Guide

Migration

Spider to AlterLab

Spider.cloud is a fast, Rust-based crawling API. AlterLab offers similar speed with more intelligent anti-bot bypass, LLM-powered extraction, and a broader endpoint suite including map and search.

Why Switch

Spider Limitations

Limited anti-bot capabilities beyond basic proxy rotation
No LLM-powered structured extraction
Subscription-based pricing with monthly minimums
Basic budget controls without per-path granularity
No search endpoint for content discovery

AlterLab Advantages

5-tier anti-bot escalation with browser fingerprinting
JSON Schema + LLM extraction for complex pages
Pay-as-you-go with no subscriptions
Per-path budget controls and include/exclude patterns
Search endpoint for finding pages by content relevance

Concept Mapping

Spider and AlterLab share similar REST-based designs. Most concepts map directly:

Spider	AlterLab	Notes
`POST /crawl`	`POST /v1/crawl`	Similar endpoint, different body format
`request: "smart"`	Automatic tier escalation	AlterLab auto-detects the right rendering mode
`request: "chrome"`	Tier 3-4 (automatic)	Browser rendering activates when needed
`budget`	`max_pages` + `max_tier`	Control both page count and cost tier
`return_format: "markdown"`	`formats: ["markdown"]`	AlterLab supports multiple formats per request
`limit` (page count)	`max_pages`	Same concept, different parameter name
`depth`	`max_depth`	Maximum link-follow depth from seed URL
No equivalent	`/v1/map`	Discover all URLs without scraping content
No equivalent	`/v1/search`	Search a site or the web by query

Code Migration

Similar API Design

Both Spider and AlterLab use REST APIs with JSON bodies. The migration is primarily renaming parameters and updating the base URL.

Before (Spider)

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.spider.cloud/crawl",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_SPIDER_KEY",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com",
        "limit": 10,
        "depth": 2,
        "request": "smart",
        "return_format": "markdown",
    }
)

data = response.json()
for page in data:
    print(page["url"], page["content"][:100])

After (AlterLab)

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.alterlab.io/api/v1/crawl",
    headers={
        "X-API-Key": "sk_live_xxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com",
        "max_pages": 10,
        "max_depth": 2,
        "formats": ["markdown"],
    }
)

data = response.json()
for page in data["pages"]:
    print(page["url"], page["content"]["markdown"][:100])

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.alterlab.io/api/v1/scrape",
    headers={
        "X-API-Key": "sk_live_xxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com",
        "formats": ["markdown", "html"],
    }
)

data = response.json()
if data.get("success"):
    print(f"Content: {data['content']['markdown'][:200]}...")
    print(f"Tier used: {data['tier_used']}")

Feature Comparison

Feature	Spider	AlterLab
Crawling	Yes	Yes
Site mapping	No	Yes
Search	No	Yes
Anti-bot tiers	2 modes (http/chrome)	5 tiers with auto-escalation
Structured extraction	No	JSON Schema + LLM
Markdown output	Yes	Yes
Budget controls	Global budget	Per-path + max_tier
Webhooks	Yes	Yes
PDF extraction	No	Yes
OCR	No	Yes
BYOP (own proxies)	No	Yes

Pricing Comparison

Transparent Tier Pricing

Spider charges per credit with different costs depending on request mode. AlterLab uses the same per-tier model but with no subscription requirement and credits that never expire.

Use Case	Spider	AlterLab
HTTP scrape	1 credit ($0.0002)	Tier 1: $0.0002/req
Smart mode	2-5 credits ($0.0004-0.001)	Tier 2-3: $0.0003-0.002/req
Chrome rendering	5-10 credits ($0.001-0.002)	Tier 4: $0.004/req
Minimum plan	$20/mo (Hobby plan)	No minimum

Spider's per-credit cost depends on your plan tier. AlterLab has the same price regardless of volume. Both have competitive per-request rates; the key difference is AlterLab requires no subscription.

Common Gotchas

1. Auth header format differs

Spider uses Authorization: Bearer. AlterLab uses X-API-Key. Update your HTTP headers.

2. Parameter names differ slightly

Spider uses limit, depth, return_format. AlterLab uses max_pages, max_depth, formats (array).

3. Response structure is nested

Spider returns a flat array of pages. AlterLab returns {"pages": [...]} with each page having a content object containing format-specific fields.

4. No request mode parameter

Spider has request: "smart" | "chrome" | "http". AlterLab does not require this; it automatically selects the right rendering approach. Use max_tier if you want to limit the level of sophistication.

5. formats is an array

Spider uses return_format: "markdown" (singular string). AlterLab uses formats: ["markdown", "html"] (array), allowing multiple formats in a single request.

