```yaml
product: AlterLab
title: "Web Scraping API Comparison 2026: AlterLab vs Top Alternatives | AlterLab"
comparison_context: "AlterLab is an alternative to Firecrawl, ScrapingBee, and Bright Data."
source_url: https://alterlab.io/vs
```

Comparisons

# How AlterLab Compares to Other Web Scraping APIs

AlterLab is a pay-as-you-go web scraping API that starts at $0.0002 per request with no monthly subscription and a balance that never expires. Compare AlterLab to top alternatives using real pricing, feature-by-feature comparisons, and migration guides.

[Start free](https://alterlab.io/signup)[See pricing](https://alterlab.io/pricing)

99.9% uptime

195+ countries

No credit card required

20

Competitors Compared

Up to 97%

Savings

Up to 5,000

Free Requests

$0.0002

Starting Price

Browse Comparisons

## Which scraping API alternatives does AlterLab compare to?

Detailed side-by-side breakdowns with real pricing, features, and migration guides for each major alternative.

[vs ScraperAPIPay-as-you-go from $0.0002 vs $49/month subscriptions59%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/scraperapi)[vs Firecrawl5 intelligent tiers vs one-size-fits-all pricing97%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/firecrawl)[vs ScrapingBeeBalance never expires, no monthly commitment84%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/scrapingbee)[vs Bright DataSmart tier routing beats flat-rate pricing37%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/brightdata)[vs ApifyOne endpoint, no Actors to configure94%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/apify)[vs ZyteOne API vs four fragmented Zyte products80%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/zyte)[vs ZenRows5 intelligent tiers vs ZenRows' single flat rate78%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/zenrows)[vs CrawlbaseNo token confusion — auto-routing beats 2-mode system80%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/crawlbase)[vs OxylabsDeveloper API from $0.0002 vs enterprise proxy minimums93%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/oxylabs)[vs SmartproxyRequest-based pricing — no bandwidth billing surprises80%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/smartproxy)[vs ScrapflyDollar balance vs credit plans — no monthly reset86%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/scrapfly)[vs Crawl4AIManaged API vs self-hosted library — no servers or proxies to manageSee detailed comparison](https://alterlab.io/vs/crawl4ai)[vs DiffbotPay-as-you-go from $0.001/request vs $299/month minimum97%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/diffbot)[vs TavilyFull page extraction vs summarized search snippets98%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/tavily)[vs SerpAPIPay-as-you-go from $0.0002 vs $25-$275/month tiers98%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/serpapi)[vs ScrapeBadgerUp to 5,000 free requests vs 1,000 credits — fixed per-tier pricing, no credit-cost lookupSee detailed comparison](https://alterlab.io/vs/scrapebadger)[vs Scrapeless$0.20 per 1,000 simple pages vs a flat $1 per 1,00080%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/scrapeless)[vs ScrapeCreatorsAny public URL with your own JSON schema89%cheaper](https://alterlab.io/vs/scrapecreators)[vs ScrapingAntNo monthly plan — fixed tier price, not 1–125 creditsSee detailed comparison](https://alterlab.io/vs/scrapingant)[vs ScrapingdogPay-as-you-go from $10 vs $40/month plansSee detailed comparison](https://alterlab.io/vs/scrapingdog)

Not sure which to pick?

Compare pricing side by side.

[See our pricing](https://alterlab.io/pricing)

## Ready to save up to 97% on web scraping?

Start with up to 5,000 free requests. No credit card required. Pay only for what you use.

[Get started free](https://alterlab.io/signup)

No subscription. Balance never expires.

