Competitor comparison
ScrapingBee Alternative with Token-Based Scraping
Looking for a ScrapingBee alternative? This page compares FineData and ScrapingBee using each product's public pricing pages and documented features only—no unpublished benchmarks, no claimed head-to-head success rates.
Pricing and limits at a glance
ScrapingBee sells monthly credit pools. The platform sells tokens with a free tier, pay-as-you-go, and fixed monthly plans. Feature flags change how fast either pool drains.
| Dimension | FineData | ScrapingBee |
|---|---|---|
| Billing model | Tokens; Free, PAYG, and monthly plans | Monthly API credit subscriptions (+ free trial credits) |
| Entry / free | Free: $0/mo, 1,000 tokens, 2 concurrent, datacenter proxies, no card | 1,000 free API credits on signup, no credit card required |
| Pay-as-you-go | PAYG: $0.55 per 1,000 tokens, 10 concurrent, all scrape modes, BYOP | No public PAYG line; usage sits inside monthly credit plans |
| Self-serve monthly plans | Personal $47 (100k tokens, 20 concurrent); Team S $142 (1M, 50); Team M $284 (3M, 100); Team L $399 (5M, 200); Scaling $699 (10M, 400) | Freelance $49 (250k credits, 50 concurrent); Startup $99 (1M, 100); Business commonly listed at $249 (3M, 200); Business+ $599 (8M, 400); Custom / enterprise available |
| JS rendering cost | Playwright JS render: +5 tokens on top of 1 base token | Classic proxies + JS rendering: 5 credits per HTML API request |
| Premium / stealth proxies | Residential +3; mobile +4; stealth antibot +7; stealth headful +25 (additive tokens) | Premium without JS: 10 credits; premium + JS: 25; stealth proxies: 75 (JS not disableable on stealth per their credit docs) |
| AI / structured extraction | Schema or natural-language structured extraction (documented) | Extraction rules + AI Query (+5 credits on HTML API; totals 10 / 20 / 80 with classic / premium / stealth) |
| Screenshots | Screenshot capture supported | Screenshots listed on pricing; browser screenshot options in HTML API docs |
| Search / SERP product | General scrape endpoint; you build the search URL yourself | Dedicated Google Search API (light 10 / normal 15 credits); Fast Search API at 10 credits; Google URLs via HTML API billed at 20 or 75 credits |
| Other vertical APIs | Single scrape API surface for arbitrary public URLs | Dedicated Amazon, Walmart, YouTube, ChatGPT, Gemini APIs (public marketing and docs) |
| Agent / automation extras |
MCP server (finedata-mcp /
@finedata/mcp-server), batch up to 100
URLs, webhooks, geo via proxy_country,
sessions, BYOP
|
CLI / MCP / Skills for LLM tools; Make, n8n, Zapier mentions; geotargeting;
rotating / premium / stealth proxies; own_proxy
in HTML API docs
|
| Auth & endpoint | POST https://api.finedata.ai/api/v1/scrape
with Authorization: Bearer fd_your_api_key | HTML API and dedicated endpoints under their app/docs; API key as query param in published examples |
Pricing accurate as of July 28, 2026, always verify on ScrapingBee's site (scrapingbee.com/pricing and their credit-system knowledge base). ScrapingBee lists prices exclusive of VAT. Concurrency figures above follow their current public pricing / concurrency upgrade materials; older help articles may still show prior limits.
Where FineData may fit better
- True pay-as-you-go at $0.55 per 1,000 tokens if you do not want a fixed credit subscription.
- Additive token menu (TLS +2 by default, JS +5, stealth tiers, residential / mobile, captcha +10) so each request's cost is modeled from the feature set.
- Batch scrape (up to 100 URLs), async webhooks, and a published MCP server — local or hosted with OAuth — for agent workflows.
- Bring-your-own-proxy on PAYG and higher team plans when you already run proxy inventory.
Where ScrapingBee is stronger
- A purpose-built Google Search API (plus Fast Search) with structured SERP fields—FineData SERP work goes through the general scrape endpoint and your own URL construction / parsing.
- Broader catalog of dedicated vertical APIs (Amazon, Walmart, YouTube, ChatGPT, Gemini) on their public product pages.
- Longer market presence and a denser library of third-party tutorials, no-code connectors, and integration write-ups.
- Published SOC 2 Type II positioning on their marketing site, plus a stated policy of charging only for successful HTML responses (HTTP 200, 404, or 410).
How request cost actually stacks
Both products multiply usage when you enable browser rendering or harder proxy tiers. The numbers below are from each vendor's public docs—not from private tests.
FineData tokens
Every request starts at 1 token. Optional features add on top.
- TLS fingerprinting (on by default): +2
- JS rendering (Playwright): +5
- Stealth antibot (Cloudflare / DataDome): +7
- Stealth headful: +25
- Residential proxy: +3 · Mobile proxy: +4
- Captcha solving (auto provider selection): +10
ScrapingBee credits
From their credit-system knowledge base (HTML API unless noted).
- Classic, no JS: 1 credit
- Classic + JS rendering: 5 credits
- Premium, no JS: 10 · Premium + JS: 25
- Stealth proxies: 75 credits
- AI Query: +5 (classic 10 / premium 20 / stealth 80 total)
- Google Search API: light 10 / normal 15; Fast Search: 10
FAQ
Is FineData a drop-in ScrapingBee replacement? +
Not parameter-for-parameter. Both expose a scrape API with proxies, JS rendering, screenshots, and AI-oriented extraction, but auth, billing units, and SERP products differ. Expect to remap request options and re-cost workloads under tokens instead of credits.
Why does ScrapingBee look cheaper on headline monthly price? +
Headline dollars buy a credit pool, not a fixed number of hard scrapes. Premium and stealth multipliers (up to 75 credits on their HTML API) shrink effective request volume. Model both sides with the features you actually enable, then re-check their live pricing page.
Can I scrape Google results with FineData? +
Yes via the general scrape API: you construct the search URL and parse the response. ScrapingBee additionally sells a dedicated Google Search API that returns structured SERP payloads—an honest product gap if you want a search-only endpoint out of the box.
Did you benchmark ScrapingBee against FineData? +
No. This page does not claim speed, success-rate, or site-specific tests of ScrapingBee. Comparison points are limited to public pricing, plan limits, and features documented on their marketing and help pages.
How do I authenticate to FineData? +
Send Authorization: Bearer fd_your_api_key to
POST https://api.finedata.ai/api/v1/scrape.
Do not use an x-api-key header. Full request
shapes live in the docs.
Try FineData on your own targets
Start with 1,000 free tokens, then move to PAYG or a monthly plan if the token model fits your pipeline better than a credit subscription.