# ScraperAPI (slim)

> Web scraping API that fetches a URL through rotating proxies with optional JavaScript rendering and anti-bot bypass, and returns HTML, Markdown, text or parsed JSON. It has async jobs, a crawler, structured data endpoints and an MCP server.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scraperapi.md (~7,000 tokens) · this version ~1,530 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scraperapi.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scraperapi
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-10

**D · 52.1/100 · rank #739 of 950 · #14 in Web scraping & crawling · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: 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.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: ScraperAPI (saas.group) · category: Web scraping & crawling · legal entity: ScraperAPI LLC · provenance 72/100
- Endpoint: `https://api.scraperapi.com` (HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio)
- Auth: API key · pricing: Freemium · x402: no · licence: unknown
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Endpoints: `GET https://api.scraperapi.com` (sync), `POST https://async.scraperapi.com/jobs` (async, up to 50,000 URLs a batch), `https://api.scraperapi.com/structured/<site>/<type>` (parsed JSON), `POST https://crawler.scraperapi.com/job` (crawler), an AI parser API and a proxy port
- MCP server: Remote at `https://mcp.scraperapi.com/mcp` with a Bearer header, or local from the `scraperapi-mcp-server` Python package or Docker. 28 tools covering scrape, Google, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Redfin, the crawler and the AI parser
- Free tier: 1,000 credits a month, 5 concurrent threads, no card. 5,000 credits for the first 7 days
- Concurrency: 20 threads on Hobby, 50 Startup, 100 Business, 200 Scaling, 300 Professional, 500 Advanced. Over the limit returns 429 with no charge
- Retention: Activity logs 7 days, async results up to 72 hours, DataPipeline results 30 days
- Access: Self-serve key after a browser signup. No sales approval below Enterprise
- Prices: Hobby plan $49 per month (plan); Startup plan $149 per month (plan); Business plan $299 per month (plan); Plain request on Hobby $0.49 per 1,000 requests; Rendered request on Hobby $4.90 per 1,000 requests; Google or Bing request on Hobby $12.25 per 1,000 requests

- Scores: Reliability 45, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 67, Agent ergonomics 74, Security & auth 29, Payments & pricing 40, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 61, Transparency & trust 54 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, No status page is linked from the home, pricing, support or docs pages we read (0). · Schema & documentation, No OpenAPI file found. · Agent ergonomics, 28 MCP tools with no toolsets or dynamic loading (15 of 25). · Security & auth, One API key per account, regenerated from the dashboard at most once every 24 hours. · Payments & pricing, No x402, MPP or L402 found in the docs index or pricing page (0). · Maintenance & community, The skills plugin was last updated on 7 August 2026, 63 days before the check, and the MCP server's v1.1.1 is from 17 July 2026 (20 of 30). · Transparency & trust, Closed service.
- Sources: 21, open questions: 9, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: web.scrape, web.extract, web.crawl, scraping.proxies, scraping.js-render, scraping.anti-bot, scraping.screenshot, scraping.serp
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/scraperapi.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/scraperapi.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scraperapi from a page on scraperapi.com or one of its subdomains, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

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

## Connect

```bash
pip install scraperapi-mcp-server
```

```bash
curl --request GET \
--url 'https://api.scraperapi.com?api_key=API_KEY&url=https://www.example.com'
```

```bash
claude mcp add scraperapi -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.scraperapi.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer {YOUR_API_KEY}"
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/scraperapi

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Olostep | B | 63 | web.scrape, web.extract, web.crawl, scraping.proxies, scraping.js-render, scraping.anti-bot, scraping.screenshot, scraping.serp | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/olostep.min.md |
| Spider | BB | 74.1 | web.scrape, web.extract, web.crawl, scraping.proxies, scraping.js-render, scraping.anti-bot, scraping.screenshot | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/spider-cloud.min.md |
| Scrapfly | B | 69.6 | web.scrape, web.extract, web.crawl, scraping.proxies, scraping.js-render, scraping.anti-bot, scraping.screenshot | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scrapfly.min.md |
| ScrapeGraphAI | B | 68.3 | web.scrape, web.extract, web.crawl, scraping.proxies, scraping.js-render, scraping.anti-bot, scraping.screenshot | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scrapegraphai.min.md |
| ScrapingBee | C | 59.2 | web.scrape, web.extract, scraping.proxies, scraping.js-render, scraping.anti-bot, scraping.screenshot, scraping.serp | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scrapingbee.min.md |


## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)