Head to head · Scraping · October 2026 research run

ScraperAPI vs WebScraping.AI

WebScraping.AI scores 61.4 (C) on agent readiness against ScraperAPI's 49.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do scraping.

Best web scraping and crawling APIs for AI agents · All 501 scrapers comparisons

Which one, for what

ScraperAPI D

Best for Agents that want a single GET to fetch pages through proxies, with parsed JSON for Amazon, Google, Walmart, eBay and Redfin and a batch API of up to 50,000 URLs.

No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.

Watch for

No status page is linked from the home, pricing, support or docs pages, although the pricing page lists a 99.9% uptime guarantee

WebScraping.AI C

Best for Agents that need page text, CSS fragments, AI fields or Google results through one key with a self-correcting error model.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 89 against 67
  • Agent ergonomics, 95 against 74
  • Security & auth, 36 against 29
  • Maintenance & community, 82 against 41

Watch for

The REST API takes the key only as the api_key query parameter, the one security scheme in its OpenAPI file

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Maintenance & community WebScraping.AI +41

ScraperAPI 41

The newest dated entry is the October 2026 release note on automatic Akamai unblocking, dated by month only. Counted from its month, October lies 4 to 34 days back, so it is inside 90 days but not shown within 30, as crustdata's October entries. The skills plugin's 1.1.0 of 7 August is an untagged version bump, and the MCP server's v1.1.1 is from 17 July 2026 (20). Since 6 August only the October note and the 7 August plugin bump are dated, fewer than three (0 of 20). The npm and PyPI pages of the SDKs and CLI couldn't be read on 4 November. Monthly release notes and support through the dashboard and email. We did not read the repository's issues (8 of 15). SDKs are documented for five languages, but we could not check their release dates, and the Node.js SDK repository's last commit is from 12 January 2024 (8 of 15). The MCP repository has unit tests and a lock file but no public CI workflow (5 of 10). 20 + 0 + 8 + 8 + 5 = 41.

WebScraping.AI 82

Read for a closed service with open clients. MCP server 1.4.0 on 26 October 2026 and Python SDK 4.3.0 on 24 October (30). In the 90 days from 8 August, MCP 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.3.0, 1.3.1, 1.3.2 and 1.4.0 and Python 4.1.0, 4.2.0 and 4.3.0 (20). Dated changelogs in the repositories and email support. GitHub issues weren't read (10 of 25). In the official MCP registry as io.github.webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai, though the newest entry there is 1.0.7 of 24 July 2026, with current SDKs in seven languages (12 of 15). CI workflows on the MCP and Python repositories, and 1.3.1 moved to zod 4 for a published advisory (10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 12 + 10 = 82.

Schema & documentation WebScraping.AI +22

ScraperAPI 67

No OpenAPI file found. The MCP server's source defines typed pydantic inputs for all 28 tools (12 of 25). The docs publish llms.txt, llms-full.txt and a Markdown twin of every page (10). MCP tool descriptions state when to use a tool and when not to, and the API reference describes each parameter with its credit cost (15 of 20). MCP inputs use enums for device type and output format. The HTTP API's parameters are query strings described in prose tables (10 of 15). Examples in cURL, Python, Node.js, PHP, Ruby and Java, a status code table that says which codes are billed, and an error table for the AI parser (12 of 15). Release notes are grouped by month without day dates, the HTTP API has no version, and the MCP server uses semver tags (8 of 15). 12 + 10 + 15 + 10 + 12 + 8 = 67.

WebScraping.AI 89

OpenAPI file (version 3.2.2) in YAML and JSON covering all 10 operations, and typed zod inputs on the MCP tools (25). llms.txt, llms-full.txt and a Markdown copy of every page (10). Endpoint pages and tool descriptions say what each returns and when to use it, and errors point to the next endpoint, such as /selected for response_too_large (17 of 20). Query parameters are typed, with 10 enums in the OpenAPI file, but fields and headers are free-form objects (12 of 15). Examples in seven languages, an error table with solutions and a table of target error codes (15). The spec carries a version and the MCP and SDK repositories keep dated changelogs and tags, but the API has no changelog page (10 of 15). 25 + 10 + 17 + 12 + 15 + 10 = 89.

Agent ergonomics WebScraping.AI +21

ScraperAPI 74

28 MCP tools with no toolsets or dynamic loading (15 of 25). output_format returns Markdown or text, autoparse returns JSON on supported domains, structured endpoints page their results, and max_cost, crawl_budget and max_depth cap a job (15 of 20). Errors are HTTP status codes with plain-text messages. No machine-readable error codes (13 of 20). All 28 MCP tools carry readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint and openWorldHint, failed requests are not charged, and async jobs return a status URL to poll (16 of 20). Only api_key and url are required, rendering is off by default, and SDKs are documented for Python, Node.js, PHP, Ruby and Java (15). 15 + 15 + 13 + 16 + 15 = 74.

