Honest comparison · May 2026
ScraperAPI gives you bytes,
ScraperAPI gives you bytes,
Livescraper gives you rows.
ScraperAPI handles proxies and CAPTCHAs — but you still parse the HTML yourself. Livescraper handles parsing too, returning clean structured rows. The difference is hours of dev time per scrape.
ScraperAPI
$49 / month
Hobby plan · 100k API credits
- Solid proxy + CAPTCHA infrastructure
- JavaScript rendering supported
- Geotargeting per request
- Good for custom scraping needs
- Returns raw HTML — you parse it
- No pre-built Maps / Reviews / SERP parsers
- Each scraper = your engineering time
- Maintenance burden: site changes break parsers
- No UI · no scheduler · no exports
- No team / billing features
Livescraper
$0.005 / row
Pre-parsed rows · 500 free / month
- Pre-built Maps / Reviews / SERP / Email parsers
- Returns structured CSV / JSON / Sheets
- Site changes? We patch — you don't notice
- Built-in scheduler + destinations
- Team seats + audit log + billing
- Same proxy quality, zero engineering
- 500 free rows / month forever