Web scraping is unimaginable without using automation. In data mining, you must deal with huge quantities of information that you need not only to dig deep to find but to collect and process along the way. This requires working fast and multitasking in a way that no human is capable of.
Web scraping API (Application Programming Interface) is one of the more advanced tools in this market. It provides convenient control over its usage and multiple additional features, among which you can find integration with proxies to avoid blocks.
Let’s run through the top ten options among web scraping APIs that we have sorted out for you to choose from.
1. Web Scraper API
Web Scraper API at Oxylabs can gather data at a large scale from most websites, including the most scraping-resistant ones. It renders JavaScript for complex targets and allows extraction of data without looking for additional workarounds where simpler scrapers would struggle.
It has a large IP pool with a proxy rotator integrated. It automatically masks any trace that an automation tool is used and lets you focus on results. You’ll avoid IP bans and unblock the content that has already been blocked. It also handles CAPTCHAs, allowing you to work without interruptions.
2. ScraperAPI
Scraper API is another tool that also can gather data on a big scale while keeping its work disguised because of integrated anti-bot detection and bypassing system.
You don’t need to worry about proxies, leaving you only with requests for sites that will be scraped by the tool that gives you a clear HTML response, even from difficult websites. It’s simple to use, with all settings easily customizable, and it works quickly.
3. ScrapingBee
ScrapingBee supports JavaScript rendering, resolves CAPTCHAs, and has proxy rotation integrated. It also handles headless browsers, which means that you won’t need to waste away computer power and your own time on them and focus on the scraping only.
It’s a fine tool not only for general web scraping but also for scraping search engine result pages, monitoring keywords, and checking backlinks.
Diffbot is known for human-like page reading skills that are combined with extracting data at a big scale. It provides a structured search to see only the matching results.
This scraping API classifies a page into one of 20 possible types and then interprets the content with a machine-learning model that helps identify the key attributes on a page based on its type. The result is transformed into clean, structured data, like JSON or CSV.
5. Mozenda
Mozenda is rich in its features. It can scrape websites with good geo-targeting on a large scale while performing simultaneous processing that grants a faster speed. API allows controlling data collection and agents.
It has both cloud-based and on-premises solutions for web scraping. Data can be collected and published to preferred business intelligence tools or databases.
6. ScraperBox
ScraperBox API makes extracting large amounts of data easy by helping you with proxies, CAPTCHAs, and user agents. It’s a great tool to bypass bothersome blocks and interruptions that could limit scraping on a large scale. The latter is easily done because ScraperBox handles thousands of concurrent requests.
It renders JavaScript with real Chrome browsers and returns all the results in HTML. Residential proxies are used here, so most of the blocks will be bypassed without trouble.
7. Zenscrape
Zenscrape is one of the fastest scraping APIs. It provides good geo-targeting and high concurrency along with rendering JavaScript that allows retrieving what real users see. It also provides settings that allow you to wait for a specific element to appear.
This API can take care of CAPTCHAs, IP blacklisting, and other anti-bot measures because it uses automatic proxy rotation with a big IP pool to make your scraping at the largest scale possible to complete.
8. ScrapingANT
ScrapingANT works great for general web scraping tasks such as real estate scraping, price-monitoring, and extracting reviews without getting blocked or entangled in annoying CAPTCHAs. It has Chrome page rendering and low-latency rotating proxies integrated. It works on the fastest Amazon servers and performs JavaScript execution.
It handles headless browser updates and maintenance. This API provides customization of features that will make your work comfortable and bother-free regardless of your business type.
9. Scraperstack
Scraperstack is a scalable proxy and web scraping REST API. It has an automated IP rotation with its residential and datacenter proxies that allow scraping the web without worrying about blocks or interruptions at an unparalleled pace. It has a solid infrastructure that makes the work not only fast but also reliable and stable.
Like most other mentioned APIs, it offers concurrent API requests, geo-targeting, CAPTCHA solving, browser support, and JavaScript rendering.
10. Apify
Apify API allows you to crawl websites using the Chrome browser and extract structured data using a provided JavaScript code. Results are exported into formats such as Excel, CSV, or JSON. The tool can be configured to run either manually in a user interface or programmatically using the API.
It has good geo-targeting and rotating residential and datacenter proxies integrated for data extraction. Apify store has ready-made scrapers for popular websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Amazon, Booking, and Airbnb. It also offers you the possibility to create a web scraping API for any website. The data is extracted in a structured format and can be downloaded in JSON, CVS, XLS, or HTML.
It’s important to note that JavaScript-heavy websites can present challenges for traditional web scraping methods. This is where web scraping JavaScript is proved to be very effective.
Final thoughts
With this list of top web scraping APIs, you can choose the one that best fits your business interests or specific requirements that go along with your type of work. The main advantage of APIs over other scraping tools is that most of them don’t require the external use of proxies to mask their activity and avoid IP bans, for this feature is integrated into the essence of an API.
