scrapingdog, each promising fast, reliable, and hassle-free data extraction. But how do they stack up in terms of performance, features, and cost?
In this article, we’ll break down their differences and help you decide which one best fits your scraping needs.
Criteria
We will test each product and compare them based on:
- Speed
- Success rate
- Support
- Scalability
- Developer friendly
We will test each API on these target websites.
We will use this Python code to test various APIs.
import requests
import time
import random
import urllib.parse
# List of search terms
amazon_urls = ["https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVSJ8YBX/","https://www.amazon.es/s?k=monitores","https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DGXR6FRP/","https://www.amazon.in/s?k=air+conditioner","https://www.amazon.es/s?k=rigoberta+bandini"]
walmart_urls = ["https://www.walmart.com/ip/Genuine-John-Deere-OEM-Filter-Kit-LG180/982108275","https://www.walmart.com/ip/Crest-3D-Whitestrips-Glamorous-White-At-Home-Teeth-Whitening-Kit-14-Treatments/46480251","https://www.walmart.com/ip/Crest-Pro-Health-Toothpaste-Advanced-White-for-Teeth-Whitening-2-Pack/1554705966","https://www.walmart.com/ip/Crest-Pro-Health-Toothpaste-Clean-Mint-4-3-oz/1315357918","https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Ibuprofen-Tablets-200-mg-Pain-Reliever-Fever-Reducer-40-Count/891884626"]
ebay_url = ["https://www.ebay.com/itm/306335193840","https://www.ebay.com/itm/186754878239","https://www.ebay.com/itm/176068005601","https://www.ebay.com/itm/183759998583","https://www.ebay.com/itm/316882974542"]
glassdoor_urls = ["https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/new-york-python-jobs-SRCH_IL.0%2C8_IC1132348_KO9%2C15.htm?clickSource=searchBox","https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Glassdoor-Reviews-E100431.htm","https://www.glassdoor.com.au/Salary/Reserve-Bank-of-Australia-Salaries-E8214.htm","https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/texas-us-data-engineer-jobs-SRCH_IL.0%2C8_IS1347_KO9%2C22.htm?includeNoSalaryJobs=true","https://www.glassdoor.co.in/Overview/Working-at-Eni-Spa-EI_IE3164.11,18.htm"]
google_serp_terms = ["shoes","burger","corona","cricket","tennis"]
base_url = "https://api.example.com/scrape"
API_key='Your-api-key'
total_requests = 10
success_count = 0
total_time = 0
for i in range(total_requests):
try:
search_term = random.choice(google_serp_terms)
params = {
"api_key": API_key,
"query": search_term
}
# url = base_url.format(query=search_term)
start_time = time.time()
response = requests.get(base_url,params=params)
end_time = time.time()
request_time = end_time - start_time
total_time += request_time
if response.status_code == 200:
success_count += 1
print(f"Request {i+1}: '{search_term}' took {request_time:.2f}s | Status: {response.status_code}")
except Exception as e:
print(f"Request {i+1} with '{search_term}' failed due to: {str(e)}")
# Final Stats
average_time = total_time / total_requests
success_rate = (success_count / total_requests) * 100
print(f"\n🔍 Total Requests: {total_requests}")
print(f"✅ Successful: {success_count}")
print(f"⏱️ Average Time: {average_time:.2f} seconds")
print(f"📊 Success Rate: {success_rate:.2f}%")
Scrapingbee
This web scraping tool can be used for scraping any website at scale.
Details
- They also provide 1000 free credits on signup.
- Per scrape cost starts from $0.000196 and drops below $0.000075 with a higher volume.
- Documentation is very clear and developer-friendly.
- Support is only available through email.
Testing the API with Amazon
Testing the API with Glassdoor
Testing the API with eBay
Testing the API with Walmart
Testing the API with Google
Test Summary
- While testing Scrapingbee on Amazon, we got a 100% success rate with an average response time of just 4.96 seconds.
- 0% success rate with an average response time of 4.99 seconds on Glassdoor.
- 100% success rate with an average response time of 8.98 seconds on eBay.
- 40% success rate with an average response time of 7.35 seconds on Walmart.
- A 90% success rate with a 16.28s average response time on Google, at that cost, only makes sense if budget isn’t a concern and performance doesn’t matter.
