SEO

ScrapingBee Review (2025): Features, Pricing & Performance

Scraping data from websites isn’t always easy. Between rate limits, blocked requests, JavaScript rendering, and unreliable proxies, even simple scraping tasks can get complicated fast.

Managing your own headless browsers, rotating IPs, and troubleshooting blocks can eat up hours of time — especially when all you want is consistent, structured data. It’s not just tedious; it slows down your workflow and adds unnecessary complexity to your stack.

ScrapingBee’s web scraping API is built to handle headless browsers, rotate proxies, and simplify how you extract data from modern web pages. This review covers what it offers, how it performs in real use, and how it compares to other scraping tools.

What Is ScrapingBee and How Does It Work?

Image courtesy of ScrapingBee.com

ScrapingBee is a web scraping API that handles headless browsers and rotates proxies automatically. It’s designed for developers who want to scrape web pages without dealing with browser infrastructure, rate limits, or proxy rotation.

You send a request with your API key, select options like JavaScript rendering, premium proxy, or custom headers, and receive either the raw HTML or structured JSON. ScrapingBee manages headless Chrome instances behind the scenes, so you don’t have to configure or maintain anything on your end.

ScrapingBee Features You Should Know About

ScrapingBee offers a range of features that simplify web scraping and help you avoid common blockers. Here’s what stands out.

JavaScript Rendering for Dynamic Websites

ScrapingBee uses real Chrome instances, so it works on sites that rely on JavaScript to load data. You can pass custom JS to click buttons, scroll, or wait for content.

Built-In Proxy Rotation and IP Geolocation

The API supports multiple proxy types:

Rotating proxy (default)
Premium proxy
Stealth proxy
Your own proxy

Each affects your credit usage. Rotating proxy with JS (default setting) costs 5 credits per request.

AI-Powered Web Scraping Without Selectors

You can describe what you want in plain language instead of writing CSS selectors. The AI figures out which parts of the page to extract and returns structured data. It adapts to layout changes and works well on listings or dynamic content.

JSON Data Extraction with CSS or XPath

You can define extraction rules using CSS or XPath selectors and receive structured data in JSON format.

For users who want control, ScrapingBee supports detailed extraction rules using CSS or XPath selectors. You get back a JSON object instead of full HTML. It also supports:

HTML to PDF conversion
Screenshots
Custom user agents and cookies
Persistent sessions (5 minutes)

Python and Node.js SDKs + No-Code Integration

ScrapingBee integrates with tools like Make.com for no-code scraping using CSS selectors and JSON output.

ScrapingBee provides SDKs for Python and Node.js. There’s also support for no-code tools like Make.com. The web dashboard includes a test console and logs to help troubleshoot scraping jobs.

ScrapingBee Pricing Explained

ScrapingBee uses a credit system. You’re charged per request based on the options you enable.

Feature	Credits per request
Proxy without JS	1
Proxy with JS (default)	5
Premium Proxy without JS	10
Premium Proxy with JS	25
Stealth Proxy with JS	75

Pricing Plans

Plan	Price	Credits	Concurrency
Discovery	$49	150,000	5
Pro	$99	1,000,000	50
Startup	$249	3,000,000	100
Enterprise	$599	8,000,000	200

There’s a free tier with 1,000 credits. Credits don’t carry over, and blocked requests may still be charged depending on how the site responds.

How ScrapingBee Credits Work

Image courtesy of ScrapingBee.com

Each API call consumes credits based on the complexity of the request. This can be managed by adjusting the proxy type, turning off JavaScript rendering, or skipping premium features when not needed.

Credits are only charged on HTTP status codes like 200 or 404. You won’t be charged for timeouts or certain types of errors, but it’s worth testing specific scenarios.

ScrapingBee API Test: Scraping Amazon Product Data

Amazon is hard to scrape due to aggressive bot protection. Using ScrapingBee’s default settings, you can extract product titles, prices, and links with about 5 credits per request. No blocks were reported during tests using default proxies.

If you add Premium Proxy, stability improves further, but costs increase to 25 credits per request. The tradeoff between reliability and cost is clear.

ScrapingBee Benchmarks vs Scrapfly, WebScrapingAPI, and Others

Benchmarks from Scrapeway (July 2025) show ScrapingBee delivers fast responses but lower success rates than some competitors.

Tool	Success Rate	Speed	Cost per 1k
Scrapfly	96%	13.0s	$4.89
WebScrapingAPI	92%	16.8s	$2.71
ScrapingBee	52%	4.1s	$3.12
ScraperAPI	63%	11.4s	$4.72

ScrapingBee performs well on sites like Amazon, Instagram, and Booking.com, where success rates were over 90%. It struggles more with complex targets like LinkedIn or Zillow.

