# Diffbot vs Scrape.do

> Diffbot scores 54.3 (C) to Scrape.do's 43.7 (E) for scraping. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrape-do
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrape-do.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrape-do.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrape-do.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Diffbot scores 54.3 (C) on agent readiness against Scrape.do's 43.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do scraping.

- Diffbot: grade C, 54.3/100, rank #687 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/diffbot.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/diffbot.json
- Scrape.do: grade E, 43.7/100, rank #880 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scrape-do.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/scrape-do.json
- Best web scraping and crawling APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/web-scrapers/index.md
- All 167 scrapers comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/web-scrapers/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Diffbot (C)

Good for: Agents that want typed article, product or discussion data from arbitrary pages without writing selectors, and teams that also want the Knowledge Graph.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 55 against 40
- Schema & documentation, 83 against 57
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 35
- Maintenance & community, 57 against 45
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 46

Watch for: The token is sent as the `token` query parameter on Extract and Knowledge Graph calls. It is the only scheme in the OpenAPI file

### Scrape.do (E)

Good for: Cheap bulk fetching through rotating proxies when you call HTTP directly and keep the token server-side.

Watch for: Token travels in the query string on the main API


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Diffbot | Scrape.do | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 40 | Diffbot +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 83 | 57 | Diffbot +26 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 62 | Diffbot +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 21 | 23 | Scrape.do +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 35 | Diffbot +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 45 | Diffbot +12 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 46 | Diffbot +22 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **54.3 · C** | **43.7 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Diffbot | Scrape.do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Diffbot Technologies Corp. | Scrape.do |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.diffbot.com/v3` | `https://api.scrape.do/` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Diffbot's Terms of Use. The Python client, the TypeScript client and the agent skills are MIT | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-06-15 | 2026-07-31 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-08-29 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 9 npm/wk, 45 PyPI/wk | 2 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Diffbot.** Extract returns typed JSON for articles, products, discussions and other page types with no selectors to write, under a public OpenAPI 3.1 contract and a free plan that needs no card. The API token travels in the URL query string, tokens carry no scopes, and no security page, certification or security.txt was found.

**Scrape.do.** $29 for 250,000 basic credits, and 429s, 502s and most failures aren't billed. Token travels in the query string on the main API.

## Before you call either

### Diffbot

1. Call `GET https://api.diffbot.com/v3/analyze?url=<encoded URL>&token=<token>` when the page type is unknown. Use `/v3/article` or `/v3/product` to force one schema
2. Keep the token out of logs and shared URLs. It sits in the query string, so any proxy or log that records the request URL records the token
3. Stay under 5 calls a minute on Free, 5 a second on Startup and 25 a second on Plus. On 429 wait at least one second and back off
4. Check a 200 response for `errorCode`. The official client raises `ExtractionError` when a 200 reports a failed extraction
5. Set `useProxy=default` only when a site blocks the fetch. A proxied page costs 2 credits against 1
6. Install `diffbot` from PyPI, not `diffbot-python`, which stopped at 0.3.0

### Scrape.do

1. Start with the default data centre request (1 credit). Add `super=true` or `render=true` only after a block, since they cost 10 and 5
2. Pass `output=markdown` to get LLM-ready text instead of raw HTML
3. Read `Scrape.do-Request-Cost` from the response headers. Some domains cost 10 to 200 credits whatever you pass
4. Treat a 429 as too many concurrent requests and wait for one to finish
5. Keep URLs with `token=` out of logs and shared traces

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Diffbot or Scrape.do?

Diffbot scores 54.3 (C) on agent readiness against Scrape.do's 43.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Diffbot and Scrape.do need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Diffbot and Scrape.do without installing anything?

Yes. Diffbot has a hosted endpoint at https://api.diffbot.com/v3 and Scrape.do at https://api.scrape.do/.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrape-do.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrape-do.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "diffbot", "b": "scrape-do"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare diffbot scrape-do`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/diffbot.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/scrape-do.json

## Other comparisons with Diffbot or Scrape.do

- [Apify MCP Server vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Bright Data vs Diffbot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bright-data-vs-diffbot.md)
- [Bright Data vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bright-data-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Diffbot vs Jina Reader](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-jina-reader.md)
- [Diffbot vs Scrapeless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrapeless.md)
- [Jina Reader vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jina-reader-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Olostep vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/olostep-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Oxylabs Web Scraper API vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/oxylabs-web-scraper-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScrapeGraphAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapegraphai.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Scrapeless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapeless.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScraperAPI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scraperapi.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Scrapfly](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapfly.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScrapingAnt](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapingant.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScrapingBee](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapingbee.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Scrapingdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapingdog.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Spider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-spider-cloud.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ZenRows](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-zenrows.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Zyte API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-zyte.md)
- [Diffbot vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)
- [Diffbot vs Olostep](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-olostep.md)
- [Diffbot vs Oxylabs Web Scraper API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-oxylabs-web-scraper.md)
- [Diffbot vs ScrapeGraphAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrapegraphai.md)
- [Diffbot vs ScraperAPI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scraperapi.md)
- [Diffbot vs Scrapfly](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrapfly.md)
- [Diffbot vs ScrapingAnt](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrapingant.md)
- [Diffbot vs ScrapingBee](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrapingbee.md)
- [Diffbot vs Scrapingdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrapingdog.md)
- [Diffbot vs Spider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-spider-cloud.md)
- [Diffbot vs ZenRows](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-zenrows.md)
- [Diffbot vs Zyte API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-zyte.md)
- [Firecrawl MCP vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Apify MCP Server vs Diffbot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-diffbot.md)