ScrapingAnt Alternatives — Better Anti-Bot Scraping

If you're hitting walls with blocked requests, unreliable data, or rising costs on ScrapingAnt, you're not alone. Finding reliable scrapingant alternatives that deliver stronger anti-bot evasion, better pricing, and more flexible scraping capabilities is a common challenge for developers and data teams. This guide breaks down eight of the best options on the market — including one that stands out for value and ease of use.

ScrapingAnt offers a decent starting point with its single API endpoint, JavaScript rendering, proxy rotation, and captcha solving. But its pricing jumps quickly (from $49/mo for 25K requests to $449/mo for 400K), and anti-bot bypass quality varies depending on the target site. If you need something more robust or more affordable — or both — the scrapingant alternatives below are worth a serious look.

For background on how anti-bot systems work and why standard scraping APIs fall short, check out /blog/anti-bot-evasion-guide.

Key Takeaways

• ScrapeForge (SearchHive) delivers the best balance of anti-bot quality, pricing, and developer experience among all scrapingant alternatives
• Bright Data is the most feature-complete platform but carries enterprise-level pricing that may be overkill for small-to-mid teams
• Apify shines for complex workflows with pre-built actors, though costs scale fast with usage
• ScraperAPI and ZenRows are solid mid-tier options with straightforward API designs
• Scrapy Cloud (Zyte) fits teams already invested in the Scrapy ecosystem
• Crawlbase and Scrapestack offer lightweight solutions but lag in advanced anti-bot capabilities
• Free tiers matter — several alternatives, including SearchHive, offer generous plans with no credit card required

1. ScrapeForge (SearchHive) — Best Value Alternative

/compare/scrapingant

SearchHive's ScrapeForge is a scraping API built specifically around anti-bot bypass. It handles JavaScript rendering, automatic proxy rotation, browser fingerprint spoofing, and CAPTCHA solving — all through a clean REST API.

What makes ScrapeForge one of the most compelling scrapingant alternatives is the pricing structure. The free tier is generous enough to prototype and test real workflows without entering a credit card. Paid plans scale predictably, and you're not penalized with steep per-request surcharges for anti-bot features the way some competitors structure billing.

ScrapeForge is part of the SearchHive suite, which also includes:

• SwiftSearch — a search API for real-time SERP data (check out /blog/swiftsearch-api-review)
• DeepDive — structured data extraction from any URL

This integration means you can pull raw HTML from ScrapeForge and pipe it directly into DeepDive for parsed, structured output — a workflow that saves significant development time.

Python Code Example: Anti-Bot Scraping with ScrapeForge

import requests

API_KEY = "your_scrapeforge_api_key"
BASE_URL = "https://api.searchhive.io/scrapeforge/v1/scrape"

payload = {
    "url": "https://example.com/protected-page",
    "render_js": True,
    "anti_bot": True,
    "proxy_rotation": True,
    "country": "us"
}

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

response = requests.post(BASE_URL, json=payload, headers=headers)

if response.status_code == 200:
    data = response.json()
    print(f"Status: {data['status']}")
    print(f"HTML length: {len(data['html'])} chars")
    # Access structured data if DeepDive extraction is enabled
    if "extracted_data" in data:
        print(f"Extracted fields: {list(data['extracted_data'].keys())}")
else:
    print(f"Error {response.status_code}: {response.text}")

Here's a batch scraping example for when you need to hit multiple protected pages:

import requests
import concurrent.futures

API_KEY = "your_scrapeforge_api_key"
BASE_URL = "https://api.searchhive.io/scrapeforge/v1/scrape"
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}

targets = [
    "https://example.com/product/1",
    "https://example.com/product/2",
    "https://example.com/product/3",
]

def scrape(url):
    payload = {"url": url, "render_js": True, "anti_bot": True}
    resp = requests.post(BASE_URL, json=payload, headers=headers, timeout=30)
    if resp.status_code == 200:
        return {"url": url, "html": resp.json()["html"]}
    return {"url": url, "error": resp.status_code}

with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=5) as pool:
    results = list(pool.map(scrape, targets))

for r in results:
    status = "OK" if "html" in r else f"FAIL ({r['error']})"
    print(f"{r['url']}: {status}")

These examples show how quickly you can get started. The anti-bot flag handles the heavy lifting — fingerprint rotation, header management, and challenge solving — so you can focus on data processing.

2. Apify — Best for Complex Workflows

/compare/apify

Apify is a full scraping platform, not just an API. It provides a marketplace of pre-built "actors" (scraping templates) for popular sites like Amazon, Google, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you need to scrape a well-known platform and don't want to build from scratch, Apify's actor store is hard to beat.

Strengths:

• Hundreds of pre-built actors for common scraping targets
• Built-in scheduling, storage, and actor orchestration
• Proxy and anti-bot features available via Apify Proxy
• Good documentation and active community

Weaknesses:

• Pricing gets expensive at scale — platform fees stack on top of compute costs
• Actor quality varies since many are community-contributed
• Anti-bot bypass is good but not always on par with dedicated solutions

Apify is ideal if you want a managed platform where you can string together scraping, processing, and export steps. For a pure API with strong anti-bot, other scrapingant alternatives on this list may be more cost-effective.

Learn more about platform-based approaches in /blog/scraping-platforms-vs-apis.

3. Crawlbase — Lightweight Crawling Option

Crawlbase (formerly CrawlingAPI) offers a straightforward API for fetching web pages with proxy rotation and JavaScript rendering. It's one of the simpler scrapingant alternatives architecturally — you pass a URL and get HTML back.

