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

See our detailed comparison page: AlterLab vs Smartproxy.

TL;DR

Choose AlterLab if you want a simple, pay‑as‑you‑go scraping API with no subscriptions, instant sign‑up, and smart‑tier routing. Choose Smartproxy if you need massive residential proxy pools, enterprise‑grade SLAs, or prefer a bandwidth‑based model with monthly minimums.

Pricing comparison

AlterLab offers pure pay‑as‑you‑go pricing: you pay only for what you use, and your balance never expires. Smartproxy sells bandwidth‑based proxy subscriptions (residential, datacenter, mobile) and a separate Scraping API with its own usage fees. Both require you to add funds, but only AlterLab has no monthly minimum and no expiry.

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

AlterLab pricing shows the exact rates per tier.

Feature comparison

AlterLab bundles proxy rotation with scraping—one API for everything. Smartproxy separates proxy access from the scraping API, which can add complexity when you need both.

When to choose Smartproxy

• You need access to a very large residential proxy pool (millions of IPs) for geo‑targeted requests.
• Your organization prefers enterprise contracts with dedicated account managers and SLA guarantees.
• You already use Smartproxy’s proxy services and want to keep a single vendor for proxy + scraping.
• You are comfortable managing monthly bandwidth minimums and periodic plan renewals.

When to choose AlterLab

• You want a self‑serve, pay‑as‑you‑go model with no subscriptions or minimums.
• You are a solo developer, startup, or small team that values instant sign‑up and simple API keys.
• You prefer smart‑tier routing that automatically selects the right level of complexity (curl → JS → CAPTCHA solving) without manual configuration.
• You want built‑in AI extraction (Cortex) to turn raw pages into structured JSON with zero selector work.
• You need webhooks, multiple output formats, and team sharing without enterprise overhead.

Migration guide

Switching from Smartproxy’s SDK to AlterLab is straightforward because both expose a REST API. Below is a 10‑line Python snippet that shows the before and after.

# Before: Smartproxy
# from smartproxy import SmartproxyClient
# sp_client = SmartproxyClient(proxy_token="YOUR_PROXY_TOKEN", api_key="YOUR_SCRAPING_KEY")
# response = sp_client.scrape(url="https://example.com", render_js=True)

# After: AlterLab
import alterlab
client = alterlab.Client("YOUR_ALTERLAB_API_KEY")
response = client.scrape(
    url="https://example.com",
    formats=["json"],
    # tier routing is automatic; set min_tier=3 if you know JS is needed
)
print(response.json())

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

See the Getting started guide for full SDK installation and more examples.

Key takeaways

• AlterLab’s pay‑as‑you‑go pricing with no minimums or expiry suits developers who want predictable, usage‑based costs.
• Smartproxy excels when you need massive residential proxy pools and enterprise‑grade support, but requires subscription management.
• Migration is a matter of swapping client initialization and endpoint calls; the core request structure remains similar.

Compare Other Alternatives

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

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