What’s the difference between a scraping browser and a headless browser?

A headless browser is a barebones browser you control with code. A scraping browser includes that functionality plus built-in unblocking (proxy rotation, CAPTCHA solving, fingerprint evasion). We can say that headless browsers are raw browser automation, whereas a web scraping browser is a managed solution for scraping protected sites.

Can web scraping be detected when using an automated browser?

While no tool is 100% invisible, modern scraping browsers use TLS fingerprinting and header randomization to make automated traffic indistinguishable from real Chrome or Safari users. This significantly reduces the chances of detection compared to standard headless setups.

Scraping browser vs scraping API: Which should you choose?

A scraping browser gives you complete control of user actions such as logins, clicks, or infinite scroll, and works best on heavily protected, dynamic websites. A web scraping API is more straightforward and more cost-effective, as it returns structured data without requiring a full browser. If you need fast access to static or semi-dynamic content, a web scraper API is enough.

Do I still need proxies if I use a scraping browser?

Most scraping browsers come with proxies built in, so you don’t need to manage them separately. Providers rotate IPs, handle geo-targeting, and bypass bans for you. However, if you have particular geo-location needs or already own a proxy pool, you can combine your proxies with the scraping browser.

How much do they cost?

Pricing ranges from $49/month for no-code tools like Browse AI to $499 or more per month for enterprise solutions like Bright Data.Costs are usually based on traffic (per GB) or requests. The right choice depends on the scale of your project.

Data Web Data Scraping Scraping Tools

5 Best Scraping Browsers in 2026 (Bright Data vs Oxylabs vs Zyte)

Gulbahar Karatas

updated on Jan 30, 2026

See our ethical norms

Scraping browsers handle the unblocking infrastructure, enabling users to interact with websites programmatically and extract data easily.

We benchmarked the top scraping browsers on sites with login walls, infinite scroll, and strict anti-bot rules.

We updated this guide to include the latest anti-bot evasion techniques (TLS 1.3 fingerprinting) and updated pricing models for Bright Data and Oxylabs. All benchmarks were re-run on Cloudflare-protected targets.

5 best scraping browser APIs for multi-level data collection

Note on pricing: While Bright Data’s entry plan looks expensive at $499/month, it includes 71 GB of traffic. That brings the effective cost down to $7/GB, making it competitive with Nimble and cheaper than Zyte or Oxylabs at scale.

Summarize This Research

What is a scraping browser?

A scraping browser, also known as a web scraping browser, is an automated tool designed for extracting data. These browsers come with built-in tools to

help users select and extract specific elements from web pages, such as images, links, and text.
interact with websites by clicking, scrolling, or inputting data,
automatically overcome advanced bot detection software via residential proxies and other algorithmic solutions.

A web scraping browser can function in either a headless or a headful environment. In headless mode, the browser emulates a web browsing experience without displaying a graphical user interface, providing enhanced control and flexibility.

Scraping browser performance benchmark: Success rate results

Bright Data Scraping Browser: 98.2% (Highest stability on infinite scroll)
Oxylabs Unblocker: 96.5% (Fastest response times)
Zyte API: 95.1% (Best for static & semi-dynamic content)

Bright Data scraping browser: Performance & alternatives

Ideal for enterprise-scale projects with high traffic needs. Bright Data Scraping Browser is the easiest choice if your company

is already relying on a headless browser like Selenium or Puppeteer, or
wants to retain the ability to easily switch to using proxies instead of these tools. Your tech team will not need to change their codebase and can resume using proxies after changing how their browser communicates with the web data infrastructure.

Oxylabs Unblocker:

Strong support and reliable infrastructure for scaling. Zyte API and Oxylabs Unblocker, with their headless browser feature, allow users to specify actions for browser automation via their APIs.

Zyte API:

Best if you need the cheapest entry point or don’t already have Selenium/Playwright automation in place. Fully API-driven, cost-efficient for smaller projects. Zyte API can be a good alternative if:

You are looking for the cheapest solution
Zyte’s API offers all the browser automation functionalities that you need and
You didn’t already have an automation built with a tool like Selenium or Puppeteer, or you can’t cost-effectively replicate it with the Zyte API.

For more details on how these tools performed in real tests, see our methodology.

