<!-- twin of https://specstream.ai/alternatives/scrapingant -->
# ScrapingAnt alternatives in 2026: pages at $0.80 per 1,000, no plan

Compared on Nov 10, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/alternatives/scrapingant

ScrapingAnt sells monthly credits, from $19 for 100,000 on Enthusiast. A page with its default headless browser takes 10 credits and a simple request 1, so Enthusiast reads about 10,000 browser pages. Finding the pages is left to you.

SpecStream is the live web data engine. It reads any page at $0.0008 whatever it takes to load, answers your ScrapingAnt call at its own address, and on the same key searches the web, crawls sites and returns [whole datasets as rows](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingant).

[Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-scrapingant&utm_source=alternatives-md&utm_campaign=scrapingant&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fsearch%3Froute%3Dscrapingant) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 12,500 pages.

## SpecStream and ScrapingAnt side by side

| | SpecStream | ScrapingAnt |
|---|---|---|
| What you change | One line. `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingant/v2` in place of `https://api.scrapingant.com/v2`, and a SpecStream key in `x-api-key`. `/v2/general`, `/v2/extended` and `/v2/markdown` keep their shape | `GET https://api.scrapingant.com/v2/general` with the key as `x-api-key` |
| Price of a page | $0.0008, which is $0.80 per 1,000 pages, the same for every page. A page that refuses a plain read is tried again in a real browser at the same price | Credits by option: 10 for a page with the headless browser, which is the default, and 1 for a simple request with no browser |
| Plan | No plan. Calls spend from a balance inside the limit you set on the key, and credit you buy never expires | Monthly plans: Enthusiast $19 for 100,000 credits, Startup $49 for 500,000 |
| Failed and empty pages | A page with no text is not charged. A busy call gets `409` with `Retry-After`, ScrapingAnt's own status, and is not charged | Failed requests cost 0 |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card. That is 12,500 pages, or 2,000 searches | 10,000 free credits every month. The free plan allows one active request, and a second gets `409` |
| Search | The Search API answers a question from the live web at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, with up to 100 results a call. 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks | A page API: each call starts from a `url` you already have |
| Crawls and site maps | `POST /v1/crawl` runs a crawl as a job and `POST /v1/map` returns a site's links. Each crawled page with text is one page read at $0.0008, and a map is one page read. Firecrawl's map and crawl calls answer at `/firecrawl` on the same key | One `url` per call |
| Data already held | Public databases read every morning at [specstream.ai/data](https://specstream.ai/data?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingant): every company that filed a Form D since 2023 with its filing history, nearly 2 million US nonprofits, every US bank failure since 1934, federal rules, open federal contracts and grants, and local businesses. Signals such as funding rounds, new executives and layoffs at [specstream.ai/signals](https://specstream.ai/signals?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingant) | Pages read one call at a time |
| Every match as structured rows | Deep Search: a request in plain words returns every match on the live web as rows that meet each condition you wrote, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phone. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts, and nothing runs until you approve it | The page as HTML, text or markdown. Turning pages into records is code you write |
| Reruns and change labels | Hourly to yearly. Each row comes back labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching. A changed or new row costs half its rate, an unchanged row 1¢ | Each call reads the page again at its credit cost |
| Where the data goes | Google Sheets, Excel, Airtable, Notion, monday.com, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Slack, Teams, Zapier, Make, n8n and signed webhooks. Agents use the MCP server, the REST API, the Python and TypeScript SDKs, a CLI and A2A | The API response, and the `scrapingant-client` Python client |

## Why ScrapingAnt users move to SpecStream

### Your ScrapingAnt client keeps running

SpecStream answers `/v2/general`, `/v2/extended` and `/v2/markdown` at its own address, in ScrapingAnt's form, with its `{"detail"}` errors. In ScrapingAnt's Python client, `scrapingant-client` 2.1.0, the change is one line before you build the client: `scrapingant_client.client.SCRAPINGANT_API_BASE_URL = "https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingant/v2"`. With `requests`:

```
import requests

reply = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingant/v2/markdown",  # was https://api.scrapingant.com/v2/markdown
    params={"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"},
    headers={"x-api-key": SPECSTREAM_KEY},
    timeout=60,
)
print(reply.json()["markdown"][:500])
```

### One price a page, whatever the page needs

On ScrapingAnt the browser is on by default, so a page takes 10 credits unless you turn it off for a 1 credit request. On SpecStream every page that gives text costs $0.0008. A page that refuses a plain read is tried again in a real browser, then from the site's own feed, then from its newest public archive capture, at the same price.

### A page with nothing on it is not charged

On SpecStream a page with no text is not charged, and a busy call gets `409`, ScrapingAnt's status for too many requests at once, with `Retry-After`, and charges nothing. Your client's retry code reads it as it reads ScrapingAnt's.

### A balance with no plan

ScrapingAnt sells credits by the month, from $19 on Enthusiast, about 10,000 pages with the default browser. On SpecStream $19 reads 23,750 pages, there is no plan to renew, and credit you buy never expires. Set `spend_cap_cents` on a key and that key never spends past it.

### Scored on the official benchmarks

Every page goes through the SpecStream Extract API, which returns the main text of up to 20 pages or documents (PDF, Word, Excel) a call. The Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct, and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. The Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. The scores and the method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingant).

