Tool profile
ScrapingBee: cost, fit and limits
ScrapingBee is a web scraping API made by Vostok Inc. in France that fetches pages through rotating and premium proxies with optional JavaScript rendering, and adds AI data extraction and an MCP server for developers who prefer a simple HTTP call.
What to know first
ScrapingBee charges in API credits. Hobby is $19 per month for 75,000 credits, Freelance $49 for 250,000, Startup $99 for 1,000,000 and Business $249 for 3,000,000. A plain request costs 1 credit, JavaScript rendering costs 5, and premium proxies cost 10 or 25. No permanent free plan is listed, but 1,000 free API credits need no credit card, and prices exclude VAT.
ScrapingBee at a glance
| Maker | Vostok Inc. (ScrapingBee), France |
|---|---|
| Free plan | No |
| Entry price | $19 per month for Hobby |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best AI Web Scraping Tools in 2026, rank 3 of 12 |
| Website | scrapingbee.com |
Who ScrapingBee is best for
Developers who want one HTTP endpoint
A single API call handles proxies, rendering and blocking, so a developer without scraping infrastructure can get pages from tough sites without managing a proxy pool.
Teams that scrape in specific countries
Geotargeting covers 200-plus countries and territories on the main proxies, and 40-plus on classic proxies, which suits price checks that must show local results.
Buyers that check vendor controls
The homepage states SOC 2 Type II compliance and links to a trust center, which gives a procurement team a document to ask for before approving the tool.
ScrapingBee plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $19 per month, excluding VAT | 75,000 API credits a month and 25 concurrent requests, with JavaScript rendering and proxies available at credit cost. |
| Freelance | $49 per month | 250,000 API credits a month and 50 concurrent requests, for teams that outgrow Hobby but need no account manager. |
| Startup | $99 per month | 1,000,000 API credits a month and 100 concurrent requests. The page marks it as recommended. |
| Business | $249 per month | 3,000,000 API credits a month, 200 concurrent requests, priority support, an account manager and team management. |
| Business + | $599 per month | 8,000,000 API credits a month, 400 concurrent requests, priority support, an account manager and team management. |
Checked October 2026.
What ScrapingBee does
- Credit-based requests
- Requests start at 1 credit each, JavaScript rendering costs 5 credits per successful request, and premium proxy requests cost 10 or 25, so the same plan fetches far fewer protected pages.
- JavaScript rendering
- Rendering is available on every plan and costs 5 credits per successful request, which lets pages that build their content in the browser be fetched through the same API as static pages.
- Proxy options
- Rotating and premium proxies are offered, with geotargeting across 200-plus countries and territories, or 40-plus on classic proxies, for location-specific scraping such as local price checks, search results or store listings.
- AI data extraction
- The vendor names an AI feature that extracts structured data from a page, and dedicated screenshot and extraction-rule APIs are listed alongside it for teams that prefer fixed rules.
- MCP server
- An MCP server connects AI assistants to the scraping API, so an assistant can fetch pages without custom glue code, and it draws on the same credit balance as ordinary calls.
How ScrapingBee handles your data
The privacy policy does not mention training AI models on customer or request data. It says the company archives and logs all actions by the user's employees on the API, with no retention period for that log. Personal data on prospects or customers is deleted within 3 years of collection, and anonymous data may be held without limit. Hosting is described inconsistently: the summary says France, while the body says providers may be in the United States or the European Union. The homepage states SOC 2 Type II compliance and links a trust center, which was not opened.
Where ScrapingBee falls short in practice
- Credits expire monthly. Credits expire after one month and do not roll over, so a team with seasonal scraping loses unused volume and may need a higher plan for a peak month.
- Protected pages cost more. A premium proxy request with rendering can reach 25 credits, so the 75,000 credits on Hobby may cover only a few thousand hard pages, and a hard-target project can outgrow the plan.
- Unclear hosting region. The privacy policy gives a France summary but allows United States providers in the body and lists no subprocessors, so residency cannot be confirmed from that page.
Alternatives to ScrapingBee
ScrapingBee: common questions
How many pages does ScrapingBee Hobby fetch?
Hobby includes 75,000 API credits a month for $19, excluding VAT. A basic request costs 1 credit, JavaScript rendering 5, and premium proxies 10 or 25. At 5 credits per rendered page, that is about 15,000 pages; at 25 credits it is about 3,000.
Does ScrapingBee have a free plan?
No permanent free plan is listed. The pricing page offers 1,000 free API credits with no credit card, enough to test a few hundred rendered requests. Paid plans start at $19 per month, and the page shows prices with the dollar sign only, without VAT.
Where does ScrapingBee keep my data?
The privacy policy summary says data is hosted or processed in France, but the body says providers may be located in the United States or the European Union, and subprocessors are not listed. Ask the vendor for processing locations if you need EU-only handling.
Does ScrapingBee hold a security certification?
The homepage states SOC 2 Type II compliance and links to a trust center at trust.scrapingbee.com. We did not open the trust center or a report, so ask for the report and its audit period before relying on the claim in a vendor review.
Can an AI assistant call ScrapingBee?
Yes. The vendor names an MCP server that connects AI assistants to its scraping API, and an AI data extraction feature for structured output. The pages read do not list which assistants are supported or how MCP calls are billed, so confirm that with a trial.