A List Of The Best Web Scraping Tools (2023 Guide)
/Are you tired of manually extracting data from websites, spending hours sifting through pages and pages of information? Well, web scraping tools can help. These software programs allow you to automate the process of gathering data from various websites, saving you time and effort and improving your decision intelligence (DI).
With so many options out there, however, choosing the right web scraping tool can be overwhelming but fear not, we've got you covered. In this article, we'll explore the top six web scraping tools for 2023, from free options to paid subscriptions. So, let's dive in and find the perfect tool for your data-gathering needs.
What is web scraping?
Web scraping, also known as web harvesting or data extraction, is the process of automatically gathering data from websites. This can include anything from product prices and descriptions to customer reviews and contact information. Instead of manually copying and pasting the information, web scraping tools automate the process by sending requests to the website's server and extracting the data from the HTML code.
Web scraping tools have become increasingly popular in recent years, as the amount of data available on the internet continues to grow. Businesses, researchers, and marketers alike are turning to web scraping as a way to gather insights and make informed, data-driven decisions.
Factors to consider when choosing a web scraping tool
When choosing a web scraping tool, there are several factors to consider. These will vary depending on the nature of your business and the type of data you’re looking to extract, of course, but there are a few ‘must-haves’ that all providers should offer as a minimum. These include:
Ease of use: Look for a tool that is easy to use, particularly if you have little or no coding expertise. Many tools are ‘no-code’, meaning you can scrape the web without having to write custom scripts.
Speed and accuracy: One of the main advantages of a web scraping tool is that it can gather data quickly and accurately, and the tool you use should be able to extract data at speed while ensuring 100% accuracy.
Customization: Depending on your needs, it may be beneficial to opt for a tool that allows a high level of customization so you can tailor the scraping process to fit your specific needs — be aware, though, that this will likely require coding experience.
Support: Particularly if you’re new to web scraping, you should look for a tool that offers knowledgeable, 24/7 customer support in case you run into any issues or you have any specific questions about the process.
Price: It’s important to consider your budget when choosing a web scraping tool. While some options are free, others require a subscription or one-time payment. Many offer a free trial period so you can ‘try before you buy’.
Now that we've covered the basics of web scraping, and identified what to look for in a web scraping tool let's take a look at the top six web scraping tools for 2023.
1. BRIGHT DATA
Bright Data's Scraping Browser is a revolutionary tool in data extraction, offering unparalleled capabilities for web scraping. It provides easy access to target websites, allowing users to interact with HTML code to extract relevant data, saving time and resources compared to in-house browser development. The scraping browser automatically manages all website unlocking operations under the hood, including CAPTCHA solving, browser fingerprinting, automatic retries, selecting headers, cookies, & Javascript rendering, and more, so you can save time and resources.
Top features:
- Bypass the toughest website blocks
- Outsmart any bot-detection software
- Scale with as many web scraping browsers as you need
- Puppeteer & Playwright Compatible
Price: Free plan, with paid subscriptions starting at $13.5 per GB.
2. Octoparse
Octoparse is a powerful web scraper that can extract data from virtually any website, including those with infinite scrolling, drop-downs, AJAX, and more. It offers a user-friendly interface and a variety of features, including automatic IP rotation and scheduled web scraping so you can automatically run scrapes at predetermined intervals. The integrated cloud platform means you can extract multiple sets of data concurrently 24/7, without it affecting the scraping speed.
Top features:
Automatic IP rotation
Scheduled scraping
Data export in multiple formats
Price: Free plan, with paid subscriptions starting at $89 per month.
3. ScrapingBee
ScrapingBee’s web scraping API can be used for anything from general web scraping to JavaScript rendering, with automatic IP rotation making it virtually impossible for your scraping bots to be detected and blocked. The tool manages thousands of headless browser instances using the latest version of Chrome, meaning you focus on extracting precisely the data you need. With ScrapingBee, you can also create custom web scraping engines without writing a single line of code.
Top features:
Automatic IP rotation
JavaScript rendering
Uses the latest Chrome version
Price: Free plan, with paid subscriptions starting at $49 per month.
4. Scrapy
Scrapy is an open-source web scraping framework written in Python, while it can also be used to extract data using APIs or as a general-purpose web crawler. The tool extracts structured data that can be used for a wide range of purposes such as data mining, information processing, or historical archival. Scrapy is free to use and offers excellent documentation and community support.
Top features:
Support for multiple data formats
Automatic data extraction
Customizable scraping rules
Price: Free
5. ParseHub
ParseHub is a simple web scraping tool that offers a straightforward, user-friendly interface. It allows you to extract data from websites with just a few clicks and offers features such as automatic IP rotation and customizable scraping rules. You simply download the ParseHub desktop app, choose which website you want to scrape data from, select which data you require, and receive the data via JSON, Excel spreadsheet, or API.
Top features:
Automatic IP rotation
Customizable scraping rules
Data export in multiple formats
Price: Free plan, with paid subscriptions starting at $149 per month.
6. WebHarvy
WebHarvy is an easy-to-use web scraping tool that can scrape text, HTML, images, URLs, and email addresses from any website, saving the scraped data in various formats. The point-and-click interface means there’s no code writing required, while you can choose to access websites via proxy servers or VPN to avoid being blocked by web servers. Extracted data can be saved as XML, CSV, JSON, TSV, or an Excel file.
Top features:
Automatic data extraction
Customizable scraping rules
Data export in multiple formats
Price: Free trial, with paid subscriptions starting at $99 per month.
Best practices for using web scraping tools
Of course, no matter what web scraping tool you decide to use, there are a number of best practices you must follow when using them. This will help you get the most out of the tool, but also ensure you’re scraping the web legally and ethically. Web scraping best practices include:
Respect website terms of service: Make sure you are not violating any website's terms of service when scraping data. Review their documentation and avoid scraping the site if it is specifically prohibited.
Use proxies: To avoid getting blocked by websites, use proxies to rotate your IP address. Most tools will offer IP rotation as standard, but you should ensure this is the case or risk your scraping attempts being thwarted.
Test your code: Before running your scraping code, test it on a small sample of data to make sure it's working correctly. Once you’re confident it’s performing as expected, you can apply it to a large data sample.
Monitor your scraping: Keep an eye on your scraping activity to ensure it's not causing any issues for the websites you're scraping.
Keep your data secure: Make sure your scraped data is stored securely and is not accessible to unauthorized users — use multi-factor authentication, for example, to manage access to the data.
Conclusion
Web scraping tools are a powerful way to gather data quickly and efficiently from multiple websites. With so many options available, it's important to choose the right tool for your needs. Whether you're a marketer, researcher, or business owner, one of the top six web scraping tools we've covered in this article is sure to meet your needs.
Remember to follow best practices and legal and ethical considerations when using these tools; with the right tool and approach, web scraping can be a valuable addition to your data-gathering toolkit.
