<!-- twin of https://specstream.ai/compare/scrapingbee-vs-scraperapi -->
# ScrapingBee vs ScraperAPI in 2026: one key answers both calls

Compared on Nov 10, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/compare/scrapingbee-vs-scraperapi

ScrapingBee starts at $19 a month for 75,000 credits and ScraperAPI at $49 for 100,000, and on both a page costs 1 to 75 credits by site and setting. SpecStream answers both calls, on their own paths, with one key.

Change `https://app.scrapingbee.com/api/v1/` to `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingbee/api/v1/` and `https://api.scraperapi.com` to `https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi`. Your clients and your parsers stay as they are.

Every page costs $0.80 per 1,000, on any site, from credit that never expires. The SpecStream Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB, on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingbee-vs-scraperapi) page.

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

## SpecStream, ScrapingBee and ScraperAPI side by side

| | SpecStream | ScrapingBee | ScraperAPI |
|---|---|---|---|
| The call your code sends | Both, on one key. `GET https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingbee/api/v1/?url=` with the key as the Bearer token, and `GET https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi?api_key=&url=` | `GET https://app.scrapingbee.com/api/v1?url=` with `Authorization: Bearer`. Passing the key as `api_key` is deprecated | `GET https://api.scraperapi.com?api_key=&url=`, with the key as a mandatory parameter |
| Price of a page | $0.80 per 1,000 pages, the same for every site and every page. $19 reads 23,750 pages and $49 reads 61,250 | Hobby is $19 a month for 75,000 credits. A call costs 1 to 75 credits, and 5 with JavaScript rendering, the default | Hobby is $49 a month for 100,000 credits. A standard page costs 1 credit, Amazon 5, Google and Bing 25, LinkedIn 30 |
| What you get back | The page in each API's own form: HTML, markdown, text or its JSON wrapper. The Extract API also returns the main text of up to 20 pages a call | The page as returned, or JSON with `json_response` | The page's HTML, or markdown or text with `output_format` |
| Credit you do not use | Credit you buy never expires. There is no monthly plan | API credits are valid for one month and do not roll over | The credit balance resets when the subscription renews |
| Pages that fail | A page that gives no text is not charged, and a busy call answers `429` with `Retry-After` and charges nothing | `404` and `410` from the site are billed. A `500` is not billed | `200` and `404` are charged. A request that fails after 70 seconds of retries is not charged |
| Requests at once | Up to 20 pages a call on the Extract API, with no monthly plan setting the volume. A call past the account's calls for the minute answers `429` with `Retry-After` and charges nothing | 25 concurrent requests on Hobby, up to 900 on Enterprise 120 | 20 concurrent threads on Hobby |
| Free to start | $10 of credit, no card, which covers 12,500 pages or 2,000 searches | 1,000 free API credits, no credit card required | A 7-day trial with 5,000 credits, no card, then 1,000 credits a month with 5 concurrent threads |
| Structured data | 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. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts | AI extraction adds 5 credits a call | Autoparse returns JSON or CSV for Amazon, eBay, Google, Redfin and Walmart. The AI Parser's first parser is free, and each further parser costs 30,000 credits |

## Why teams choosing between ScrapingBee and ScraperAPI use SpecStream

### Keep both calls and change two lines

Your ScrapingBee call and your ScraperAPI call keep their parameters and their parsers. Each one changes its address, and both carry the same key.

```
# ScrapingBee: was https://app.scrapingbee.com/api/v1/
curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingbee/api/v1/ \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping" \
  --data-urlencode "return_page_markdown=true"

# ScraperAPI: was https://api.scraperapi.com
curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi \
  --data-urlencode "api_key=$SPECSTREAM_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping" \
  --data-urlencode "output_format=markdown"
```

A team that has not chosen yet writes to either format and moves nothing later. The parameter by parameter tables are in the [ScrapingBee migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/scrapingbee?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingbee-vs-scraperapi) and the [ScraperAPI migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/scraperapi?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingbee-vs-scraperapi).

### What each path reads and returns

On `/scrapingbee/api/v1/`, `url`, `return_page_markdown`, `return_page_text`, `json_response`, `add_html` and `transparent_status_code` work as on ScrapingBee, and the key goes as `Authorization: Bearer` or `api_key`. The site's `404` passes through. Errors come in ScrapingBee's own form: `400` with no `url`, `401` for a wrong key or no credit.

On `/scraperapi`, `api_key`, `url` and `output_format` for markdown or text work as on ScraperAPI, and ScraperAPI's Python SDK reaches it through its `api_endpoint` argument. The site's `404` passes through. Errors come in ScraperAPI's own form: `400` with no `url`, `401` for a wrong key, `403` with no credit left.

### $0.80 per 1,000 pages on every site, from credit that does not expire

On ScrapingBee and ScraperAPI the price of a page depends on the site and the settings: 5 credits for JavaScript rendering on ScrapingBee, 25 for a Google page on ScraperAPI. Unused credits end with the month on both. On SpecStream every page is $0.0008, a page that gives no text is not charged, and a top-up stays in the account until you use it.

### Scores published on official benchmarks

The SpecStream Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. The Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks. The scores and the method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingbee-vs-scraperapi).

### 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. The charge keeps the account, the key, the request ID, the price and the time.

```
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}'
```

### Search, crawls and rows on the same key

A scraper reads the pages you already know. The same key finds them: the [Search API](https://specstream.ai/search-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingbee-vs-scraperapi) at $5 per 1,000 searches, `POST /v1/map` for a site's links and `POST /v1/crawl` for a whole site, each page with text at the page price. [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scrapingbee-vs-scraperapi) returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, and a saved request reruns hourly to yearly with each row labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching.

