ScrapeOwl vs ScrapingBee (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ScrapingBee grades higher than ScrapeOwl: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
ScrapingBee grades higher on value for money and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ScrapeOwl
Web scraping API with residential proxies and JS rendering
ScrapingBee
Web scraping API with a Google search endpoint, priced by credits
Which one is for you
Pick ScrapeOwl if
- Fits if you need residential proxies and geo-targeting in a scraper
- Works for people who want to hook scraping to Zapier
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: only the 1,000 sign-up credits
- Watch out: the page does not say how many credits each request costs
- Watch out: Bootstrap has a best-effort SLA, and a guaranteed one starts at Startup, $99
- Skip it if you want site templates, because it is a general scraper
Pick ScrapingBee if
- Fits if you need to scrape the pages behind the results as well as Google itself
- Works for feeding web pages to AI agents as Markdown or JSON
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: JavaScript rendering is on by default and makes a request cost 5 credits instead of 1
- Watch out: a Google search costs 10 to 15 credits, so Hobby's 75,000 credits is 5,000 to 7,500 searches
- Skip it if you need Bing or other engines, as Google is the only search engine it lists
- Tight if your usage swings, since credits last a month and don't roll over
- Pricey if you need priority support or team management, which start at $249 a month
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAScrapeOwlFair | 2.4GPAScrapingBeeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$29 a month for 250,000 credits, in the middle of this category ($19 to $44.10). The credit cost per request is not on the page. | BHobby is $19 a month for 75,000 credits, inside this category's cheaper quarter. A Google search costs 10 to 15 credits, so that's 5,000 to 7,500 searches, about $2.50 to $3.80 per 1,000. |
| Free plan and trial | C1,000 credits on sign-up with no card, but it is not stated whether they renew. | CNo free plan: 1,000 API credits on sign-up with no card, around 70 to 100 Google searches. |
| Features | CElement extraction, residential proxies, geo-targeting, rendering and captcha avoidance. Each option is a separate request setting, so the real cost is unclear. | CHeadless Chrome, rotating proxies in more than 200 countries, CSS and AI extraction, and endpoints for Amazon, YouTube, ChatGPT and Gemini. For search data, though, Google is the only engine it lists. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. An API key and parameters to learn, though Zapier and Parabola help. | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: Python and Node.js SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server. No rating on record, and what a request costs changes with its options, with JavaScript rendering on by default. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with Zapier, Parabola, Integromat and Postman as the named connections. | BWeb, with an API, a CLI, SDKs and an MCP server, plus Make, n8n, Zapier and coding agents such as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | scraping with residential proxies | scraping pages and Google results on one key |
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: ScrapeOwl and ScrapingBee. How we grade
Price against what you get
ScrapeOwl starts at $29 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. ScrapingBee starts at $19 a month and scores 2.3.
ScrapingBee scores higher and starts $10 a month lower. Of the other SERP and SEO data APIs on the chart, 11 score higher than ScrapeOwl for less, and 2 score higher than ScrapingBee 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
| ScrapeOwl | ScrapingBee | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month for 250,000 credits | $19 per month for 75,000 API credits |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 1,000 free credits on sign-up, no credit card required. | 1,000 free API credits on sign-up, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ScrapeOwl | VostokInc |
| Price read from | scrapeowl.com | scrapingbee.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ScrapeOwl
- The pricing page does not say how many credits a request costs; options such as JS rendering and residential proxies are separate request parameters.
- Only the 1,000 sign-up credits are free, and the site does not say whether they renew.
- The Bootstrap plan has a best-effort SLA; a guaranteed SLA begins at Startup.
- Pages show a 2025 copyright date, so check that the service is current before committing.
ScrapingBee
- A request costs 1 credit at its simplest, 5 with JavaScript rendering (on by default), and 10 or 25 with premium proxies.
- A Google search costs 10 credits with Light Request enabled and 15 otherwise.
- Credits last one month and do not roll over; only successful requests are charged.
- Priority support, an account manager and team management start at the $249 Business plan.
Key features
ScrapeOwl
- Element extraction
- A request can name the elements to return, so no HTML parsing is needed; leaving the field empty returns the full page.
- Residential proxies and geo-targeting
- A premium_proxies option uses residential IPs, and a country can be set for localized results such as Amazon.fr and Amazon.ae.
- JavaScript rendering
- A render_js option runs Chrome instances, with optional custom JavaScript injected and screenshots for debugging.
- Captcha avoidance
- The homepage says requests avoid triggering captchas from Cloudflare, hCaptcha and Google reCAPTCHA.
- No-code connectors
- Requests can also be sent from Integromat, Parabola, Zapier and Postman as well as from cURL, Python, Ruby and Node.
ScrapingBee
- Headless browser rendering
- Pages load in headless Chrome, with waits for selectors, set viewports and headers, and scripted clicks, scrolls and form fills before the scrape.
- Proxy rotation and geotargeting
- Proxies rotate on every request, with premium and stealth proxies for harder sites and routing through more than 200 countries and territories.
- Google Search API
- A dedicated endpoint returns Google results as JSON, with organic results, ads, local results, related questions and related searches.
- AI and rule-based extraction
- Pull fields out with CSS or XPath rules, describe them in plain language with an AI query, or get any page back as clean Markdown.
- Ready-made scraper APIs
- Separate endpoints for Amazon, Walmart, YouTube, ChatGPT and Gemini answers, a sub-second search API and an employee search API.
- CLI, MCP server and SDKs
- A command-line tool, an MCP server and Python and Node.js SDKs connect the API to coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor.
Plans
ScrapeOwl
Bootstrap$29
per month for 250,000 credits
10 threads, best-effort SLA and basic support with a response within 24 hours.
Startup$99
per month for 1M credits
25 threads, a guaranteed SLA and priority support with a response within 8 hours.
Business$249
per month for 3M credits
50 threads, a guaranteed SLA and priority support with a response within 8 hours.
ScrapingBee
Hobby$19
per month for 75,000 API credits
25 concurrent requests, with JavaScript rendering, premium proxies, geotargeting, screenshots and the dedicated scraper APIs included.
Freelance$49
per month for 250,000 API credits
50 concurrent requests and the same features as Hobby.
Startup$99
per month for 1,000,000 API credits
100 concurrent requests and the same features as Hobby.
Business$249
per month for 3,000,000 API credits
200 concurrent requests, and adds priority email support, a dedicated account manager and team management.
Business +$599
per month for 8,000,000 API credits
400 concurrent requests with everything in Business.
Enterprise 14$999
per month for 14,000,000 API credits
500 concurrent requests. Larger Enterprise tiers run up to $5,799 a month for 120 million credits and 900 concurrent requests.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ScrapeOwl or ScrapingBee?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ScrapingBee is cheaper to start with: $19 a month, against $29 a month for ScrapeOwl. ScrapeOwl starts at $29 per month for 250,000 credits, and ScrapingBee starts at $19 per month for 75,000 API credits.
Which has a free plan, ScrapeOwl or ScrapingBee?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither ScrapeOwl nor ScrapingBee has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
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.