5 best scraping browsers in 2026: Tested & compared

Bright Data Scraping Browser can be used as a browser socket (with unblocking capabilities) and integrated with browser automation libraries such as Selenium or Puppeteer.

It is a proxy-unlocking solution that helps users scrape data from browsers while managing proxy and unblocking infrastructure, including CAPTCHA solving. Scraping Browser operates in both “headfull” (GUI-based) and “headless” (no GUI, programmatically controlled) modes.

Best for: Enterprise-level projects requiring 99% uptime.
Top Alternative: If the $499 entry price is high, Zyte API or Nimble offer more flexible pay-as-you-go models.

Pros

Highest success rate (97%+) in our benchmark
Integrates easily with Selenium/Puppeteer (drop-in setup)
Built-in CAPTCHA solving and IP rotation
Supports both headless and headful modes

Cons

High monthly entry price ($499) may not be ideal for small projects.

Oxylabs Unblocker, with its headless browser capability, enables users to define actions for browser automation via its API. Users can submit requests, which may include identifying specific states, cities, or exact coordinates. JavaScript rendering can be activated by adding a particular header to the request.

Pros

Strong support team (fastest responses in our benchmark)
Flexible API with headless browser automation

Cons

No pay-as-you-go plan (subscription only)
Slightly lower success rate on infinite scroll pages

Zyte offers a general-purpose scraper API with proxy management and browser automation capabilities. The scraper API enables the management of request headers, cookies, and toggling JavaScript.

Pros

API-first design, no need to maintain Selenium/Playwright scripts
Success rate on static + semi-dynamic pages

Cons

Lacks full Selenium/Playwright integration
Slower on heavy JavaScript rendering than Bright Data

Nimble Browserless Drivers are specifically designed for web scraping and automation, and are combined with residential proxies and an unblocker. The scraping browser solution operates on a cloud-based infrastructure.

Automatically manage multiple facets of web interactions during web scraping, including TLS fingerprints, canvas checking, JavaScript execution, and HTTP headers.

Pros

Handles TLS fingerprints, canvas checks, and JavaScript execution
Developer-friendly, less locked-in than enterprise-heavy tools

Cons

Limited advanced documentation vs larger providers
May require more fine-tuning for large-scale projects

Browse AI is a no-code web automation tool that simplifies scraping data from target websites. This platform features an extension that enables users to easily select webpage elements for capture by pointing and clicking.

It automates user interactions necessary for data extraction, such as logging in, clicking buttons, filling out forms, and selecting options from dropdown menus. This functionality makes it easier to scrape web data without manual input. The platform can monitor websites for changes and notify users via email about the updates.

Pros

No-code setup: point-and-click interface for selecting elements
Free plan available, easy to start

Cons

Less control than code-based browser scraping APIs (limited for complex sites)
Slower for dynamic sites with heavy JavaScript than Bright Data or Oxylabs

Scraping browser methodology

To benchmark scraping browsers, we

Coded a Selenium script to extract the top trending topic in the US on Google Trends. The script selects the topic, navigates to its URL, and downloads the trends data.
We validated that the script returned correct results.
We tested the script on the anti-bot tests. Its results were not significantly different from those of the unblocker.

Participants

We benchmarked the top browser scraping APIs currently available. These tools are still relatively new and complex to build, as providers must combine unblocking (CAPTCHA bypass, IP rotation) with full browser capabilities, such as JavaScript rendering.

We selected the 3 largest providers in the market by number of employees and tested their scraping browsers. We chose the number of employees since it is publicly available on LinkedIn, regularly updated, and is correlated with a company’s market share.

Selected providers sorted by their number of employees:

Bright Data
Oxylabs
Zyte

Why use a scraping browser?

For tasks like data collection, businesses often need browser automation to interact with websites by clicking buttons or filling out forms. One way to do this is to add proxies to browsers, but this method requires frequent proxy updates to work well.

Browser automation solutions combine an unblocker with a browser that users can control via an API or software library. This means users do not have to set up proxies, making it simpler to access web data.

Are scraping browsers legal?

Web scraping is usually legal if you only access data that is publicly available. Still, it is important to follow GDPR and CCPA rules, especially when collecting personal information.

Using a scraping browser doesn’t exempt you from web scraping legal guidelines, but it does ensure your collection process doesn’t disrupt the target site’s performance.