Compare / ScrapingBee Alternative
ScrapingBee Alternative
ScrapingBee uses a credit system where JavaScript rendering and residential proxies multiply your costs by up to 25x - and features like geo-targeting and screenshots are locked behind their $249/month plan. Browser7 includes everything at a flat $0.01 per page, on every plan, with no credit system at all.
How ScrapingBee's credit system works
ScrapingBee's plans advertise large credit numbers - 250,000 on the Freelance plan ($49/month), 1,000,000 on Startup ($99/month). But the number of credits per request varies dramatically depending on which features you enable:
| Configuration | Credits per page | Real pages from 1M credits |
|---|---|---|
| Datacenter proxy, no JS rendering | 1 | 1,000,000 |
| Datacenter proxy + JS rendering (default) | 5 | 200,000 |
| Residential proxy, no JS rendering | 10 | 100,000 |
| Residential proxy + JS rendering | 25 | 40,000 |
| Stealth proxy (anti-bot bypass) | 75 | 13,333 |
For reliable scraping of modern websites, you typically need both JavaScript rendering and residential proxies. At 25 credits per page, that $99/month Startup plan gives you 40,000 pages - not 1,000,000. That's an effective cost of $0.0025 per page.
And if you need stealth proxies for sites with aggressive anti-bot protection, a single page costs 75 credits - reducing that 1,000,000 credit plan to just 13,333 pages, at an effective cost of $0.0074 per page.
Features locked behind higher tiers
Beyond the credit multipliers, ScrapingBee also gates several features by plan tier. Their two cheapest plans - Freelance ($49/month) and Startup ($99/month) - do not include:
| Feature | Freelance ($49/mo) | Startup ($99/mo) | Business ($249/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geo-targeting | |||
| Screenshots | |||
| Extraction rules | |||
| Google Search API | |||
| Priority support |
To get geo-targeting and screenshots on ScrapingBee, you need to be on the Business plan at $249/month. On Browser7, every feature is available on every plan - including the $10 starter bundle.
Browser7 vs ScrapingBee
A direct comparison of what you actually get and what you actually pay.
| Feature | Browser7 | ScrapingBee |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat per-page | Credit-based |
| Advertised price | $0.01/page | From $0.000099/credit |
| Real cost per page (JS + residential) | $0.01 | Depends on plan tier (25 credits/page) |
| JavaScript rendering | +5 credits (on by default) | |
| Residential proxies | +10-25 credits | |
| CAPTCHA solving | ||
| Geo-targeting | Business plan ($249/mo) and above | |
| Screenshots | Business plan ($249/mo) and above | |
| Proxy type by default | Residential | Datacenter |
| Billing model | Prepaid, never expires | Monthly subscription only |
| Unused credits | Never expire | Expire monthly (including top-ups) |
| Feature gating by plan | All features on all plans | Geo, screenshots, extraction locked until $249/mo |
| Pay-as-you-go option | ||
| Free trial | 100 renders | 1,000 credits (~200 renders) |
| Refund policy | Prepaid - use at your pace | No refunds |
Things to watch out for with ScrapingBee
JavaScript rendering is on by default
ScrapingBee's render_js parameter defaults to true, meaning every request costs 5 credits instead of 1 - even if you don't need JS rendering. If you're not aware of this, you'll burn through credits 5x faster than expected.
Credits expire every month - including top-ups
Unused credits on ScrapingBee do not roll over. If you pay $99/month and only use half your credits, the rest are lost at renewal. Even one-time credit top-up purchases expire at the next subscription renewal - not after a fixed period.
Geo-targeting and screenshots require the $249/month plan
ScrapingBee's Freelance ($49/month) and Startup ($99/month) plans do not include geo-targeting, screenshots, extraction rules, or the Google Search API. To unlock these, you need the Business plan at $249/month minimum.
Datacenter proxies by default
ScrapingBee defaults to datacenter ("classic") proxies. To use residential proxies, you enable the "premium" option - which multiplies your credit cost by 10x (without JS) or 25x (with JS). Their "stealth" proxy costs 75 credits per request.
No pay-as-you-go option
ScrapingBee is subscription-only. There is no way to buy credits without committing to a monthly plan. If your scraping needs are irregular, you're paying for months you might not use.
404 pages still cost credits
ScrapingBee considers 404 responses as "successful" requests and charges credits for them. If you're scraping URLs that might not exist, you're paying for pages that return nothing useful.
The 75x credit multiplier
The gap between ScrapingBee's cheapest option (1 credit for basic datacenter, no JS) and their most expensive (75 credits for stealth proxy) is 75x. A plan that can do 1,000,000 basic requests only does 13,333 stealth requests - and the stealth proxy is what you need for the hardest sites.
How Browser7 is different
One price, everything included
Every Browser7 render costs $0.01. That includes a real Chrome browser, residential proxies, CAPTCHA solving, geo-targeting, and screenshots. There are no credit multipliers, no feature add-ons, and no per-domain surcharges. The price is the price.
Every feature on every plan
Browser7 does not lock features behind higher tiers. Geo-targeting, screenshots, CAPTCHA solving, and residential proxies are available from the $10 starter bundle. You choose a bundle based on how many pages you need, not which features you want.
Your balance never expires
Browser7 uses a prepaid account balance model. Top up when you need to, use it whenever you want. There are no monthly subscriptions and no expiring credits. If you top up $10, you have 1,000 renders available - whether you use them this week or next year.
Residential proxies on every request
Browser7 only uses residential IPs - never datacenter. You don't need to enable a "premium" option or pay extra credits. Residential is the default and the only option, included in the $0.01 per page price.
No subscription commitment
Browser7 has no monthly subscription. You buy renders when you need them, and they never expire. No auto-renewals, no cancellation required, no wasted months when your scraping needs slow down.
Real-world cost example
Let's say you need to scrape 10,000 pages per month with JavaScript rendering, residential proxies, and geo-targeting.
| Scenario | Browser7 | ScrapingBee |
|---|---|---|
| Pages needed | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Credits required | N/A - no credits | 250,000 (25 per page) |
| Plan required | $100 top-up | Business - $249/month |
| Why this plan? | Pay for what you use | Geo-targeting requires Business tier |
| Monthly cost | $100 (one-time) | $249/month (recurring) |
| Unused balance | Carries over forever | 2,750,000 credits lost |
| Subscription commitment | None | Monthly auto-renewal |
Because ScrapingBee locks geo-targeting behind the Business plan ($249/month with 3,000,000 credits), you're forced to pay for far more credits than you need. At 25 credits per page, you'd use 250,000 of those 3,000,000 credits - wasting over 91% of what you paid for. With Browser7, you top up $100 once, use exactly what you need, and keep the rest for later.