ParseHub Alternatives — 8 Cheaper No-Code Web Scraping Tools

ParseHub made a name for itself as a visual, no-code web scraper. Point and click to select elements, and ParseHub handles the rest — pagination, JavaScript rendering, form submission, even CAPTCHAs. But at $149/month for the Standard plan (and limited to 40 projects), it gets pricey for teams that need to scrape at scale.

Whether you're hitting project limits, paying too much per scrape, or just want something faster, here are eight ParseHub alternatives that cost less and often do more.

Key Takeaways

• Cheapest no-code scraping: Octoparse at $89/mo for 10,000 pages — nearly half ParseHub's price for more pages
• Best for developers who don't mind code: SearchHive ScrapeForge API at $0.0001/credit — programmatic control at a fraction of the cost
• Best visual scraping alternative: Apify with 1,000+ ready-made scrapers and a visual builder
• Best for large-scale data extraction: Bright Data with residential proxy network and enterprise-grade infrastructure
• Biggest savings opportunity: Teams paying for ParseHub + a proxy service can consolidate with Bright Data or SearchHive

1. Octoparse

Best for: Visual point-and-click scraping at a better price than ParseHub

Octoparse is the closest direct alternative to ParseHub. It offers a similar visual interface — you click elements on a page to build extraction rules. Octoparse handles dynamic content, pagination, login-required pages, and AJAX-loaded data.

Pricing:

Octoparse's free plan is generous (10,000 pages but only 1 concurrent task). The Standard plan at $89 gives you the same page volume as ParseHub's $149 Standard plan.

Pros: Similar UX to ParseHub, cheaper, good free tier, cloud-based execution Cons: Can be slow on complex sites, limited scheduling on free plan, no API access on lower tiers

2. Apify

Best for: Developers who want pre-built scrapers plus a visual builder

Apify takes a hybrid approach. They have a marketplace of 1,000+ pre-built "actors" (scrapers for specific sites like Amazon, Google, LinkedIn) plus an in-browser visual scraper builder. Everything runs on their cloud platform with scheduling, proxy rotation, and data storage.

Pricing:

Pros: Massive actor marketplace, good API, visual builder, scalable Cons: Pricing is credit-based and can be confusing, some actors are community-built with varying quality

3. Bright Data (formerly Luminati)

Best for: Scraping at scale with the best proxy infrastructure in the business

Bright Data operates the world's largest proxy network — 72M+ residential proxies, plus datacenter and mobile proxies. Their Web Unlocker product handles CAPTCHAs, JavaScript rendering, and anti-bot detection automatically. It's the enterprise standard for web scraping at scale.

Pricing: Pay-per-result pricing starting at ~$0.003-0.01/request depending on complexity. Proxy plans start at $12.75/mo for residential bandwidth.

Pros: Best proxy network, handles any anti-bot system, enterprise-grade, Web Scraper API (no-code) Cons: Expensive at low volumes, complex pricing, overkill for simple sites

4. Import.io

Best for: Large-scale data extraction from e-commerce and business directories

Import.io focuses on structured data extraction from the web at scale. You provide URLs or search queries, and Import.io returns structured data — product info, pricing, reviews, business listings. Their Magic API handles the extraction automatically.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on volume. Typically starts around $199/mo for production use.

Pros: Handles large volumes, structured output, good for e-commerce Cons: Expensive, limited to their pre-built extractors, no custom scraping rules on self-serve

5. Mozenda

Best for: Enterprise teams needing data extraction with compliance and governance

Mozenda provides a visual web scraper with enterprise features — data validation, role-based access, audit logs, and scheduling. Their API lets you trigger and retrieve scraping jobs programmatically.

Pricing:

Pros: Enterprise features, good support, reliable Cons: Expensive for the page volume, dated interface compared to Octoparse/Apify

6. Browse AI

Best for: Quick extraction without any technical knowledge

Browse AI is the simplest option here. You record your actions in the browser (click, scroll, hover), and Browse AI learns the pattern. It handles pagination, login, and even works with single-page applications. No code, no selectors.

