vs
Zyte
ScraperAPI vs Zyte
ScraperAPI and Zyte both target reliable scraping at volume, but their pricing differs sharply. ScraperAPI sells flat monthly credit plans that are easy to budget. Zyte (the Zyte API, from the makers of Scrapy and Crawlera) is pure usage-based with deep volume discounts and a richer extraction stack, at the cost of pricing that is harder to predict.
Key differences.
Cost, side by side.
| Pricing model | ScraperAPI | Zyte |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1,000 credits (plus a 7-day 5,000-credit trial) | $5 free credit, first month |
| Entry | $49/mo (100K credits) | Usage-based, no flat plan |
| Mid | $149/mo (volume varies) | Usage-based, no flat plan |
| Business | $299/mo (volume varies) | Usage-based, no flat plan |
| Pricing model | Fixed credits per plan | ~$0.001 to $0.008+ per request, by complexity |
The models do not map cleanly. ScraperAPI bills fixed monthly credit pools (roughly 10% off on annual billing), with JS rendering and geotargeting consuming extra credits. Zyte charges per request, from about $0.001 for basic requests to $0.008 or more for browser rendering, with volume discounts of 25 to 52% and a monthly commitment required above about $100 of spend. Model the real cost on your traffic.
Feature by feature.
| Feature | ScraperAPI | Zyte |
|---|---|---|
| JavaScript rendering | Yes | Yes |
| Residential proxies | Yes | Yes |
| Geotargeting | Yes (broad geo gated to higher tiers) | Yes |
| CAPTCHA solving | Yes (automatic) | Yes (automatic) |
| Google SERP API | Yes (structured data endpoints) | Yes |
| Article / content extraction | Partial | Yes |
| AI extraction | Partial | Yes |
| Screenshots | Yes | Yes |
| PDF output | No | No |
| Interactive playground | No | Yes |
| MCP server | No | Partial |
| Per-success billing | Yes | Yes |
An honest look at each.
- Predictable flat monthly credit plans
- Automatic CAPTCHA solving
- High-volume reliability focus with a large proxy pool
- Structured Google SERP data endpoints
- Per-success billing on all plans
- Only partial article and AI extraction
- Broad geotargeting gated to higher tiers
- No interactive playground or MCP server
- No PDF output
Zyte- Enterprise-grade all-in-one scraping API
- Full article and AI extraction built in
- Deep volume discounts (25 to 52%)
- Polished playground, from the team behind Scrapy
- Automatic CAPTCHA solving
- Opaque, complex usage-based pricing
- Monthly-commitment requirement above ~$100 of spend
- No flat monthly plans, harder to budget
- No PDF output
We do our best to keep this comparison accurate and up-to-date. If you notice any discrepancies, please let us know.
Our take: ScraperAPI for predictable budgets, Zyte for extraction depth
ScraperAPI is the simpler choice when you want a flat monthly bill and reliable proxy scraping at volume. Zyte is the more complete platform, with full article and AI extraction, deep volume discounts and the Scrapy heritage behind it, but its usage-based pricing is harder to predict and a monthly commitment applies above about $100 of spend. Both solve CAPTCHAs automatically and neither generates PDFs. Pick ScraperAPI for budgeting clarity, Zyte for extraction depth and scale.