ScrapeNinja vs ScraperAPI (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ScraperAPI grades higher than ScrapeNinja: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
ScraperAPI grades higher on ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ScrapeNinja
Scraping API with rotating proxies and Chrome fingerprinting
ScraperAPI
Web scraping API with Google search endpoints, priced in API credits
Which one is for you
Pick ScrapeNinja if
- Fits if you scrape sites that block simple requests and are comfortable writing JavaScript
- Works for people who want to test cheaply before paying
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a no-code scraper, since you write extractors yourself
- Tight if you stay free: 100 requests a month
- Watch out: a JavaScript-browser request counts as 7 points, so a plan covers a seventh as many
- Watch out: there is no pricing page on its own site, so you buy through a marketplace
Pick ScraperAPI if
- Fits if you scrape Google alongside Amazon, Walmart or eBay on one key
- Works for large batches that need retries and scheduling, through the async API or DataPipeline
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: a Google or Bing request costs 25 credits, so Hobby's 100,000 credits is about 4,000 searches
- Skip it if you need rankings outside the US and EU below Business at $269.10 a month
- Pricey if you need rendering, premium proxies or screenshots, which add 10 credits each
- Tight if you run out mid-month, as credits don't roll over and pay-as-you-go starts at Scaling, $427.50
- Tight if you're on Free, with 1,000 credits a month, about 40 Google searches
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAScrapeNinjaWeak | 2.2GPAScraperAPIFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$25 a month for 100,000 requests on APIRoad, inside the middle of this category ($19 to $44.10). Browser-engine requests cost 7 points each. | CHobby is $44.10 a month on yearly billing ($49 monthly), at the dear end of this category's usual range. A Google or Bing request is 25 credits, so 100,000 credits is about 4,000 searches, around $11 per 1,000. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free Basic plan with 100 requests a month, which the listing itself calls enough for testing. | CA 7-day trial of 5,000 credits with no card, then a free plan of 1,000 credits a month. At 25 credits a search, that's 40 Google searches. |
| Features | CChrome fingerprint emulation, two engines, proxies with retries and JavaScript extractors. It is a general scraper with no ready-made site templates. | CGoogle Search, Shopping, Maps, News and Jobs endpoints, Bing, rendering, async jobs and a no-code DataPipeline. The gap is in the listing: Hobby and Startup geotarget only the US and EU, and country targeting starts at Business, $269.10. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You write the requests and the extractors in JavaScript, through a marketplace key. | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: SDKs, a CLI and ready Google endpoints that need no rendering turned on. No rating on record, and credit costs stack up by site and option. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, and it is sold through APIRoad and RapidAPI. | BWeb, with an API, SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, plus LangChain, LlamaIndex, n8n and Zapier. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | scraping sites that block simple requests | Google results alongside shop and site scraping |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ScrapeNinja and ScraperAPI. How we grade
Price against what you get
ScrapeNinja starts at $25 a month and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. ScraperAPI starts at $44.10 a month and scores 2.3.
ScraperAPI scores higher, and starts $19.10 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other SERP and SEO data APIs on the chart, 12 score higher than ScrapeNinja for less, and 10 score higher than ScraperAPI for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| ScrapeNinja | ScraperAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $25 per month for 100,000 requests | $44.10 per month for 100K API credits, billed annually ($49 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Basic plan: 100 requests a month, $0. | Free plan after the trial: 1,000 API credits a month and 5 concurrent threads, no credit card needed. A Google or Bing request costs 25 credits. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial with 5,000 API credits, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ScrapeNinja | ScraperAPI |
| Price read from | apiroad.net (not the vendor's own page) | scraperapi.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ScrapeNinja
- Plans are bought on the APIRoad marketplace, and ScrapeNinja's own site has no pricing page of its own.
- Browser-engine requests cost 7 billing points each, so a plan covers about one seventh as many /scrape-js calls.
- The Basic plan has only 100 requests a month, which is enough for testing only.
- It is a general scraping API; there is no dedicated SERP endpoint or SEO metrics on the site.
