AlterLabPricing Reference
Complete pricing breakdown for AlterLab's scraping API. Simple pay-as-you-go with no subscriptions or hidden fees.
Pay-As-You-Go Model
$1 = 5,000 scrapes
Starting at Tier 1 (Curl)
No subscriptions
Pay only for what you use
Balance never expires
Use them whenever you need
$10 minimum
Low barrier to start
Tier Pricing
AlterLab uses an intelligent tier system. We automatically start with the cheapest tier and escalate only when needed.
| Tier | Name | Cost | Per $1 | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Curl | $0.0002 | 5,000 | Ultra-fast curl binary for static sites |
2 | HTTP | $0.0003 | 3,333 | HTTPX with TLS fingerprinting and HTTP/2 |
3 | Stealth | $0.002 | 500 | curl_cffi with Chrome browser impersonation |
4 | Browser | $0.004 | 250 | Playwright browser automation for JS sites |
5 | Captcha | $0.02 | 50 | Browser with AI-powered captcha solving |
Auto Mode
mode: "auto" (default), AlterLab tries Tier 1 first and escalates only if blocked. You only pay for the tier that works.Add-on Costs
Optional features that add to the base tier cost:
| Feature | Additional Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| JavaScript Rendering | Tier 4 ($0.004) | Forces Tier 4 minimum — no extra surcharge |
| Screenshot | +$0.0002 | Requires JS rendering |
| PDF Generation | +$0.0004 | Requires JS rendering |
| PDF Extraction | +$0.0006 | Extract text from PDF files |
| OCR | +$0.001 | Refunded if no images found |
| Premium Proxy | +$0.0002 | High-quality residential proxies |
| AI Extraction | +$0.001 | Schema/prompt-based extraction |
| Markdown Output | Free | Convert HTML to Markdown |
| Caching | Free | Cache hits are free |
| Authenticated Scraping (BYOS) | Free | No surcharge for cookies/headers/sessions |
Cost Calculation
Total cost = Base Tier Cost + Add-ons
Total Cost = Tier Cost + (screenshot ? $0.0002 : 0)
+ (generate_pdf ? $0.0004 : 0)
+ (ocr ? $0.001 : 0)
+ (use_proxy ? $0.0002 : 0)
+ (extraction ? $0.001 : 0)
# render_js forces Tier 4 ($0.004) — no extra surcharge
# markdown is free
# authenticated scraping (BYOS) is free — no surchargeExample 1: Basic HTML Scrape
Static page, no JS needed
$0.0002 (Tier 1)
Example 2: JavaScript + Screenshot
SPA with screenshot capture
$0.004 + $0.0002 = $0.0042
Example 3: Full Extraction
JS rendering + AI extraction + premium proxy
$0.004 + $0.001 + $0.0002 = $0.0052
BYOP Discount
Bring Your Own Proxy (BYOP) gives you a 20% discount on all requests:
20% off
When using your own proxies
| Tier | Standard | With BYOP | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (Curl) | $0.0002 | $0.00016 | 20% |
| Tier 2 (HTTP) | $0.0003 | $0.00024 | 20% |
| Tier 3 (Stealth) | $0.002 | $0.0016 | 20% |
| Tier 4 (Browser) | $0.004 | $0.0032 | 20% |
| Tier 5 (Captcha) | $0.02 | $0.016 | 20% |
Learn More
BYOS — Authenticated Scraping
Bring Your Own Session (BYOS) lets you inject your own cookies, headers, and sessions for authenticated scraping — at no extra cost.
No surcharge
Same per-request pricing as regular scrapes
Custom cookies
Inject session cookies for logged-in access
Custom headers
Add auth tokens, API keys, or any headers
Stored sessions
Reusable encrypted sessions for repeated scrapes
BYOS + BYOP Stack
Concurrency Tiers
Your concurrent request limit scales with your account balance:
| Balance | Tier | Concurrent Requests |
|---|---|---|
| $0 - $5 | Free | 3 |
| $5 - $50 | Basic | 10 |
| $50 - $200 | Growth | 15 |
| $200 - $500 | Scale | 25 |
| $500+ | High Volume | 50 |
Need More?
Free Tier
$1 free balance on signup
No credit card required to start
| Feature | Free Tier Limit |
|---|---|
| Starting balance | $1.00 (up to 5,000 Tier 1 scrapes) |
| Concurrent requests | 1 |
| API access | Full (all endpoints, all tiers) |
| Max batch size | 10 URLs |
| Scheduler | 1 schedule, minimum 1-hour interval |
| Balance expiry | Never (no time limit) |
Pricing Examples
Small Business
Mix of static and JS-rendered pages
~$3-5/month
E-commerce Monitoring
Daily price checks, mostly static pages
~$20-30/month
Data Aggregator
Mixed workload with BYOP
~$50-100/month with BYOP