← From Apify From Crawl4AI →

Last updated: March 2026

Guide

Migration

Spider to AlterLab

Spider.cloud is a fast, Rust-based crawling API. AlterLab offers similar speed with more intelligent anti-bot bypass, LLM-powered extraction, and a broader endpoint suite including map and search.

Why Switch

Spider Limitations

Limited anti-bot capabilities beyond basic proxy rotation
No LLM-powered structured extraction
Subscription-based pricing with monthly minimums
Basic budget controls without per-path granularity
No search endpoint for content discovery

AlterLab Advantages

5-tier anti-bot escalation with browser fingerprinting
JSON Schema + LLM extraction for complex pages
Pay-as-you-go with no subscriptions
Per-path budget controls and include/exclude patterns
Search endpoint for finding pages by content relevance

Concept Mapping

Spider and AlterLab share similar REST-based designs. Most concepts map directly:

Spider	AlterLab	Notes
`POST /crawl`	`POST /v1/crawl`	Similar endpoint, different body format
`request: "smart"`	Automatic tier escalation	AlterLab auto-detects the right rendering mode
`request: "chrome"`	Tier 3-4 (automatic)	Browser rendering activates when needed
`budget`	`max_pages` + `max_tier`	Control both page count and cost tier
`return_format: "markdown"`	`formats: ["markdown"]`	AlterLab supports multiple formats per request
`limit` (page count)	`max_pages`	Same concept, different parameter name
`depth`	`max_depth`	Maximum link-follow depth from seed URL
No equivalent	`/v1/map`	Discover all URLs without scraping content
No equivalent	`/v1/search`	Search a site or the web by query

Code Migration

Similar API Design

Both Spider and AlterLab use REST APIs with JSON bodies. The migration is primarily renaming parameters and updating the base URL.

Before (Spider)

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.spider.cloud/crawl",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_SPIDER_KEY",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com",
        "limit": 10,
        "depth": 2,
        "request": "smart",
        "return_format": "markdown",
    }
)

data = response.json()
for page in data:
    print(page["url"], page["content"][:100])

After (AlterLab)

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.alterlab.io/api/v1/crawl",
    headers={
        "X-API-Key": "sk_live_xxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com",
        "max_pages": 10,
        "max_depth": 2,
        "formats": ["markdown"],
    }
)

data = response.json()
for page in data["pages"]:
    print(page["url"], page["content"]["markdown"][:100])

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.alterlab.io/api/v1/scrape",
    headers={
        "X-API-Key": "sk_live_xxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com",
        "formats": ["markdown", "html"],
    }
)

data = response.json()
if data.get("success"):
    print(f"Content: {data['content']['markdown'][:200]}...")
    print(f"Tier used: {data['tier_used']}")

Feature Comparison

Feature	Spider	AlterLab
Crawling	Yes	Yes
Site mapping	No	Yes
Search	No	Yes
Anti-bot tiers	2 modes (http/chrome)	5 tiers with auto-escalation
Structured extraction	No	JSON Schema + LLM
Markdown output	Yes	Yes
Budget controls	Global budget	Per-path + max_tier
Webhooks	Yes	Yes
PDF extraction	No	Yes
OCR	No	Yes
BYOP (own proxies)	No	Yes

Pricing Comparison

Transparent Tier Pricing

Spider charges per credit with different costs depending on request mode. AlterLab uses the same per-tier model but with no subscription requirement and credits that never expire.

Use Case	Spider	AlterLab
HTTP scrape	1 credit ($0.0002)	Tier 1: $0.0002/req
Smart mode	2-5 credits ($0.0004-0.001)	Tier 2-3: $0.0003-0.002/req
Chrome rendering	5-10 credits ($0.001-0.002)	Tier 4: $0.004/req
Minimum plan	$20/mo (Hobby plan)	No minimum

Spider's per-credit cost depends on your plan tier. AlterLab has the same price regardless of volume. Both have competitive per-request rates; the key difference is AlterLab requires no subscription.

Common Gotchas

1. Auth header format differs

Spider uses Authorization: Bearer. AlterLab uses X-API-Key. Update your HTTP headers.

2. Parameter names differ slightly

Spider uses limit, depth, return_format. AlterLab uses max_pages, max_depth, formats (array).

3. Response structure is nested

Spider returns a flat array of pages. AlterLab returns {"pages": [...]} with each page having a content object containing format-specific fields.

4. No request mode parameter

5. formats is an array

Spider uses return_format: "markdown" (singular string). AlterLab uses formats: ["markdown", "html"] (array), allowing multiple formats in a single request.

← From Apify From Crawl4AI →

Last updated: March 2026