Strengths:

• Simple GET-based API, easy to integrate
• Good for high-volume crawling of less-protected sites
• Real-time and async scraping modes

Weaknesses:

• Anti-bot capabilities are basic compared to leaders like ScrapeForge or Bright Data
• Documentation is thinner than competitors
• No built-in structured extraction

If your targets don't have heavy bot protection and you need raw throughput, Crawlbase works. For sites with Cloudflare, PerimeterX, or Datadome, you'll likely need something stronger.

4. Bright Data — Most Feature-Complete

/compare/bright-data

Bright Data is the industry giant. With the largest proxy network in the world (72M+ residential IPs), a full scraping IDE, Web Unlocker for anti-bot bypass, and enterprise-grade compliance tools, it covers virtually every use case.

Strengths:

• Industry-leading proxy infrastructure
• Web Unlocker handles sophisticated anti-bot systems
• Bright Data Scraper IDE for no-code scraping
• Strong compliance and data governance features

Weaknesses:

• Pricing is enterprise-oriented — minimum commitments can be steep
• Complexity: the platform has a steep learning curve
• Support can be slow for non-enterprise accounts

Bright Data is the right call if you're a large organization with complex compliance requirements and budget flexibility. For smaller teams exploring scrapingant alternatives, the cost and complexity may not justify the upgrade.

5. ScraperAPI — Solid Mid-Tier Choice

/compare/scraperapi

ScraperAPI takes a similar approach to ScrapingAnt — a single API endpoint with proxy rotation, JS rendering, and CAPTCHA handling. It's a direct competitor and one of the most natural scrapingant alternatives to evaluate.

Strengths:

• Familiar single-endpoint design
• Handles CAPTCHAs and retries automatically
• Reliable proxy pool with geographic targeting

Weaknesses:

• Anti-bot success rate on heavily protected sites is inconsistent
• Pricing per request adds up at scale
• Fewer advanced features than ScrapeForge or Bright Data

ScraperAPI is a safe, predictable choice if you want something similar to ScrapingAnt but with marginally better proxy infrastructure. It won't surprise you, but it may not solve your toughest anti-bot challenges either.

6. ZenRows — Rising Competitor with Strong Bypass

ZenRows has gained traction as one of the more capable scrapingant alternatives, particularly for anti-bot bypass. It supports Cloudflare, Datadome, PerimeterX, and other major bot protection systems.

Strengths:

• Strong anti-bot bypass for modern protection systems
• Clean API with good SDKs (Python, Node.js, etc.)
• Scraping Browser feature for complex rendering scenarios

Weaknesses:

• Relatively newer platform — smaller community
• Proxy network is smaller than Bright Data or ScraperAPI
• Pricing for premium features can escalate

ZenRows is worth testing if anti-bot bypass is your top priority and you want something more modern than ScrapingAnt without paying Bright Data prices. Run a pilot on your toughest targets before committing.

7. Scrapestack — Simple and Fast

Scrapestack is a lightweight scraping API from the apilayer suite. It focuses on speed and simplicity — pass a URL, get rendered HTML.

Strengths:

• Very fast response times on simple pages
• Easy setup with API key authentication
• Multiple concurrency options

Weaknesses:

• Anti-bot features are minimal — no advanced fingerprint spoofing or challenge solving
• Not suitable for heavily protected targets
• Free tier is limited

Scrapestack works for basic scraping where bot protection isn't a concern. If you need anti-bot capabilities, this is not the right tool among scrapingant alternatives.

8. Scrapy Cloud (Zyte) — Best for Scrapy Users

/compare/zyte

Scrapy Cloud is Zyte's managed platform for running Scrapy spiders. If your team already uses the Scrapy framework, deploying to Scrapy Cloud is seamless. Zyte also provides Smart Proxy (formerly Crawlera) for proxy management and Zyte API for anti-bot rendering.

Strengths:

• Native Scrapy integration — zero refactoring needed
• Strong proxy management via Smart Proxy
• Scrapy ecosystem compatibility (middlewares, extensions, pipelines)

Weaknesses:

• Requires Scrapy knowledge — not ideal for teams using other stacks
• Pricing is based on compute units, which can be hard to predict
• Anti-bot rendering (Zyte API) is a separate product with its own billing

If Scrapy is already in your stack, Scrapy Cloud is a natural fit. For teams looking for simpler scrapingant alternatives, the Scrapy dependency adds unnecessary friction.

For more on framework-based scraping, see /blog/scrapy-vs-api-scraping.

Comparison Table

Recommendation: Which ScrapingAnt Alternative Should You Choose?

The right choice depends on your priorities:

• Best overall value: ScrapeForge (SearchHive). Strong anti-bot bypass, generous free tier with no credit card, clean API, and integration with DeepDive for structured extraction. It punches above its price point and is the most well-rounded option for teams that need reliable anti-bot scraping without enterprise pricing.

• Best for enterprise scale: Bright Data. Unmatched proxy infrastructure and compliance features. Worth the cost if you're operating at massive scale or in regulated industries.

• Best for no-code workflows: Apify. The actor marketplace saves enormous development time for common scraping targets.

• Best for Scrapy teams: Scrapy Cloud (Zyte). Seamless deployment if Scrapy is already your framework.

If you're currently on ScrapingAnt and frustrated by blocked requests or rising costs, ScrapeForge is the fastest path to improvement. You can test it today on the free tier — no credit card required — and see the anti-bot difference on your actual targets.

Ready to try ScrapeForge? Sign up for SearchHive's free tier and start scraping with anti-bot protection in under five minutes. For a side-by-side breakdown, see our full /compare/scrapingant comparison.