### Search, crawls and site maps on the same key

A ScrapingAnt call starts from a URL you already have. On SpecStream the same key finds the URLs: the [Search API](https://specstream.ai/search-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingant) returns up to 100 results a call at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10, `POST /v1/map` returns a site's links for one page read, and `POST /v1/crawl` reads a whole site at $0.0008 a page with text.

### Whole datasets as rows, kept up to date

When the job is a dataset in place of pages, the same key does that too. [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingant) takes a request in plain words, such as "the pricing page of every European project management software company, with each plan's name and monthly price", and returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with a source URL on every value. The most a run can cost is approved before it starts. Save the request and it reruns hourly to yearly: a changed or new row costs half its rate and an unchanged row 1¢. Rows go to Sheets, a CRM, Slack, a signed webhook or your agent through the MCP server at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`.

### Zero retention on any key

Set `zero_retention` when you create a key, or later. A call made with that key keeps no request text and no answer after the reply, and `spend_cap_cents` is the most the key can spend.

```
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "production", "scopes": ["account:read", "finds:spend"], "spend_cap_cents": 500000, "zero_retention": true}'
```

## Other ScrapingAnt alternatives

### SpecStream

The live web data engine for teams and agents. The Extract API reads pages at $0.80 per 1,000 and scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB, the Search API costs $5 per 1,000 searches and scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, and Deep Search returns every match as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. One key, one balance that never expires.

### Scrape.do

A scraping API on monthly credits: Hobby is $29 billed monthly for 250,000, Pro $99 for 1,250,000, and a page with a headless browser takes 5 credits. SpecStream answers Scrape.do's `?token=&url=` call at `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapedo` at $0.0008 a page.

### ScrapingBee

A scraping API on monthly credits: Hobby is $19 for 75,000, and each successful request with JavaScript rendering costs 5 credits. SpecStream answers ScrapingBee's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingbee/api/v1`, from a balance that never expires.

### ScraperAPI

A scraping API on monthly plans: Hobby is $49 a month for 100,000 API credits, and a standard page costs 1 credit. SpecStream answers ScraperAPI's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi`, and a page with no text costs nothing.

## How to switch from ScrapingAnt

1. Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. A new account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 12,500 pages.

2. Change the address and the key. The parameters and the reply stay as they are:

```
# Before
curl -G https://api.scrapingant.com/v2/general \
  -H "x-api-key: $SCRAPINGANT_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"

# After
curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingant/v2/general \
  -H "x-api-key: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"
```

3. In JavaScript, with `fetch`:

```
const url = new URL("https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingant/v2/markdown");
url.search = new URLSearchParams({ url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping" });
const reply = await fetch(url, { headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SPECSTREAM_KEY } });
const { markdown } = await reply.json();
console.log(markdown.slice(0, 500));
```

4. Read `409` with `Retry-After` as a call to send again later; it is not charged. Every parameter the route reads and every field it returns is in the [ScrapingAnt migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/scrapingant?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingant).

5. For pages you have not found yet, send the question to `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search`, or write the dataset you want in plain words and SpecStream quotes the most it can cost before it runs.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does ScrapingAnt cost?

ScrapingAnt starts at $19 a month for 100,000 credits on Enthusiast, and Startup is $49 for 500,000. A page with the default headless browser takes 10 credits. SpecStream reads any page at $0.80 per 1,000, with no plan.

### What is the best ScrapingAnt alternative?

SpecStream, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages with no plan. It answers ScrapingAnt's own `/v2` calls, scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB for extraction and 97.9 F-score on SimpleQA Verified for search, as shown on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingant) page, and the same key crawls sites and returns whole datasets as rows.

### How many credits does a ScrapingAnt request cost?

10 credits with the headless browser, which is on by default, and 1 credit for a simple request with no browser. On SpecStream every page costs $0.0008, browser or not.

### How do I switch from ScrapingAnt to SpecStream?

Change one address: `https://api.scrapingant.com/v2` becomes `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingant/v2`, and a SpecStream key goes in `x-api-key`. In `scrapingant-client` 2.1.0, set `scrapingant_client.client.SCRAPINGANT_API_BASE_URL` to that address and `general_request()` and `markdown_request()` run as before.

### Is there a free ScrapingAnt alternative?

SpecStream gives every new account $10 of credit, no card, which reads 12,500 pages or runs 2,000 searches. ScrapingAnt gives 10,000 free credits a month, which is about 1,000 pages with its default browser.

### Does SpecStream have an API?

Yes, three. The Extract API is `POST /v1/extract` at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, the Search API is `GET /v1/web-search` at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, and Deep Search returns structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 each. The MCP server is at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each rival figure comes from that company's own page.

- [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream data](https://specstream.ai/data), read Nov 10, 2026
- [SpecStream signals](https://specstream.ai/signals), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScrapingAnt pricing](https://scrapingant.com/price-scraping-api), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScrapingAnt credits cost](https://docs.scrapingant.com/credits-cost), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScrapingAnt headless browser](https://docs.scrapingant.com/headless-browser), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScrapingAnt errors](https://docs.scrapingant.com/errors), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScrapingAnt API basics](https://docs.scrapingant.com/api-basics), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Scrape.do pricing](https://scrape.do/pricing/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Scrape.do request costs](https://scrape.do/documentation/request-costs/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScrapingBee pricing](https://www.scrapingbee.com/pricing/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScraperAPI pricing](https://scraperapi.com/pricing.md), read Nov 10, 2026