```yaml
product: AlterLab
title: "Web Scraping API Pricing — Free Trial, Pay-as-You-Go | AlterLab"
comparison_context: "AlterLab is an alternative to Firecrawl, ScrapingBee, and Bright Data."
source_url: https://alterlab.io/pricing
```

No subscriptions. No expiring balance.

# Web Scraping API PricingPay Per Scrape. Not Per Month.

Add funds when you need them. Balance never expires. 
Start with up to 5,000 free requests

New accounts: double your first deposit within 48h of signing up.

[Not ready to sign up? Try the API without an account](https://alterlab.io/playground)

No credit card

$10 minimum deposit

Balance never expires

99.9% uptime

## Intelligent Cost Optimization

Our smart router automatically finds the cheapest tier that works for each URL. No guessing, no overpaying.

Incoming Request

blog.example.com/post

Cortex

1

$0.0002

2

$0.0003

3

$0.002

4

$0.004

5

$0.02

Optimal tier found

— at $—/req

Competitors charge

$0.0030

Save 93%

~75%

of requests resolve at cheapest tiers

~$0.001

effective avg cost per request

$0

monthly subscription — pay only for what you use

Zero configuration required. Flat-rate APIs charge the same whether you scrape a blog or handle protected sites. Smart routing means you never overpay.

What does it actually cost?

## Real-World Examples

1,000 news articles

~$0.20

Simple static pages via Smart Router

1,000 JS-heavy product pages

~$4

React/SPA e-commerce sites

1,000 protected pages

~$20

Managed sessions for multi-step pages

100,000 mixed URLs

~$100

Smart Router blends tiers automatically

Failed requests are never charged. Balance never expires.

## How Pricing Works

Smart Router picks the cheapest tier that works for each URL — you only pay for the complexity each site needs.

### Start Free

Up to 5,000 free requests

No credit card required. Add funds when you need more.

### Cost Calculator

Drag sliders to calculate your cost

Select scraping mode

Monthly requests

10K

requests/month

1001K10K100K1M

Cost Breakdown

10K × protected$0.002

Monthly Total$20.00

Credits for a $20.00 deposit$20.00

Concurrency tier

Basic (10 concurrent)

Estimated Cost

$20.00

/month

[View API Docs](https://alterlab.io/docs/quickstart)

Up to 5,000 free requests included 
No credit card required

## Browser rendering from $0.0005 per request

When a Dynamic (Tier 4) request succeeds with the page loaded straight from our own servers (direct egress), you pay **$0.0005** instead of $0.004: $0.50 per 1,000 requests, or 2,000 per $1. Billing follows the attempt that succeeded, and the response's `billing.egress` field shows which price applied.

- Pages loaded over proxy, including a retry over proxy after a direct attempt, are billed once at the standard $0.004 Dynamic price.
- Bring Your Own Proxy (BYOP) requests keep the BYOP price.
- Requests sent with `use_proxy: true` keep the standard Dynamic price.

[How direct browser pricing is billed](https://alterlab.io/docs/reference/pricing#browser-direct-pricing)

## Search & Map APIs

Structured search results from $0.001 per call and full site URL discovery at $0.001 per call.

### Search API

SERP data + scraping in one call

Base SERP query

Returns up to 10 organic results

$0.001/search

`scrape_results=true`add-on

Each result page is scraped at its actual tier cost — no flat markup. Smart routing picks the cheapest tier that works.

T1 — Light— Static sites

+$0.0002/page

T2 — Standard— Modern sites

+$0.0003/page

T3 — Protected— Managed sessions

+$0.002/page

T4 — Dynamic— JS-rendered SPAs

+$0.004/page

T5 — Fortress— Most demanding pages

+$0.02/page

`extraction_schema`add-on

LLM-powered JSON extraction per result page

+$0.001/page

One call replaces a SERP API + scraping API + extraction pipeline. Cache hits on repeated queries are free.

### Map API

Discover every URL on any site

Flat rate per call

Returns all discovered URLs — sitemap + BFS crawl

$0.001/call

Sitemap discovery + recursive BFS crawl

Returns full URL list — no pagination needed

Respects robots.txt by default

Optional depth and domain filters

Discover all URLs on any site for a fraction of a cent. Use it to feed a batch scrape job or build a site inventory.

### Deposit → credits → tier

Bigger deposits earn bonus credits and unlock higher throughput. Pricing per request stays the same.

New accounts: first deposit matched 100% (up to +$25) for 48h

| Deposit | Bonus | Credits | Light requests | Protected requests | Unlocks |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $10 | — | $10 | 50,000 | 5,000 | Basic60 RPM · 10 concurrent · 5 crawl slots |
| $25 | — | $25 | 125,000 | 12,500 | Basic60 RPM · 10 concurrent · 5 crawl slots |
| $50 | +$5 (10%) | $55 | 275,000 | 27,500 | Growth100 RPM · 15 concurrent · 8 crawl slots |
| $100 | +$20 (20%) | $120 | 600,000 | 60,000 | Growth100 RPM · 15 concurrent · 8 crawl slots |
| $300 | +$99 (33%) | $399 | 1,995,000 | 199,500 | Scale300 RPM · 25 concurrent · 20 crawl slots |
| $500 | +$175 (35%) | $675 | 3,375,000 | 337,500 | High Volume500 RPM · 50 concurrent · 40 crawl slots |
| $1,000 | +$400 (40%) | $1,400 | 7,000,000 | 700,000 | High Volume500 RPM · 50 concurrent · 40 crawl slots |
| $2,000 | +$1,000 (50%) | $3,000 | 15,000,000 | 1,500,000 | High Volume500 RPM · 50 concurrent · 40 crawl slots |

Tiers by balance: Free $0 - $5 · Basic $5 - $50 · Growth $50 - $200 · Scale $200 - $500 · High Volume $500+.

