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Bright Data Alternative
Bright Data's Scraping Browser charges per GB of bandwidth, so your cost per page depends on the size of every page you scrape - and you won't know the real number until you get the bill. Plans start at $499/month, with premium domain surcharges on top. Browser7 charges a flat $0.01 per page for every domain, with everything included, and no minimum commitment.
How Bright Data's Scraping Browser pricing works
Bright Data's Scraping Browser bills by the gigabyte - you pay for every byte of data transferred through the browser, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, fonts, analytics scripts, and ads. There is no per-page price. Your cost per page depends entirely on how heavy the pages you scrape happen to be.
| Plan | Monthly cost | Included | Rate per GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay As You Go | None | Nothing | $8/GB |
| Starter | $499/month | 71 GB | $7/GB |
| Professional | $999/month | 166 GB | $6/GB |
| Business | $1,999/month | 399 GB | $5/GB |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
The cheapest way to use Scraping Browser without a monthly commitment is the pay-as-you-go tier at $8 per GB. To get the per-GB rate down to $5, you need to commit to $1,999 per month.
What 10,000 pages actually costs
The whole reason to use a Scraping Browser - rather than a simple HTTP request - is that you need JavaScript rendering. Pages that require JavaScript rendering load frameworks, stylesheets, fonts, and third-party scripts that add up fast, even with images blocked. A typical React or Next.js page transfers 1.5-3+ MB through the browser. The median desktop page in 2025 was 2.6 MB according to HTTP Archive.
Here is what 10,000 pages costs on each platform at realistic page sizes:
| Page type (avg size) | Bright Data PAYG | Bright Data Starter | Browser7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| JS app, images blocked (1.5 MB) | $120 | $499* | $100 |
| Typical JS-rendered page (2.5 MB) | $200 | $499* | $100 |
| E-commerce product page (3 MB) | $240 | $499* | $100 |
| Media-rich page (5 MB) | $400 | $499* | $100 |
* $499/month minimum regardless of usage. Unused bandwidth does not roll over.
On pay-as-you-go, Bright Data costs 1.2x to 4x more than Browser7 depending on page size - and you will not know your actual cost until after you have been billed. On the Starter plan, you pay $499/month whether you use the full 71 GB allowance or not. These are standard domain prices - premium domains cost even more.
On Browser7, 10,000 pages is $100. Every time, regardless of page size or domain.
Premium domain surcharges
Bright Data classifies 60+ websites as "premium domains" - sites like Walmart, Target, Costco, and Wayfair that require more effort to unblock. These domains cost more per GB than standard sites, roughly double the standard rate.
The exact list of premium domains is not published publicly. It is only visible inside the Bright Data dashboard after you create a Scraping Browser zone, and the list changes over time based on their internal classification logic. You must enable premium domain access explicitly, and if a site you need to scrape is on the list, you have no choice but to pay the higher rate.
At the pay-as-you-go tier, a 2.6 MB page on a premium domain could cost around $0.04 per page - four times what Browser7 charges for the same page on the same domain.
Browser7 charges the same $0.01 per page for every domain. There are no premium domain surcharges, no secret lists, and no per-domain pricing of any kind.
Eight products, eight billing models
Before you can start using Bright Data, you need to figure out which of their 8+ products you actually need. Each has a different billing model, different pricing tiers, and different capabilities:
| Product | Billed by | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Scraping Browser | Per GB transferred | $8/GB or $499/mo |
| Web Unlocker | Per 1,000 results | $1.50/1K or $499/mo |
| Web Scraper API | Per 1,000 records | $1.50/1K or $499/mo |
| SERP API | Per 1,000 requests | $2.70/1K |
| Residential Proxies | Per GB | $5.04/GB |
| Datacenter Proxies | Per GB | $0.06/GB |
| ISP Proxies | Per GB | $8.40/GB |
| Mobile Proxies | Per GB | $24+/GB |
Bright Data publishes blog posts explaining when to use Scraping Browser vs Web Unlocker vs Web Scraper API. The fact that this requires an explainer is the point. If you just need to render web pages and get HTML back, you should not need to evaluate eight products with different billing units.
Browser7 is one product. Every render costs $0.01. There is nothing else to evaluate.
