AlternativeTo Data API: Extract Structured JSON in 2026

This guide covers extracting publicly accessible data. Always review a site's robots.txt and Terms of Service before scraping.

TL;DR

Use AlterLab's Extract API to get structured JSON from AlternativeTo. Define a JSON schema for the fields you need, POST the URL and schema to /v1/extract, and receive typed data ready for downstream pipelines.

Why use AlternativeTo data?

AlternativeTo aggregates software alternatives and related metadata that is valuable for several engineering tasks. Teams building AI models can use the title, author, and tag fields to train recommendation systems. Analysts track software popularity trends by aggregating published_date and URL data across categories. Competitive intelligence pipelines extract author and tags to map ecosystem shifts without manual browsing.

What data can you extract?

From a typical AlternativeTo page you can pull the following publicly available fields:

• title: the name of the software or service
• author: the user or entity that submitted the entry
• published_date: when the entry was first listed
• tags: comma‑separated categories or keywords associated with the entry
• url: the canonical link to the AlternativeTo entry

These fields are sufficient for building lightweight data feeds, enriching internal catalogs, or powering content‑driven applications.

The extraction approach

Attempting to fetch raw HTML and parse it with regex or CSS selectors is fragile. AlternativeTo’s markup changes frequently, and JavaScript‑rendered sections break simple scrapers. A data API that handles anti‑bot measures, JavaScript execution, and schema validation removes that maintenance burden. AlterLab’s Extract API returns data that conforms to a JSON schema you provide, so you never need to write custom parsers again.

Quick start with AlterLab Extract API

First install the AlterLab Python client (or use cURL directly). The examples below show how to extract a single AlternativeTo page.

import alterlab

client = alterlab.Client("YOUR_API_KEY")

schema = {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "title": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The title field"
    },
    "author": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The author field"
    },
    "published_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The published date field"
    },
    "tags": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The tags field"
    },
    "url": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The url field"
    }
  }
}

result = client.extract(
    url="https://alternativeto.net/example-page",
    schema=schema,
)
print(result.data)

The same request via cURL looks like this:

curl -X POST https://api.alterlab.io/v1/extract \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://alternativeto.net/example-page",
    "schema": {"properties": {"title": {"type": "string"}, "author": {"type": "string"}, "published_date": {"type": "string"}}}
  }'

Both snippets return a JSON object where each field matches the type you declared. For example:

{
  "title": "Notion Alternative",
  "author": "jane_doe",
  "published_date": "2024-03-15",
  "tags": "productivity, notes, collaboration",
  "url": "https://alternativeto.net/software/notion/"
}

See the Extract API docs for full parameter details.

Define your schema

Passing a JSON schema to the Extract API does two things: it tells AlterLab which fields you want, and it validates the output before it reaches you. The schema follows JSON Schema Draft‑07. You can mark fields as required, set default values, or enforce patterns (e.g., a date format). If a field cannot be found, the API returns null for that property rather than omitting the key, which simplifies downstream handling.

schema = {
  "type": "object",
  "required": ["title", "url"],
  "properties": {
    "title": {"type": "string"},
    "author": {"type": ["string", "null"]},
    "published_date": {"type": ["string", "null"], "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$"},
    "tags": {"type": ["string", "null"]},
    "url": {"type": "string", "format": "uri"}
  }
}

When you send this schema, AlterLab ensures title and url are present strings, published_date matches YYYY‑MM‑DD if supplied, and url is a valid URI.

Handle pagination and scale

AlternativeTo often lists many entries across paginated views or category pages. To extract at scale you can:

1. Batch requests: collect a list of target URLs and send them concurrently using asyncio or a thread pool.
2. Use AlterLab’s job endpoint for large volumes: submit a batch, receive a job ID, and poll for results when ready.
3. Respect rate limits: AlterLab automatically throttles to stay within target site limits; you can also set a custom max_concurrency parameter.

Here’s a Python example that processes a list of pages in parallel:

import asyncio
import alterlab

async def extract_one(client, url, schema):
    return await client.extract(url=url, schema=schema)

async def main():
    client = alterlab.Client("YOUR_API_KEY")
    schema = {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
            "title": {"type": "string"},
            "author": {"type": "string"},
            "url": {"type": "string"}
        }
    }
    urls = [
        "https://alternativeto.net/category/productivity",
        "https://alternativeto.net/category/development",
        "https://alternativeto.net/category/design"
    ]
    tasks = [extract_one(client, u, schema) for u in urls]
    results = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
    for r in results:
        print(r.data)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

For cost estimates before committing, call the /v1/extract/estimate endpoint. Pricing details are available on the pricing page.

Key takeaways

• AlterLab’s Extract API turns any public AlternativeTo page into typed JSON without custom parsers.
• Define a JSON schema to specify exactly which fields you need and get validated output.
• Use async batches or job endpoints for high‑volume extraction while staying compliant with rate limits.
• Always check robots.txt and Terms of Service before scraping any site.