Crawlbase review (2026): is it worth $99 a month?
Crawling API with built-in scrapers, Google SERP to JSON included
Crawlbase report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 24, 2026
Best for Google results and other sites as JSON, pay as you go
Crawlbase fetches pages through rotating residential proxies with CAPTCHA handling and returns raw HTML or JSON from 100+ built-in scrapers, Google search results among them, billed as you go or by monthly block. Heavily defended sites cost 1.5 to 20 times a standard request, JavaScript rendering doubles it, and subscriptions start at $99 a month.
Who Crawlbase is for
- Fits if your workload is uneven and suits pay as you go with a hard spending cap
- Works for developers who want Google, Bing and other sites as JSON from one API
Who Crawlbase is not for
- Watch out: heavily defended sites cost 1.5 to 20 times a standard request, applied automatically
- Watch out: JavaScript rendering doubles any request, screenshots cost 2 credits and stored pages 0.5 credits a month
- Pricey if you want a subscription, which starts at $99 a month for 200,000 credits
- Tight if your usage swings, since a subscription's credits reset monthly and use past them is billed as you go unless you turn it off
Why Crawlbase gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyPay as you go has no monthly fee and is billed per 1,000 requests, from $3.00 for the first 1,000 down to $0.02 at high volume. Subscriptions start at $99 a month for 200,000 credits, about $0.50 per 1,000, well above this category's $29.99 middle as a monthly bill.
- CFree plan and trialNo free plan: 1,000 credits on sign-up with no card, rising to 5,000 after some setup steps. They're a one-off, not a monthly allowance.
- BFeaturesGoogle results as JSON with organic results, ads, People Also Ask, the local pack and related searches, 100+ scrapers including Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yandex, JavaScript rendering, screenshots and an asynchronous crawler. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job.
- CEase of useJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: one API with built-in scrapers, and hard spending caps per account or workspace. No rating on record, and a request's cost changes with how defended the site is.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, with an API and a Web MCP server, plus Claude, Cursor, LangChain, Zapier and n8n. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Crawlbase's own pages on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/crawlbase#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/crawlbase.svg" alt="Crawlbase: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Crawlbase stands among SERP and SEO data APIs
Crawlbase's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 16 of the 38 other SERP and SEO data APIs we grade, and level with 14.
It stands best on features (B, above 26 of 38) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $99 a month, against a middle price of $29.49 for the category: 22 of the 25 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 39 SERP and SEO data APIs we grade, cut by the letter each got. Crawlbase’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 1 of 38, level with 19
- CFree plan and trialAbove 2 of 38, level with 32
- BFeaturesAbove 26 of 38, level with 11
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 38, level with 36
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 9 of 38, level with 29
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 26 SERP and SEO data APIs. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Crawlbase, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Crawlbase you would be making search results fetched at scale from many countries without being blocked. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $1,188 a year.
What you could not
- Search results fetched at scale from many countries without being blocked.
- It plugs into other products, Claude, Cursor and LangChain among them, and has an API.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Crawlbase’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Crawlbase?
Crawlbase is a web data platform whose Crawling API fetches pages through rotating residential proxies with CAPTCHA and block handling built in, and returns raw HTML or structured JSON from more than 100 built-in scrapers, Google search results among them. It also sells an asynchronous crawler, a rotating proxy endpoint and cloud storage, all drawing on one credit balance billed as you go or through a monthly subscription.
Worth knowing
- Without a subscription, pay as you go has no monthly fee and is billed in arrears per 1,000 requests, falling from $3.00 for the first 1,000 to $0.02 at high volume.
- Heavily defended sites cost 1.5 to 20 times a standard request, applied automatically, and JavaScript rendering doubles any request.
- A subscription's credits reset each month; use past them is billed as pay as you go unless you turn that off.
- Screenshots cost 2 credits each and stored pages 0.5 credits a month.
Key features
- Crawling API
- Fetches any page with rotating residential proxies, CAPTCHA and block handling included, optional JavaScript rendering in a real browser, and full-page screenshots.
- Google SERP Scraper
- Turns a Google search address into JSON with organic results, ads, People Also Ask, the local pack and related searches, at the same price as raw HTML.
- Built-in scrapers
- More than 100 scrapers return structured JSON from sites such as Amazon, Walmart, LinkedIn, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex and Tripadvisor.
- Enterprise Crawler
- Crawls asynchronously at scale and delivers the results to storage, for jobs too large to run request by request.
- Smart AI Proxy and Cloud Storage
- A single proxy endpoint that rotates residential IPs, and storage that keeps crawled pages for 0.5 credits a page a month.
- Spend caps and MCP server
- Set a hard spending cap on the account or a workspace, and give AI agents live web data through the Web MCP server.
Crawlbase pricing
As of Oct 23, 2026, Crawlbase is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $99 per month for 200,000 credits, billed monthly.
- Starts at
- $99 per month for 200,000 credits, billed monthly
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 1,000 free credits on sign-up, up to 5,000 after setup steps, no card needed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99per month for 200,000 credits, billed monthly | About $0.50 per 1,000 credits, or $1,089 a year with yearly billing. Use past the block continues as pay as you go. |
| Scale 500K | $199per month for 500,000 credits, billed monthly | About $0.40 per 1,000 credits, or $2,189 a year with yearly billing. |
| Scale 1M | $349per month for 1,000,000 credits, billed monthly | About $0.35 per 1,000 credits, or $3,839 a year with yearly billing. |
| Growth | $599per month for 2,000,000 credits, billed monthly | About $0.30 per 1,000 credits, or $6,589 a year with yearly billing. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom volume above 2 million credits a month, with SLAs and invoicing. Through sales. |
Read from crawlbase.com on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Crawlbase before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountOne month free with yearly billing
Crawlbase's pricing page says yearly billing gives one month free, about 8% off: Starter is $1,089 a year instead of $99 a month.
Stated on crawlbase.com
Works with
Crawlbase alternatives
- Crawlbase vs ScraperAPI
Free plan · from $44.10/mo
- Crawlbase vs ScrapingBee
Free trial · from $19/mo
- Crawlbase vs Zyte
Free trial · from $100/mo
- Crawlbase vs Scrapingdog
Free trial · from $40/mo
- Crawlbase vs ZenRows
Free plan · from $16/mo
Common questions
Does Crawlbase have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. Crawlbase is listed for Web.
Does Crawlbase have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. Crawlbase is listed for Web.
Is Crawlbase open source?
Crawlbase is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 23, 2026.
Does Crawlbase have an API?
Yes. Crawlbase offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026.