# Scrape.do vs Zyte API

> Zyte API scores 69.7 (B) on agent readiness against Scrape.do's 43.7 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do scraping. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-zyte
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-zyte.md (~2,300 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-zyte.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-zyte.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

Zyte API scores 69.7 (B) on agent readiness against Scrape.do's 43.7 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do scraping.

- Scrape.do: grade E, 43.7/100, rank #781 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scrape-do.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/scrape-do.json
- Zyte API: grade B, 69.7/100, rank #166 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zyte.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zyte.json

## Which one, for what

### 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

### Zyte API (B)

Good for: An agent or pipeline that fetches protected pages and wants the service to choose proxy and browser per site and to bill only success, and teams already on Scrapy.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 40
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 57
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 62
- Security & auth, 55 against 23
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 35
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 45
- Transparency & trust, 66 against 46

Watch for: Request price depends on the target site's tier, from $0.13 to $1.27 per 1,000 HTTP requests and $1.01 to $16.08 with a browser on pay-as-you-go


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Scrape.do | Zyte API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 40 | 85 | Zyte API +45 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 57 | 85 | Zyte API +28 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 62 | 72 | Zyte API +10 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 23 | 55 | Zyte API +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 40 | Zyte API +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 77 | Zyte API +32 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 46 | 66 | Zyte API +20 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **43.7 · E** | **69.7 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Scrape.do | Zyte API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Scrape.do | Zyte Group Limited |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.scrape.do/` | `https://api.zyte.com/v1/extract` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Zyte's terms of service. The Python client is BSD 3-Clause, and the Agentic Web Data plugin is under Zyte's own end-user licence |
| Tools exposed | none | 34 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-31 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-09-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2024-08-30 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 2 npm/wk | 42k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Zyte API.** One POST endpoint with an OpenAPI 3 contract picks proxies, browser rendering and extraction per site, bills only successful responses, and sends problem+json errors with Retry-After. Prices vary by target site across five tiers, so cost per request isn't known before the site is assigned one, and no dated API changelog was found.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Zyte API

1. Send the API key as the Basic auth username with an empty password to `https://api.zyte.com/v1/extract`. Set only one of `httpResponseBody` or `browserHtml`, or one extraction field
2. Ask for `httpResponseBody` before `browserHtml`. Browser requests cost about eight to thirteen times more per tier
3. Retry 429, 503 and 520 after the `Retry-After` seconds, with backoff. They aren't billed. Don't retry 400, 401, 422 or 451
4. Read `statusCode` in a 200 response. A target site's 404 comes back as a successful, billed Zyte API response
5. Have the owner set a blocking spending limit on the key you use. A 403 `/auth/account-suspended` means the limit or the trial month ended

## Questions

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

Zyte API scores 69.7 (B) on agent readiness against Scrape.do's 43.7 (E), and leads in every scored category.

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

Scrape.do needs an API key. Zyte API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

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

Yes. Scrape.do has a hosted endpoint at https://api.scrape.do/ and Zyte API at https://api.zyte.com/v1/extract.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Scrape.do or Zyte API

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