Browser7 vs Bright Data Scraping Browser
A direct comparison of what you get and what you pay.
| Feature | Browser7 | Bright Data |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat per-page | Per GB of bandwidth |
| Cost per page | $0.01 always | Varies by page size, domain, and plan |
| Cost predictability | Known before you start | Unknown until billed |
| Minimum commitment | None - top up any amount | $8/GB PAYG or $499/mo plan |
| Per-domain pricing | Same price for every domain | 60+ premium domains at higher rates |
| JavaScript rendering | ||
| CAPTCHA solving | ||
| Residential proxies | ||
| Geo-targeting | ||
| Resource blocking code needed | No | Recommended (to control costs) |
| Time to first API call | Under a minute | Days (sales + KYC + setup) |
| Products to evaluate | 1 | 8+ |
| Signup process | Self-serve, instant | Sales call + KYC verification |
| Billing model | Prepaid, never expires | Monthly subscription (calendar-month) |
| Unused balance | Never expires | Resets with billing cycle |
| Free trial | 100 renders, no card required | Requires sales call |
Things to watch out for with Bright Data
You pay for everything the browser downloads
Scraping Browser charges for all bandwidth - not just the HTML you want, but every image, stylesheet, font, analytics script, ad, and third-party widget the page loads. Bright Data suggests blocking unnecessary resources via request interception to reduce costs, but that means writing and maintaining custom blocking logic for every site you scrape. And if you miss something, you pay for it.
The premium domain list is hidden and changes
Bright Data does not publish their list of premium domains. You can only see it inside the dashboard after creating a zone. The list is "frequently changing based on our website classification logic" according to their own documentation. A domain that was standard-rate yesterday could become premium tomorrow, and your costs go up without any change on your end.
Calendar-month billing
Bright Data's billing follows a calendar-month cycle, not a 30-day period from your signup date. Users have reported signing up near the end of a month, paying the full monthly rate, and then being charged again when the new billing cycle starts a few days later. If you sign up on the 29th, you pay for 2-3 days, then pay again on the 1st.
$499/month is the real starting price
While Bright Data offers a pay-as-you-go tier, it charges a 60% premium ($8/GB vs $5/GB on the Business plan). To get reasonable per-GB rates, you need to commit to at least $499/month. For the best rate of $5/GB, you need $1,999/month. Browser7's price is the same whether you spend $10 or $10,000.
Signing up requires a sales call
To access a free trial on Bright Data, you need to talk to their sales team and go through KYC verification - explaining who you are and what you plan to scrape. This can take days. On Browser7, you create an account, get 100 free renders, and start scraping in under a minute. No sales calls, no identity verification, no waiting.
Your costs change when they reclassify a domain
Bright Data's premium domain list is "frequently changing based on our website classification logic." If a domain you scrape gets reclassified as premium, your per-GB rate for that domain increases - with no change on your end and no advance notice. Your bill goes up for doing the exact same work.
How Browser7 is different
$0.01 per page, regardless of page size
Browser7 does not bill by bandwidth. A 500 KB page and a 5 MB page both cost $0.01. You do not need to write code to block images or filter requests to keep costs down. You do not need to estimate average page sizes to forecast your budget. The price is the price.
Same price for every domain
There are no premium domain surcharges on Browser7. Walmart, Amazon, Target - every site costs $0.01 per page. There is no hidden domain list and no surprise cost increases when a site's classification changes.
No minimum commitment
Browser7 uses a prepaid account balance model. Start with a $10 top-up for 1,000 renders. There are no monthly subscriptions, no calendar-month billing cycles, and no auto-renewals. Your balance never expires, so you use it at your own pace.
One product, one API
Browser7 is a single product with a single API endpoint. You do not need to evaluate eight different products, compare billing models, or read blog posts explaining when to use which tool. Send a URL, get rendered HTML back.
Start scraping in under a minute
Create an account, get your API key, and make your first request. No sales calls, no KYC verification, no waiting for approval. 100 free renders are available immediately - no credit card required.
Real-world cost: 10,000 pages per month for a year
Let's say you scrape 10,000 pages per month - typical JavaScript-rendered pages averaging around 2.5 MB each. Here is what that costs over a year on each platform:
| Browser7 | Bright Data PAYG | Bright Data Starter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly pages | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Monthly bandwidth | Not billed | ~25 GB | ~25 GB of 71 GB |
| Monthly cost | $100 | $200 | $499 |
| Bandwidth wasted | N/A | N/A | 65% (46 GB/month) |
| Premium domains | Same price | ~2x cost per page | ~2x cost per page |
| Annual cost | $1,200 | $2,400 | $5,988 |
| Annual savings with Browser7 | - | $1,200 saved | $4,788 saved |
On pay-as-you-go, Bright Data costs double. On the Starter plan, it costs nearly 5x more - and 65% of the bandwidth you pay for each month is wasted because it does not roll over. Over a year, that is $4,788 spent on bandwidth you never used. With Browser7, you pay for pages, not gigabytes, and your balance carries over until you use it.