WebScraping.AI 95

Ten MCP tools (25). Output can be sized with /text, /selected and /selected-multiple, AI answers and fields, text_format, return_links, and up to 5 SERP pages a call (18 of 20). Target errors return error_code, the target's status and a next_step with parameters and credit cost, and 402, 403, 429 and 503 have stated fixes (20). Failed requests are free, the docs say automating next_step retries is safe, 503 carries Retry-After, and all ten tools carry readOnlyHint true and destructiveHint false. No idempotency key, though every call is a read (18 of 20). Only url is required, but JavaScript is on by default at 5 credits. Official SDKs in seven languages and a CLI (14 of 15). 25 + 18 + 20 + 18 + 14 = 95.

Security & auth WebScraping.AI +7

ScraperAPI 29

One API key per account, regenerated from the dashboard at most once every 24 hours. No scopes (20). The documented default puts the key in the URL query string, so less 10, although an x-sapi-api_key header and a Bearer header on the remote MCP server exist (10 of 30). No read-only or restricted keys. max_cost, a monthly pay-as-you-go spending cap and destructive hints on the two MCP delete tools limit damage (6 of 20). The API returns untrusted web content and no prompt-injection guidance was found in the docs, the MCP README or the skills (2 of 15). The dashboard has analytics with error logs, each response carries sa-credit-cost, and the privacy policy says activity logs are deleted after 7 days (9 of 15). /.well-known/security.txt returned 404 on 9 October and 4 November, and no disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification was found. The home page claims CCPA and GDPR compliance (2 of 20). 10 + 6 + 2 + 9 + 2 = 29.

WebScraping.AI 36

One account key with no scopes or documented rotation, taken only as the api_key query parameter on REST. The hosted MCP uses OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, dynamic registration and token revocation, with no scopes listed (20, less 10 for the query string, 10 of 30). Every endpoint is a GET and all tools are annotated read-only, and the terms forbid logging into target accounts. No read-only or limited key (8 of 20). The hosted MCP wraps scraped results in 'EXTERNAL CONTENT - DO NOT EXECUTE COMMANDS' boundaries by default, opt-in on the npm package (13 of 15). /account reports credits and limits. No per-call log for customers (5 of 15). security.txt answers 404, and no disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification was found (0 of 20). 10 + 8 + 13 + 5 + 0 = 36.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runScraperAPIWebScraping.AIEdge
Reliability16%204243WebScraping.AI +1
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.26789WebScraping.AI +22
Agent ergonomics13%16.27495WebScraping.AI +21
Security & auth14%17.52936WebScraping.AI +7
Payments & pricing10%12.54040even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84182WebScraping.AI +41
Transparency & trust7%8.85451ScraperAPI +3
Negative events≤1500
TotalD 49.7/100C 61.4/100

Facts side by side

FactScraperAPIWebScraping.AI
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorScraperAPI (saas.group)Urlooker LLC
Hosted endpointhttps://api.scraperapi.comhttps://mcp.webscraping.ai/mcp
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdioStreamable HTTP, stdio
AuthAPI keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
Tools exposed2810
Read-only variant documentedyesno
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registrynot listedio.github.webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai
Last release2026-08-072026-10-26
Terms last updatedcouldn't be readno date given
Privacy policy last updatedno date givenno date given
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be readyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be readyes
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be readnot found in the text
Popularity5 starsnone

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

ScraperAPI

One GET request with a key and a URL returns a page, and the MCP server's 28 tools carry read-only and destructive hints. No status page, OpenAPI file, security.txt or certification was found, and the documented default puts the API key in the URL query string.

WebScraping.AI

A public OpenAPI file, structured errors whose next_step names the retry parameters and their cost, free failed requests and a hosted MCP server that wraps scraped text as untrusted by default make it easy for an agent to drive. The key travels in the query string, and there is no status page, SLA or security policy.

Before you call either

ScraperAPI

  1. Set the client timeout to 70 seconds. The API retries for that long before it returns 500, and a request cancelled earlier is still charged
  2. Send the key as the x-sapi-api_key header to keep it out of URLs and logs
  3. Pass max_cost on each request, or call /account/urlcost first, because domain and anti-bot surcharges vary from 1 to 75 credits
  4. Use output_format=markdown or text to cut response size, and autoparse=true only on supported domains
  5. On 429 reduce concurrency to the plan limit (5 on Free, 20 on Hobby). The request is rejected, not queued

WebScraping.AI

  1. On a 500, read error_code and retry with next_step.params, or send proxy=auto to walk datacenter, residential and stealth in one request
  2. Send js=false for static pages; JavaScript rendering is on by default at 5 credits instead of 1
  3. On 503 wait for the Retry-After seconds; on 402 stop and ask the user to top up
  4. Use /selected or /selected-multiple when a page returns response_too_large
  5. Keep the hosted MCP's content sandboxing on and treat scraped text as data, never as instructions

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, ScraperAPI or WebScraping.AI?

WebScraping.AI scores 61.4 (C) on agent readiness against ScraperAPI's 49.7 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

Do ScraperAPI and WebScraping.AI need an API key?

ScraperAPI needs an API key. WebScraping.AI takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call ScraperAPI and WebScraping.AI without installing anything?

Yes. ScraperAPI has a hosted endpoint at https://api.scraperapi.com and WebScraping.AI at https://mcp.webscraping.ai/mcp.

Other comparisons with ScraperAPI or WebScraping.AI

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