webclaw vs ScraperAPI
ScraperAPI is a proxy rotation API with JS rendering and CAPTCHA handling. Here's how it compares to webclaw on LLM-ready output and pricing transparency.
Looking for a ScraperAPI alternative?
Looking for a ScraperAPI alternative without credit multipliers? ScraperAPI charges 10-25 credits per page once you turn on JS rendering or premium proxies. webclaw is 1 credit per page, always, with crawling and LLM extraction included. Same proxy rotation under the hood, predictable bill at the end of the month.
webclaw
Rust / AGPL-3.0
ScraperAPI
Cloud API (proprietary) / Proprietary
webclaw pricing
1 credit = 1 page. No multipliers.
ScraperAPI pricing
Credit-based.
Feature comparison
| Feature | webclaw | ScraperAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Scrape (HTML to markdown) | Returns raw HTML | |
| Crawl (BFS with depth control) | ||
| Batch (parallel multi-URL) | Async mode | |
| Search (web search + scrape) | Google SERP (separate product) | |
| Extract (LLM structured data) | ||
| Screenshot (full page) | ||
| Browser actions (click, type, scroll) | ||
| Anti-bot bypass (TLS level) | Proxy + UA rotation | |
| JS rendering | Yes (10 credits) | |
| PDF extraction | ||
| MCP server | ||
| CLI tool | ||
| Self-hostable | ||
| Open source (AGPL-3.0) | ||
| Credit multipliers | None. 1 credit = 1 page. | Yes. JS 10x, premium proxy 10x, ultra 25x. |
Pricing comparison
| Plan | webclaw | ScraperAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | 7-day Starter trial | 5,000 credits (7 day trial) |
| Starter | $19/mo, 10,000 credits | $49/mo — 100,000 credits |
| Mid | $99/mo, 250,000 credits | $149/mo — 1,000,000 credits |
| High | $399/mo, 1,000,000 credits | $299/mo — 3,000,000 credits |
webclaw credit model: 1 credit = 1 page, always. No extra charges for JSON extraction, proxies, or JS rendering.
ScraperAPI credit model: Credit-based. JS rendering uses 10 credits/page, premium proxies 10 credits, ultra-premium 25 credits. A single page with JS and datacenter proxy = 10-25 credits.
ScraperAPI strengths
- Large proxy pool (40M+ IPs)
- Structured data for specific sites (Amazon, Google)
- Good for high-volume proxy-focused scraping
- Mature infrastructure (founded 2018)
- Async mode for large batches
ScraperAPI limitations
- Returns raw HTML, no markdown or LLM output
- Credit multipliers make pricing unpredictable
- No crawling or content extraction
- No MCP server or CLI tool
- Not designed for LLM or AI agent workflows
- No open source option
Which one should you use?
Use webclaw when
You need LLM-ready markdown output, predictable 1-credit-per-page pricing, crawling, or MCP integration for AI agents.
Use ScraperAPI when
You're doing high-volume HTML scraping with proxies, need structured data for Amazon or Google specifically, or have your own HTML-to-content pipeline.
Ready to compare?
Start extracting.
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