Feature-by-Feature

## How do AlterLab features compare to competitors?

Feature-by-feature comparison across all major web scraping APIs. Scroll horizontally on mobile.

| Feature | AlterLab | ScraperAPI | Firecrawl | ScrapingBee | Bright Data | Apify | Zyte | ZenRows | Crawlbase | Oxylabs | Smartproxy | Scrapfly | Crawl4AI | Diffbot | Tavily | SerpAPI | ScrapeBadger | Scrapeless | ScrapeCreators | ScrapingAnt | Scrapingdog |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pay-as-you-go |  |  |  |  |  |  | PAYG + enterprise |  |  | Limited PAYG |  |  | Free (self-hosted) |  |  |  | Credit-based PAYG | Basic tier |  |  |  |
| Balance never expires |  |  |  |  | Prepaid only |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | N/A (self-hosted) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Standard+ rollover |
| Tiered pricing | 5 tiers | 1 tier | 1 tier | 1 tier | 1 tier | Per actor | 4 products | 1 tier | 2 modes | Multiple SKUs | Bandwidth plans | Credit tiers | N/A (self-hosted) | Plan-based | 5 plan tiers | 5 plan tiers | Credit tiers |  |  | Credit multipliers | Credit multipliers |
| Protected site support |  |  |  |  |  | Per actor |  |  | Limited |  |  |  | Partial | Limited |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Challenge resolution |  | Extra cost |  | Extra cost |  | Per actor |  | Paid add-on |  |  | Scraping Browser |  | Limited | Limited |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| JS rendering |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Via add-on |  |  |  | Limited |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Structured extraction |  |  |  |  |  |  | AutoExtract (extra) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | SERP fields only |  | Separate product | Fixed per endpoint |  |  |
| Markdown output |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Auto tier escalation |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| No minimum spend | $10 one-time | $49/mo | $19/mo | $49/mo | $0 (PAYG) | $29/mo | Enterprise | $49/mo | Subscription | Enterprise min. | $75/mo | $29/mo | $0 (self-hosted) | $299/mo | $30/mo | $25/mo | $0 (PAYG) | $0 (PAYG) | $47 pack | $19/mo | $40/mo |

For measured success rate, latency and cost per 1k on a stated target set, see the [reproducible benchmark (methodology + raw data)](https://alterlab.io/benchmark#reproducible-benchmark).

Annual Cost Comparison

## How much cheaper is AlterLab than other scraping APIs?

Annual cost comparison for 1 million requests. AlterLab uses pay-as-you-go pricing starting at $0.0002/request with no subscription and no balance expiry.

vs ScraperAPI

$200-59%

$490

1 million requests/year

Save $290

vs Firecrawl

$200-97%

$6,300

1 million requests/year

Save $6,100

vs ScrapingBee

$200-84%

$1,250

1 million requests/year

Save $1,050

vs Bright Data

$94-37%

$150

100K requests/month (typical workload mix)

Save $56

vs Apify

$200-94%

$3,500+

1 million requests/year

Save $3,300+

vs Zyte

$200-80%

$1,000+

1 million requests/year

Save $800+

vs ZenRows

$200-78%

$899

1M requests/month

Save $699

vs Crawlbase

$200-80%

$1,000

1M requests/month

Save $800

vs Oxylabs

$200-93%

$3,000+

1 million requests/year

Save $2,800+

vs Smartproxy

$200-80%

$1,000+

1 million requests/year

Save $800+

vs Scrapfly

$200-86%

$1,400+

1 million requests/year

Save $1,200+

vs Crawl4AI

$200-60%

$600–$2,400 (server + proxy costs)

1 million requests/year

Save $400–$2,200

vs Diffbot

$100-97%

$3,588 (12 × $299)

100K extraction requests/year

Save $3,488

vs Tavily

$200-98%

$8,000

1 million requests/year

Save $7,800

vs SerpAPI

$200-98%

~$9,167 (at Big Data plan's best rate; requires Enterprise for this volume)

1 million searches/year

Save ~$8,967

vs ScrapeBadger

$94

$24

100K requests/month (typical workload mix)

Compare in detail

vs Scrapeless

$94-6%

$100

100K requests/month (typical workload mix)

Save $6

vs ScrapeCreators

$94-50%

$188

100K requests/month (typical workload mix)

Save $94

vs ScrapingAnt

$94

$45

100K requests/month (typical workload mix)

Compare in detail

vs Scrapingdog

$94

$32

100K requests/month (typical workload mix)

Compare in detail

Start for $10

No subscription. Balance never expires.

[See full pricing](https://alterlab.io/pricing)

## Start scraping smarter, not harder.

Up to 5,000 free requests. Pay-as-you-go from $0.0002. No subscription, no expiry.

[Start building free](https://alterlab.io/signup)

No credit card required