Web scraping is the process of automatically collecting data and information from websites. It is also called web data extraction. This process allows users and companies to collect large amounts of data from a site and collate it in a structured format (like CSV) more appropriate for analysis or easy consumption.  

Web scraping has grown in importance because of the internet’s capacity to hold valuable data. Now, business owners and researchers can collect useful data online without conducting a survey. Available information ranges from customer reviews and social media sentiment to information about market trends and competing products. The scraping technology allows stakeholders to collect data at will and make informed decisions where possible.

What Is a Web Scraping Tool?

Web scraping tools are applications or scripts of code that facilitate the collection of data from sites. These tools are designed to extract automatically, so they can be configured to identify and extract desired information. Some forms that web scrapers may take include:

• Custom scripts, developed using programming languages (like Python) and made for people with technical know-how. These forms of scrapers are usually configured from the get-go to meet the user’s or developer’s needs.
• Standalone software intended for sale to the general public. These forms of web scrapers are applications that require little coding knowledge from users. They require some measure of configuration, though.
• Browser extensions which integrate with the interface of browsers to enable one-click data scraping in most cases. Most of these extensions are less sophisticated than the standalone software or custom scripts. Users who favor using extensions can combine these scrapers with reliable proxy extensions.

Regardless of the form a web scraper may take, it represents a valuable resource capable of helping companies, brands, and individuals leverage the data around them. Here are some ways and situations in which web scrapers can prove particularly beneficial to companies:

1. Market research and competitive analysis. Companies will still need to conduct first-hand surveys and collect primary data for market research. However, web scrapers are suitable for collecting vast amounts of secondary data on the web. Furthermore, companies can set them to collect data like customer reviews, product information, and listings, among others, from competitor websites.  
2. Price monitoring and pricing strategies. Prices are arguably the most important determinant in whether a consumer buys a product. So, competitive pricing is a must. Scraping tools can help companies monitor and collect real-time pricing data to inform their pricing strategies and remain competitive.  
3. SEM and digital marketing. These are two of the most important forms of marketing in the digital world. Regardless of the online endeavour an individual or business undertakes, keywords and search engine marketing come into play. On the other side, digital marketing has become more important because of how much social media has come to mean to so many people. Web scraping tools can automatically and efficiently collect keywords and ranking data to aid search engine optimisation (SEO) and marketing. They can also monitor and collect customer sentiments and brand mentions from social media to inform digital marketing strategies.  
4. Academic and scientific research. A web scraper can help researchers in business and academia monitor and collect research data and articles relevant to their business. They can use these tools to scrape multiple online sources automatically, thus expanding the scope of their data collection without committing more manpower. 
5. Content Aggregation. Similar to the gathering of academic data and research articles, scraping tools can also collect curated content from preset sources according to their configuration. This way, business owners can stay abreast of happenings in their industry and reports from their favourite sources without surfing through any sites.
6. Lead generation. Scrapers can crawl through social media sites, chatrooms, and other online sources to collect contact information on potential customers and leads. This can help businesses, companies, and brands to build targeted lists of leads to inform their sales efforts. 

How does Web Scraping Tools Work?

Web scraping tools work automatically to access and navigate webpages, identify desired data (according to their configurations), extract the data, and collate it in a structured format for analysis and use. Here are some procedures showing how a typical web scraper does its thing:

1. Identifying the target websites, structure, and data elements. The scraper needs to identify and understand the layout and content of the website it seeks to scrape. To this effect, scraping tools utilise HTML parsing libraries to analyse webpage structure and the data elements the page contains.
2. Sending HTTP requests. The web scraping tools send HTTP requests to the webpage to fetch its HTML content, just like a browser would do to help a user access a website. These requests can come in different forms, such as GET requests (which retrieve webpage content) and POST requests (which can submit forms and interact with web applications).
3. Parsing the HTML content. After retrieving the HTML content of a webpage, a scraper starts to parse it using parsing libraries. There are many such libraries attuned to different coding languages. The parsing will help the scraper navigate the data elements and identify the desired data. 
4. Data extraction. Here, the scraping tool filters out all the unnecessary data after parsing the HTML content of the webpage. It extracts only the desired data from the identified data elements. 
5. Data Storage. After extraction, the scraper collates the collected data into a structured format for storage and later analysis or viewing. Some of the more popular structured formats include CSV (Comma-separated values), JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), and databases (SQL or NoSQL databases). 
6. Scheduling and automation. For ongoing needs like content aggregation and price monitoring, users of scraping tools might need them to run automatically at scheduled intervals. Other tools like Task Scheduler make this possible. 