ScrapingBee Pros and Cons

Like any tool, ScrapingBee has its strengths and trade-offs:

What Works

Fast setup for scraping dynamic pages
No need to manage proxies or browsers
AI scraper saves time on layout-specific work
Clear docs, test tools, and developer SDKs

What’s Missing

Credits may be charged for failed requests
Lowest plan isn’t cost-efficient
No built-in workflow management or scheduling
Doesn’t support every scraping target well

Best Use Cases for ScrapingBee

ScrapingBee is a good fit for projects like:

Extracting product data from online stores
Scraping job boards and real estate listings
Running lightweight data pipelines
Testing AI extraction models
Web scraping without building your own proxy system

When ScrapingBee Might Not Be the Right Tool

ScrapingBee may not be the best choice if you:

Need a full scraping workflow manager or scheduler
Require 95%+ success rate across all targets
Have strict budget limits and can’t optimize credits
Need a UI for team collaboration or large-scale orchestration

Alternatives worth considering:

Apify for full-stack scraping flows
Scrapfly for better anti-bot performance
WebScrapingAPI for budget-friendly scraping at scale

How to Start Using ScrapingBee for Free

Go to scrapingbee.com
Create a free account (1,000 credits included)
Use the Python or Node SDK to test
Check logs and tune your settings based on the response

Final Verdict

ScrapingBee is a solid choice for developers and teams that need a web scraping API to handle headless browsers, rotate proxies, and pull data from JavaScript-heavy sites. It’s easy to implement, fast, and flexible—whether you need raw HTML, structured JSON, or AI-driven extraction.

It may not be the best fit for complex workflows or scraping highly protected sites, but for most mid-size use cases like price monitoring, listings, or product data, it offers a good balance of simplicity and control. Free credits make it easy to test before scaling.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does ScrapingBee work?

ScrapingBee is a web scraping API that handles headless browsers and rotates proxies for you. When you send a request with your API key, ScrapingBee spins up a headless instance of the latest Chrome version, renders JavaScript if needed, and returns either the original HTML or structured data in JSON format. You can define extraction rules with CSS selectors or use the AI-powered mode for complex structured information. It helps bypass rate limiting, block unwanted traffic, and avoid inefficient headless browsers.

Is web scraping a good idea?

Yes, if done legally and ethically. Web scraping helps companies retrieve information from websites for price monitoring, market research, e-commerce tracking, and more. Tools like ScrapingBee offer a very sophisticated mechanism to manage thousands of scraping tasks efficiently by using headless browsers, proxy rotation, and JavaScript scenario execution to avoid blocked requests and collect accurate data.

What is the best web scraping service?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. ScrapingBee is highly rated for its simplicity, ability to handle headless browsers, render JavaScript, and rotate proxies automatically. It's a good choice if you want to scrape websites at scale without managing infrastructure. Other services like Apify and Scrapfly offer full scraping platforms with advanced orchestration. Your choice depends on your scraping needs, budget, and whether you want to work with raw HTML, JSON output, screenshots, or full page automation.

Does ScrapingBee accept cookies?

Yes. ScrapingBee lets you pass custom cookies with your request headers to simulate real browsing behavior. This is useful for staying on the same session, maintaining login states, or avoiding pages that serve different content based on cookies. The platform also supports setting custom headers, user agents, and proxy options to block ads, simulate form filling, or avoid bot detection. Refer to the ScrapingBee documentation for examples.

Can ScrapingBee handle pagination or multiple pages?

Yes, but you’ll need to manage pagination manually in your code. ScrapingBee doesn’t automatically follow next-page links or load additional pages, but you can send separate requests for each page in a series. This works well when scraping search results, product listings, or any paginated web content. You can use the same extraction rules or CSS selectors across requests and loop through pages by modifying URL parameters. For more advanced behavior—like clicking "Load More" buttons—you can pass a JavaScript scenario to render JavaScript and simulate user actions.

Fame Fernandez

Digital Content Manager Fame Fernandez is a strategic Digital Content Manager with expertise in content planning, execution, and optimization across multiple platforms. With a strong foundation in SEO, brand storytelling, and digital marketing, Fame ensures that every piece of content—whether web copy, blogs, social media, or email campaigns—is designed to engage audiences and drive meaningful results. By combining creativity with data-driven insights, Fame crafts high-impact content strategies that enhance brand visibility and user engagement. Passionate about staying ahead of emerging trends and evolving algorithms, Fame leverages AI-powered tools, audience analytics, and content performance tracking to refine strategies and maximize reach. From developing cohesive content calendars to maintaining a consistent brand voice, Fame plays a key role in creating compelling digital experiences that not only inform but also convert.