Compare / ScrapingDog Alternative
ScrapingDog Alternative
ScrapingDog advertises prices starting at $0.0002 per credit. But once you enable JavaScript rendering and residential proxies - features you need for any modern website - a single page costs 25 credits. Browser7 includes everything at a flat $0.01 per page, with no credit system at all.
How ScrapingDog's credit system works
ScrapingDog's pricing page shows plans starting at $40/month for 200,000 credits. At first glance, that looks like 200,000 pages for $40. But credit costs depend heavily on which features you enable:
| Configuration | Credits per page | Real pages from 200K credits |
|---|---|---|
| Static page, rotating proxy | 1 | 200,000 |
| With JavaScript rendering (on by default) | 5 | 40,000 |
| With residential proxy, no JS | 10 | 20,000 |
| With JS + residential proxy | 25 | 8,000 |
Most modern websites require both JavaScript rendering and a residential proxy to scrape reliably. At 25 credits per page, that $40/month plan gives you 8,000 pages - not 200,000. That works out to $0.005 per page on ScrapingDog's cheapest plan.
It's also worth noting that ScrapingDog's JavaScript rendering parameter (dynamic) is set to true by default. This means every request costs 5 credits unless you explicitly disable it - even if you didn't realise it was on.
Browser7 vs ScrapingDog
A direct comparison of what you actually get and what you actually pay.
| Feature | Browser7 | ScrapingDog |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat per-page | Credit-based |
| Advertised price | $0.01/page | $0.0002/credit |
| Real cost per page (JS + residential) | $0.01 | Depends on plan and features (25-35 credits/page) |
| JavaScript rendering | +5 credits | |
| Residential proxies | +10 credits | |
| CAPTCHA solving | ||
| Geo-targeting | +10 credits | |
| Screenshots | 5 credits | |
| Proxy type by default | Residential | Datacenter |
| Billing model | Prepaid, never expires | Monthly subscription |
| Unused credits | Never expire | Expire monthly |
| Real Chrome browser | ||
| Free trial | 100 renders | 1,000 credits (30 days) |
| Refund policy | Prepaid - use at your pace | No refunds |
Things to watch out for with ScrapingDog
JavaScript rendering is on by default
ScrapingDog's dynamic 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.
Subscription credits expire every month
Unused credits on ScrapingDog's subscription plans do not roll over. If you pay $40/month and only use half your credits, the rest are lost. Their Pay-As-You-Go option avoids this, but it costs roughly double per credit and has lower concurrency limits.
Datacenter proxies by default
ScrapingDog's default proxy type is datacenter, not residential. To use residential proxies (which most modern websites require for reliable scraping), you need to enable their "premium" proxy option - which costs 10-25 credits per page instead of 1-5.
404 pages still cost credits
ScrapingDog charges credits for requests that return a 404 status code. If you're scraping URLs that might not exist, you're paying for pages that return nothing useful.
Geo-targeting costs 10 extra credits per page
ScrapingDog charges an additional 10 credits per page for geo-targeting. Combined with JavaScript rendering and residential proxies, a single geo-targeted page costs 35 credits - meaning the $40/month plan (200,000 credits) only covers 5,714 pages instead of the 200,000 the pricing page suggests.
The $40 to $90 plan jump
ScrapingDog's plans jump from $40/month (200,000 credits) to $90/month (1,000,000 credits) with no option in between. If you need even one credit more than 200,000, you pay $90 - a 125% price increase. With JS rendering, residential proxies, and geo-targeting at 35 credits per page, 5,715 pages already pushes you to the $90 plan.
No refunds
ScrapingDog's terms state that no refunds will be issued under any circumstances. Combined with expiring credits and auto-renewing subscriptions, this means you need to be very careful with your plan selection.
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.
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 surprises
No auto-renewing subscriptions. No hidden default parameters that multiply your costs. No credit expiry. No refund restrictions to worry about. You know exactly what you're paying before you make a single request.
Real-world cost example
Let's say you need to scrape 6,000 pages per month with JavaScript rendering, residential proxies, and geo-targeting.
| Scenario | Browser7 | ScrapingDog |
|---|---|---|
| Pages needed | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Credits per page | N/A - no credits | 35 (JS + residential + geo) |
| Total credits | N/A | 210,000 |
| Plan required | $60 top-up | Standard - $90/month |
| Why this plan? | Pay for what you use | $40 plan only has 200,000 credits |
| Monthly cost | $60 | $90/month (recurring) |
| Credits wasted monthly | N/A | 790,000 (79%) |
| Annual cost | $720 | $1,080 |
| Annual savings with Browser7 | - | $360 saved |
With geo-targeting enabled, 6,000 pages requires 210,000 credits - just 10,000 more than the $40/month plan includes. That pushes you to the $90/month Standard plan, where 79% of your credits expire unused every month. Over a year, you spend $1,080 on ScrapingDog versus $720 on Browser7 - and if you scrape fewer pages some months, Browser7 costs less while ScrapingDog still charges $90.