AlterLab vs ScrapFly: Which Scraping API Is Better in 2026?

See the detailed comparison page here.

TL;DR

Choose AlterLab if you want a pay‑as‑you‑go API with no subscription, balance that never expires, and a simple REST interface. Choose ScrapFly if you need a large proxy pool, enterprise‑grade SLAs, or prefer committing to a monthly credit plan.

Pricing comparison

AlterLab’s pricing is purely consumption based. You add funds to a balance and spend per successful request. There are no monthly minimums and the balance does not expire.

ScrapFly sells monthly plans that include a set number of API call credits. Unused credits typically do not roll over, and you must renew each month to continue scraping.

Pricing data based on public information as of 2026. Always verify current pricing on the vendor's website.

See current AlterLab rates on the pricing page.

Feature comparison

Both platforms handle the heavy lifting of proxy rotation, JavaScript rendering, and anti‑bot measures. Differences appear in breadth and ease of use.

Anti‑bot bypass & proxy rotation
AlterLab uses a five‑tier smart routing system that automatically escalates from simple HTTP requests to full browser rendering with captcha solving when needed. ScrapFly maintains a large residential proxy pool and offers similar tiered rendering, but their documentation emphasizes manual tier selection.

JavaScript rendering
Both provide headless browsers for JS‑heavy sites. AlterLab’s rendering is invoked implicitly when a lower tier fails; ScrapFly exposes explicit rendering parameters.

Structured data extraction
AlterLab includes Cortex AI, an LLM‑powered extractor that returns JSON without CSS selectors. ScrapFly offers a scraping API with optional data parsing via HTML selectors or third‑party integrations.

Ease of use
AlterLab’s API is a single endpoint with JSON payloads. ScrapFly’s API is also RESTful but requires managing credit balances and plan upgrades through a dashboard.

When to choose ScrapFly

• Your team requires a dedicated account manager and custom SLA.
• You need access to a proprietary proxy network with millions of IPs.
• You prefer predictable monthly billing and are comfortable estimating credit usage.
• You want built‑in integrations with specific data‑storage or monitoring tools ScrapFly offers via partnerships.

When to choose AlterLab

• You are a solo developer, startup, or small team that values zero‑commitment pricing.
• You want to start scraping immediately after sign‑up with no sales call.
• You dislike worrying about monthly minimums or expiring credits.
• You prefer a straightforward API that you can test with a single curl request.
• You need automatic tier escalation so you never have to manually adjust rendering depth.

Migration guide

Switching from ScrapFly to AlterLab involves updating the client initialization and request format. Below are equivalent snippets in Python and cURL.

# Before: ScrapFly
# scrapfly_client.scrape(url, ...)

# After: AlterLab
import alterlab
client = alterlab.Client("YOUR_API_KEY")
response = client.scrape("https://example.com")
print(response.text)

curl -X POST https://api.alterlab.io/v1/scrape \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

For a full walkthrough, see the Getting started guide.

Key takeaways

• AlterLab’s pay‑as‑you‑go model removes subscription pressure and suits variable workloads.
• ScrapFly shines when you need massive proxy pools or enterprise contract flexibility.
• Migration is straightforward because both services expose REST APIs with JSON payloads.

Compare Other Alternatives

• AlterLab vs ScraperAPI
• AlterLab vs Bright Data
• AlterLab vs Firecrawl

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