Web scraping APIs have gotten expensive. ScrapingBee starts at $49/month. ScraperAPI at $49. Apify charges per compute unit. If you're a solo developer or small team, those prices add up fast.
Here's an honest pricing comparison of the major players — and the cheapest option that doesn't sacrifice quality.
| Service | Starter Plan | Requests | Cost/Request | Browser Rendering |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ExtractAPI | $9/month | 5,000 | $0.0018 | ✅ Included |
| ScrapingDog | $20/month | 100,000 | $0.0002 | ❌ Extra |
| ScraperAPI | $49/month | 5,000 | $0.0098 | ✅ Included |
| ScrapingBee | $49/month | 5,000 credits | $0.0098 | ✅ Included |
| Apify | $49/month | ~5,000 | ~$0.01 | ✅ Via actors |
| Bright Data | $500/month | Pay per GB | Variable | ✅ Included |
Most scraping APIs charge extra for JavaScript rendering. ScrapingDog's $20 plan seems cheap until you realize browser rendering costs extra credits. ExtractAPI includes full Chromium rendering in every plan — no surcharge, no credit multipliers. If you're scraping SPAs, React apps, or any modern website, that matters.
Absolute cheapest per request: ScrapingDog at $20 for 100,000 requests. But: those are lightweight HTTP requests without browser rendering. Real-world costs are higher.
Best value with browser rendering: ExtractAPI at $9/month for 5,000 browser-rendered requests. The only sub-$10 plan with real Chromium support.
Enterprise with proxy network: Bright Data or ScraperAPI. You'll pay $500+ but get residential IPs and global geolocation.