Pricing:

Pros: Easiest to use, fast setup, works with dynamic sites Cons: Expensive per credit, limited to recorded patterns, no custom extraction logic

7. ScraperAPI

Best for: Developers who want a simple API to handle proxy rotation and CAPTCHAs

ScraperAPI wraps any URL request in rotating proxies and handles CAPTCHAs and retries automatically. You make a standard HTTP request to their API endpoint with your target URL, and get back the rendered HTML. Simple, effective, developer-friendly.

Pricing: Free: 1,000/mo. Hobby: $49/mo for 100K. Startup: $149/mo for 500K. Business: $399/mo for 2M.

Pros: Dead simple API, handles proxies/CAPTCHAs/JS rendering automatically, good free tier Cons: No visual builder, you parse HTML yourself, limited control over proxy selection

8. SearchHive — ScrapeForge

Best for: Developers who want programmatic scraping with anti-bot bypass built in

SearchHive's ScrapeForge API takes a URL and returns clean content — markdown, HTML, or plain text. It handles JavaScript rendering, anti-bot detection, proxy rotation, and CAPTCHAs automatically. No visual builder, but far cheaper and more flexible than any no-code tool.

Pricing:

A scrape costs 2-3 credits ($0.0002-0.0003 each). At the Builder plan, that's 33,000-50,000 scrapes per month for $49. ParseHub's Standard plan gives you fewer features for 3x the price.

import requests
import json

API_KEY = "your_searchhive_key"
headers = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

# ScrapeForge — single page extraction
scrape = requests.post("https://api.searchhive.dev/v1/scrapeforge",
    headers=headers,
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com/products",
        "format": "markdown",    # or "html" or "text"
        "anti_bot": True,        # handles JS, CAPTCHAs, proxy rotation
        "wait_for": 2000         # wait 2s for dynamic content
    }
).json()

# Clean markdown content ready for your pipeline
print(scrape["content"])

# Batch scraping — multiple pages in parallel
urls = [
    "https://example.com/page-1",
    "https://example.com/page-2",
    "https://example.com/page-3"
]

results = []
for url in urls:
    resp = requests.post("https://api.searchhive.dev/v1/scrapeforge",
        headers=headers,
        json={"url": url, "format": "json"}
    ).json()
    results.append(resp["content"])

# Combine with SwiftSearch for search-then-scrape workflows
search = requests.post("https://api.searchhive.dev/v1/swiftsearch",
    headers=headers,
    json={"query": "best project management tools 2026", "num_results": 5}
).json()

for result in search["results"]:
    page = requests.post("https://api.searchhive.dev/v1/scrapeforge",
        headers=headers,
        json={"url": result["url"], "format": "markdown"}
    ).json()
    print(f"## {result['title']}\n{page['content'][:300]}\n")

Pros: Cheapest per-scrape option, anti-bot built in, search + scrape in one platform, simple REST API Cons: No visual builder, requires coding, no pre-built site-specific scrapers

Comparison Table

Recommendation

• Non-technical users who need point-and-click: Octoparse at $89/mo — same concept as ParseHub, nearly half the price for the same page volume.
• Teams that want pre-built scrapers: Apify — 1,000+ ready-made actors for common sites, plus a visual builder.
• Enterprise-scale with compliance: Bright Data — unmatched proxy infrastructure and anti-bot capabilities.
• Developers who want maximum value: SearchHive ScrapeForge — at $49/mo for 100K credits, you get 33K+ scrapes with anti-bot bypass. That's 3x cheaper than ParseHub for 8x the volume, plus search and research APIs included.

ParseHub charges a premium for its visual interface. If you can write basic Python, SearchHive gives you more scraping power at a fraction of the cost. Start free with 500 credits — no credit card, no commitments.