## Other scraping APIs

### ZenRows

A scraping API by monthly credits, from $19 for 45,000, where a JavaScript request always costs 5 credits. SpecStream answers ZenRows' call at `https://api.specstream.ai/zenrows/v1`, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages.

### Scrapfly

Discovery is $30 a month for 200,000 credits, and `render_js` adds 5 credits a call. SpecStream answers Scrapfly's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapfly/scrape`, at one price for every page.

### Firecrawl

Scrape, crawl and search by monthly credits: Hobby is $19 a month for 5,000 credits, and a 403 or 404 page costs 1 credit. SpecStream answers Firecrawl v2 scrape, map and crawl at `https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl`, at $0.0008 a page.

### Apify

A store of scrapers called Actors, on plans of $0, $19, $199 or $999 a month, where most Actors charge per event at their own price and compute units cost $0.2 on Starter. SpecStream returns the finished rows from a request in plain words, at a price quoted before the run.

## How to run your ScrapingBee and ScraperAPI calls on SpecStream

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. Point each call at its SpecStream path. The key goes as the Bearer token on the ScrapingBee path and as `api_key` on the ScraperAPI path. In Python:

```
import requests

PAGE = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"

# ScrapingBee's call, was https://app.scrapingbee.com/api/v1/
bee = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingbee/api/v1/",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {SPECSTREAM_KEY}"},
    params={"url": PAGE, "return_page_markdown": "true"},
    timeout=60,
)
bee.raise_for_status()
print(bee.text[:300])

# ScraperAPI's call, was https://api.scraperapi.com
scraper = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi",
    params={"api_key": SPECSTREAM_KEY, "url": PAGE, "output_format": "markdown"},
    timeout=70,
)
scraper.raise_for_status()
print(scraper.text[:300])
```

3. In JavaScript:

```
const key = process.env.SPECSTREAM_KEY;
const page = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping";

// ScrapingBee's call, was https://app.scrapingbee.com/api/v1/
const bee = new URL("https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingbee/api/v1/");
bee.search = new URLSearchParams({ url: page, json_response: "true" });
const beeData = await fetch(bee, { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}` } }).then((r) => r.json());
console.log(beeData["resolved-url"], beeData.body.length);

// ScraperAPI's call, was https://api.scraperapi.com
const scraper = new URL("https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi");
scraper.search = new URLSearchParams({ api_key: key, url: page });
const html = await fetch(scraper).then((r) => r.text());
console.log(html.length);
```

4. Leave the rest. Each page is billed at $0.0008, and a page that gives no text is not charged. On a `429`, wait the seconds in `Retry-After` and send the call again; nothing was charged.

When you scrape pages to build a list, write the list you want in plain words. SpecStream reads it back as the conditions every row must meet and the facts to bring back, quotes the most it can cost, and delivers the rows after you approve.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is ScrapingBee better than ScraperAPI?

For a team that wants either one's call at one price, SpecStream answers both on one key at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, on any site. Its Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB, and a team keeps whichever format it already wrote.

### ScrapingBee vs ScraperAPI pricing: what does each cost?

ScrapingBee's Hobby plan is $19 a month for 75,000 credits, with 5 credits for a default call with JavaScript rendering. ScraperAPI's Hobby plan is $49 a month for 100,000 credits, with 25 credits for a Google or Bing page. SpecStream costs $0.80 per 1,000 pages, with no monthly plan.

### Can I use both ScrapingBee and ScraperAPI?

Yes, with one key: SpecStream answers ScrapingBee's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingbee/api/v1/` and ScraperAPI's at `https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi`, each in its own form. One balance, one request log and one spending limit cover both.

### Do unused credits roll over?

No on both: ScrapingBee credits are valid for one month, and ScraperAPI's balance resets when the subscription renews. SpecStream credit you buy never expires.

### Which one charges for failed pages?

ScrapingBee bills a `404` or `410` from the site, and ScraperAPI charges `200` and `404`. On SpecStream a page that gives no text is not charged, and a busy call answers `429` and charges nothing.

### Do their SDKs work with SpecStream?

Yes: ScraperAPI's Python SDK takes `https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi` as its `api_endpoint`, and ScrapingBee's call works from any HTTP client with the address changed. The key goes where theirs went.

## Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure for ScrapingBee, ScraperAPI and the other APIs comes from that company's own page.

- [ScrapingBee pricing](https://www.scrapingbee.com/pricing/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScrapingBee documentation](https://www.scrapingbee.com/documentation/), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScraperAPI pricing](https://scraperapi.com/pricing.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScraperAPI first request](https://docs.scraperapi.com/getting-started/quick-start/send-your-first-request.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScraperAPI status codes](https://docs.scraperapi.com/responses-and-formats/api-status-codes.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScraperAPI output formats](https://docs.scraperapi.com/responses-and-formats/output-formats.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScraperAPI Autoparse](https://docs.scraperapi.com/data-pipeline/creating-a-datapipeline-project/results-and-output-formats.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ScraperAPI AI Parser pricing](https://docs.scraperapi.com/ai-parser/pricing-and-limits.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [ZenRows pricing](https://docs.zenrows.com/first-steps/pricing.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Scrapfly pricing](https://scrapfly.io/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Scrapfly billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/billing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Firecrawl pricing](https://www.firecrawl.dev/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026
- [Apify pricing](https://apify.com/pricing.md), read Nov 10, 2026
- [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