The higher of the welcome match and the volume bonus applies; they do not stack. Auto-recharge adds a flat 5% on every recharge and does not stack with volume bonuses.

Limits apply across all API types (scrape, search, map, crawl). Enterprise plans have custom limits — [contact us](mailto:support@alterlab.io).

Up to 5,000 free requests. No credit card.

[Or try without signing up](https://alterlab.io/playground)

## Why Teams Switch to AlterLab

Smart routing, no subscriptions, balance that never expires

| Feature | AlterLabYou are here | [ScraperAPI](https://alterlab.io/vs/scraperapi) | [Bright Data](https://alterlab.io/vs/brightdata) | [Firecrawl](https://alterlab.io/vs/firecrawl) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Avg cost (real workload)Smart routing vs flat rate | ~$0.001 | $0.00049/credit | $0.0015 | $0.0063 |
| Simple scrapeBasic HTTP request | $0.0002 | $0.00049 | $0.0015 | $0.0063 |
| JS renderingFull browser render | $0.004 | $0.0049 | $0.0015 | $0.0063 |
| Free tierFree requests to start | Up to 5,000 free requests | 5,000 credits | None | 500 scrapes |
| MinimumSmallest purchase | $10 one-time | $49/month | $0 (PAYG) / $499/mo (subscription) | $19/month |
| Balance expires?Does unused balance expire | Never | Monthly | Never (prepaid) / Monthly (subscription) | Monthly |
| Challenge resolutionBuilt-in challenge resolution | $0.02/solve | Extra cost | Extra cost | Not available |

Avg cost based on typical content/SEO workload (75% simple, 25% protected). Competitor prices from public pricing pages, March 2026.

Compare our pricing with:

[vs ScraperAPI](https://alterlab.io/vs/scraperapi)[vs Firecrawl](https://alterlab.io/vs/firecrawl)[vs ScrapingBee](https://alterlab.io/vs/scrapingbee)[vs Bright Data](https://alterlab.io/vs/brightdata)[vs Apify](https://alterlab.io/vs/apify)

Up to 5,000 free requests. No credit card.

[Or try without signing up](https://alterlab.io/playground)

## Built for Scale

Enterprise-grade infrastructure with concurrency that grows with your balance.

Uptime

Avg response

Free to start

Up to 5,000 free requests

Balance expires

Never

| Tier | Balance Range | Concurrent Requests | Requests per Minute |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 - $5 | 3 | 30 |
| Basic | $5 - $50 | 10 | 60 |
| Growth | $50 - $200 | 15 | 100 |
| Scale | $200 - $500 | 25 | 300 |
| High Volume | $500+ | 50 | 500 |
| Enterprise | Enterprise | Custom (unlimited) | Custom (unlimited) |

Tier

Concurrent

Requests / min

Free$0 - $5

3

conc.

30

r/min

Basic$5 - $50

10

conc.

60

r/min

Growth$50 - $200

15

conc.

100

r/min

Scale$200 - $500

25

conc.

300

r/min

High Volume$500+

50

conc.

500

r/min

EnterpriseEnterprise

custom∞

conc.

custom∞

r/min

Requests beyond your concurrency limit are queued and processed automatically as slots free up.

## Enterprise Solutions

Scraping millions of pages monthly? Get dedicated infrastructure, priority support, and custom SLAs at the same transparent pricing. No hidden fees, no surprises.

Custom concurrency limits

Dedicated account manager

Custom SLA & uptime guarantees

Dedicated infrastructure

Priority support & Slack channel

Volume discounts available

[Contact Sales](mailto:support@alterlab.io)[Book a Demo](https://calendly.com/alterlab/enterprise-demo)

## Pricing Questions — Direct Answers

### Is AlterLab pricing worth it compared to alternatives?

AlterLab starts at $0.0002 per request — cheaper than ScraperAPI ($0.00049), Firecrawl ($0.0063), and Bright Data ($0.0015). Unlike competitors, AlterLab uses smart tier routing so you only pay for the complexity each URL needs. Balance never expires, no monthly subscription.

### What do I get with AlterLab's free tier?

AlterLab gives every new account up to 5,000 free requests with no credit card required: a one-time $1 starter balance covering about 5,000 Light, 500 Protected or 250 Dynamic requests. The balance works on every tier, with rotating proxies and responses in HTML or LLM-ready markdown. Once it is used, you add a $10 minimum deposit and pay only for what you use.

### How does pay-as-you-go pricing work for scraping?

AlterLab deducts from your dollar balance per successful request. Light tier costs $0.0002/request, Standard tier $0.0003/request, Protected tier $0.002/request, Dynamic tier $0.004/request ($0.0005 when the page loads over direct egress; not with BYOP or use_proxy), and Fortress tier $0.02/request. Failed requests are not charged. Your balance never resets and never expires.

### What does a cached result cost?

Set max_age (in seconds) to accept a stored result up to that old. A cache hit is billed at 50% of the price of the tier that produced the stored result, and max_age=0 always fetches fresh. Responses report cached, age_seconds, fetched_at and cache_tier, plus an X-Cache: HIT or MISS header.

## Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about our pricing

Start scraping in 30 seconds

## Ready to scrape smarter? Get started for free

Join developers using AlterLab's pay-as-you-go scraping API. No subscriptions, no credit card required.

Up to 5,000 free requests

No credit card

Never expires

99.9% uptime

[Documentation](https://alterlab.io/docs/quickstart)

Questions? [support@alterlab.io](mailto:support@alterlab.io)