ScraperAPI
- A Google or Bing request costs 25 credits, so Hobby's 100,000 credits cover about 4,000 Google searches.
- JavaScript rendering, premium proxies and screenshots each add 10 credits, and bypassing bot protection adds 10 more.
- Credits reset each billing cycle with no rollover; pay-as-you-go past the allowance starts at the Scaling plan.
- Hobby and Startup can only geotarget the US and EU; country-level targeting starts at Business.
Key features
ScrapeNinja
- Chrome fingerprint emulation
- Sends requests that emulate a real Chrome browser without running Puppeteer, to avoid blocks based on TLS fingerprints.
- Two network engines
- Switch between raw network requests for speed and a headless browser with JavaScript evaluation for pages that need it.
- Rotating proxies and retries
- Rotating datacenter proxies in the US, EU, Germany, France and Brazil, with retries based on timeouts, status codes and page text.
- JavaScript extractors
- Short JS snippets pull JSON out of HTML, and an online builder and Cheerio playground help write and test them.
- Premium proxies
- Premium datacenter proxies cost from $1.50 per GB and come with a 50MB gift package for each customer.
ScraperAPI
- Google structured data endpoints
- Ready-made endpoints return Google Search, Shopping, Maps, News and Jobs results as JSON, without needing JavaScript rendering turned on.
- Proxy rotation and anti-bot handling
- Rotating proxy pools, premium residential and mobile IPs, CAPTCHA handling and automatic retries, with geotargeting by country on Business and up.
- JavaScript rendering and screenshots
- Load dynamic pages in a headless browser, follow a rendering instruction set, and capture screenshots of the result.
- Asynchronous API and DataPipeline
- Submit up to 50,000 jobs that retry until they succeed, or schedule large scraping jobs in DataPipeline without writing code.
- AI Parser and LLM-ready output
- Train a custom parser to get clean JSON from any source, or ask for pages as text or Markdown for language model pipelines.
- MCP server and integrations
- An MCP server, a CLI and SDKs, with LangChain, LlamaIndex, n8n and Zapier integrations.
Plans
ScrapeNinja
Basic$0
100 requests per month.
Pro$25
per month for 100,000 requests
100,000 basic requests per month.
Ultra$75
per month for 500,000 requests
500,000 basic requests per month.
Mega$150
per month for 1,500,000 requests
1,500,000 basic requests per month.
ScraperAPI
Free$0
1,000 API credits a month and 5 concurrent threads, to keep scraping after the trial ends.
Hobby$44.10
per month for 100K API credits, billed annually ($49 billed monthly)
20 concurrent threads, geotargeting in the US and EU only, and 30 days of analytics history.
Startup$134.10
per month for 1M API credits, billed annually ($149 billed monthly)
50 concurrent threads, with US and EU geotargeting only.
Business$269.10
per month for 3M API credits, billed annually ($299 billed monthly)
100 concurrent threads, country-level geotargeting worldwide and unlimited analytics history.
Scaling$427.50
per month for 5M API credits, billed annually ($475 billed monthly)
200 concurrent threads, and the first plan with pay-as-you-go credits past the monthly allowance.
Professional$877.50
per month for 10.5M API credits, billed annually ($975 billed monthly)
300 threads and priority support. Advanced is $1,777.50 a month billed annually for 21.5M credits; Enterprise is custom above 22M.
Ways to pay less
ScrapeNinja
No public discounts listed.
ScraperAPI
- Annual discount
10% off with yearly billing
ScraperAPI's pricing page lists 10% off every self-serve plan when billed yearly: Hobby is $44.10 a month instead of $49.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ScrapeNinja or ScraperAPI?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ScrapeNinja is cheaper to start with: $25 a month, against $44.10 a month for ScraperAPI. ScrapeNinja starts at $25 per month for 100,000 requests, and ScraperAPI starts at $44.10 per month for 100K API credits, billed annually ($49 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, ScrapeNinja or ScraperAPI?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both ScrapeNinja and ScraperAPI have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.