ScraperAPI
ScraperAPI is one of the oldest players in this industry, providing robust solutions for scraping websites.
Details
- ScraperAPI provides 5000 free credits on signup.
- The per-scrape cost starts from $0.00049 and drops below $0.000095 with higher volume.
- Documentation is very clear and can be easily integrated.
- Support is available through email only.
Testing the API with Amazon
Testing the API with Glassdoor
Testing the API with eBay
Testing the API with Walmart
Testing the API with Google
Test Summary
- While testing ScraperAPI on Amazon, we got a 100% success rate with an average response time of just 40.65 seconds. Response time was too high
- 100% success rate with an average response time of 20.48 seconds on Glassdoor.
- 100% success rate with an average response time of 8.28 seconds on eBay.
- 100% success rate with an average response time of 18.89 seconds on Walmart.
- With an 80% success rate and an average response time of 27.25 seconds, this API falls short of being reliable for SERP scraping.
Scrapingdog
Scrapingdog offers one of the best web scraping APIs. From a general web scraper to dedicated endpoints for multiple websites, this API becomes the best choice for web scraping.
Details
- Once you sign up, you get 1000 free credits for testing.
- Per scrape cost starts from $0.0002 and drops below $0.000063 with a higher volume.
- Scrapingdog provides clear documentation, and any developer can integrate the API very easily into their working environment. New video tutorials and blogs are regularly published to support you along the way.
- Customer support is available 24*7 to help you resolve any query related to the services offered.
Testing the API with Amazon
Testing the API with Glassdoor
Testing the API with eBay
Testing the API with Walmart
Testing API with Google
Test Summary
- While testing Scrapingdog on Amazon, we achieved a 100% success rate with an average response time of just 5.48 seconds.
- Achieved a 100% success rate with an average response time of 5.57 seconds on Glassdoor.
- Achieved a 100% success rate with an average response time of 5.91 seconds on eBay.
- Achieved a 100% success rate with an average response time of 4.48 seconds on Walmart.
- Scraped Google with a flawless 100% success rate and an impressively fast average response time of just 1.25 seconds.
Speed Comparison
Let’s visualize the time taken by the APIs on each domain.
Here are 3 key observations from the response time data:
- Scrapingdog consistently outperforms both ScraperAPI and Scrapingbee in terms of speed across all tested websites, especially on Google, with a remarkable 1.25s response time.
- ScraperAPI shows major latency, particularly with Amazon and Google, clocking over 40s and 27s, respectively, which could hinder performance in real-time applications.
- Scrapingbee is inconsistent — while fast on Amazon (4.96s), it failed on Glassdoor (0% success) and showed poor performance on Walmart (40% success despite a moderate 7.35s time), making it unreliable for diverse scraping needs.
Price Comparison
- Scrapingdog offers the most budget-friendly option, making it ideal for scaling projects affordably.
- Despite the competitive pricing, Scrapingdog maintained strong performance in both speed and reliability across tests.
- While ScraperAPI and Scrapingbee performed decently, their slightly higher costs may be better suited for specific use cases or integrations.
Conclusion
Choosing the right web scraping API isn’t just about cost, it’s about reliability, speed, and scalability. After testing Scrapingdog, ScraperAPI, and ScrapingBee across five high-demand websites (Amazon, Glassdoor, eBay, Walmart, and Google), the differences were clear.
Scrapingdog consistently delivered a 100% success rate across all tested websites with the fastest average response times. When paired with its highly affordable $0.058 per 1K requests on the Premium plan, it offers exceptional value, especially for users who care about both performance and budget.
ScraperAPI performed well in terms of success rate but suffered from noticeably slower response times across most websites, which could become a bottleneck for high-frequency use cases. Its $0.095/1K requests rate is also the highest among the three.
ScrapingBee showed inconsistent reliability, including a 0% success rate on Glassdoor and 40% on Walmart, despite faster response times on some sites. Priced at $0.0748/1K requests, it may not justify the cost for critical scraping needs without performance guarantees.
In short:
- If you’re looking for speed, reliability, and cost-efficiency, Scrapingdog stands out.
- ScraperAPI could be a solid choice if you’re okay with slower responses.
- ScrapingBee may require careful evaluation depending on your target domains.
💡 Pro Tip: Before committing to any provider, always test their free or trial tier to see how it handles your real-world scraping needs.
