Scraping browsers take care of the unblocking infrastructure enabling users to easily interact with websites programmatically and scrape data. See the top tools based on our tests and follow the links to learn our rationale:
| Provider | For | |
|---|---|---|
1. | Easiest solution to integrate with browser automation libraries | |
2. | Unblocker with headless browser feature | |
3. | Lowest-cost solution | |
Top scraping browsers for multi-level data collection projects
| Provider | Starting price/mo | Free trial | PAYG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright Data Scraping Browser | $499 | 7 days | ✅ ($8.4/GB) |
| Oxylabs Unblocker | $75 | 7 days | ❌ |
| Zyte API | $100 | $5 free credit | ✅ |
| Nimble | $150 | 7 days | ✅ ($8/GB) |
| Browse AI | $49 | Free plan | ❌ |
We could identify only 5 web scraping browsers in the market because these tools are relatively new and hard to build. Their providers first need to build a successful web unblocker with capabilities like CAPTCHA circumvention and then combine that with browser capabilities like JavaScript rendering.
How to choose a web scraping browser?
Bright Data Scraping Browser can be used as a browser socket (with unblocking capabilities) that can be integrated with browser automation libraries such as Selenium or Puppeteer. It 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 code base and can go back to using proxies after only changing how their browser communicates with the web data infrastruture.
Zyte API and Oxylabs Unblocker with headless browser feature allow users to specify actions for browser automation using their API.
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 if you can cost effectively replicate your automation in Zyte API.
To see how we arrived at these conclusions, read about our browser automation benchmark.
Bright Data
Bright Data Scraping Browser can be used as a browser socket (with unblocking capabilities) that can be integrated with browser automation libraries such as Selenium or Puppeteer.
It is a proxy-unlocking solution that assists users in scraping data from browsers while managing the proxy and unblocking infrastructure, including CAPTCHA solving. Scraping Browser operates in both “headfull” (GUI-based) and “headless” (no GUI, programmatically controlled) modes.
Oxylabs
Oxylabs Unblocker with headless browser feature allow users to specify actions for browser automation using their API. Users can submit requests, which may include the specification of specific states, cities, or exact coordinates. JavaScript rendering can be activated by adding a particular header to the request.
Zyte
Zyte offers a general-purpose scraper API that includes proxy management features and browser automation capabilities. The scraper API enables the management of request headers, cookies, and toggling JavaScript.
Nimble
Nimble Browserless Drivers are specially designed for web scraping and automation purposes, 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.
Browse AI
Browse AI is a no-code web automation tool that simplifies scraping data from websites. This platform features an extension that lets users easily select webpage elements to 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.
Browser automation benchmark
Results
Bright Data Scraping Browser, Zyte API and Oxylabs Unblocker with headless browser feature enabled high (i.e. 95%+) success rates for browser automation.
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 different from unblocker results in a statistically significant way.
Participants
We selected largest 3 providers in the market in terms of 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
What is a scraping browser?
A scraping browser, or web scraping browser, is an automated tool designed for data extraction.
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 anti-scraping measures via residential proxies and other algorithmic solutions.
A web scraping browser can function in either a headless or headful environment. In headless mode, the browser emulates a web browsing experience without displaying a graphical user interface, providing enhanced control and flexibility.
Why should you choose a web scraping browser?
In some data collection and other use cases, businesses need a solution for browser automation (i.e. to interact with the website via clicking buttons, filling out forms etc.). This can be achieved by adding proxies to browsers however this approach requires constantly configuring proxies to achieve high success rates.
Browser automation solutions combine an unblocker and a browser which can be manipulated via an API or software library. With these solutions, users don’t need to configure proxies which makes it easier to access web data.
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