After scraping data, there would be a need for cleaning and transforming before analysis, just as you would do after any data collection process. So, you go through the data, handling missing values, transforming where necessary, removing duplicates, and preparing for analysis. 

One problem users of scraping tools may face during the exercise, though, is the handling of dynamic content and websites that use JavaScript. You may need a headless browser to render the JavaScript content for your scraper to do its work. It would be more convenient if the browser had proxy browser capabilities for privacy.

How do you select the Right Web Scraping Tool?

It is important to select the right scraping tool to guarantee efficient collection of high-quality data. But how do you select the right scraper? Here are some factors to consider for this purpose:

1. Ease of use. Your scraper should fit your technical skill and knowledge of scraping. As such, if you can’t code, consider no-code options. If you have a basic understanding of coding, go for low-code scraping solutions. Also, consider a tool with a friendly user interface if you fall into any of the two previous categories of users.
2. Customization and flexibility. Your particular scraping needs might necessitate more configuration and customisation options. Specific features to look out for include whether the tool enables configuration of scraping intervals (for ongoing data collection) and request headers, among others. Advanced users might also want a scraper that allows the use of custom crips when they have complex scraping exercises to carry out. \
3. Data formats and storage. For the sake of your later viewing and analysis, consider the output and storage forms supported by the scraper. The more flexible the storage options, the better.
4. Ability to handle dynamic content. As stated earlier, dynamically loaded pages can be a problem for some scrapers. Ensure that your preferred scraping tool can integrate with tools intended for rendering such pages and content before you purchase it.
5. Proxy Support. One of the biggest disadvantages of web scraping tools is that the speed and nature of their requests to websites are distinctly inhuman. It strains web servers, and websites seek to prevent the activity of web scraping tools. Proxies are the solution because, with IP rotation, they can distribute requests across many IP addresses, making them harder for websites to detect and ban. However, the scraping tool needs to be capable of integrating with proxy servers to facilitate this anonymity. 
6. Automation and scheduling. Users with an ongoing need for data scraping will benefit from scraping tools with support for schedulers. This way, they can automate their scraping tasks over long periods.
7. Error handling and recovery. The tool should be equipped to handle errors, with built-in mechanisms to manage temporary failures without manual intervention. If manual intervention is necessary, they should also have logging capabilities to aid troubleshooting efforts. 
8. Cost. As with any tool, the web scraper must offer at least fair value for the money you are willing to spend. You should also consider providers and vendors with flexible payment plans, discounts, and free trials. 
9. Customer support. Regardless of technical expertise, a scraping tool backed by responsive customer support is a must. If they also have active communities for sharing problems and solutions, that’s also a plus because it can reduce your need for company support while helping you learn more.
10. Scalability. The primary feature to look out for in this regard includes an ability to handle a large number of concurrent threads and sessions without a significant effect on the quality of performance. A scalable scraping tool can also deal with large volumes of data without negatively impacting data quality. 

Best Web Scraping Tools for 2024

Scrapy

Scrapy is an open-source framework that provides a scraping API and allows users to plan automated crawling and extraction tasks. 

Features

• It is open-source and provides extensive customisation options.
• It allows customisation via scripting in Python.
• It supports collation into various output formats like JSON, XML, and CSV.
• There’s an active community and extensive documentation of tasks.

Use Cases

• Useful for large-scale projects.
• Suitable for data mining and extraction for research.
• Useful for building custom web crawlers.

Pricing

• Free (open-source).

Pros

• It’s a highly flexible tool.
• It provides extensive documentation and community support.
• It’s a highly scalable tool.

Cons

• Requires programming knowledge (Python).
• The initial setup can be complex for beginners.

Octoparse

Octoparse is a web scraping tool with a free plan capable of meeting the needs of casual scrapers and an advanced plan for more technical users.

Features

• It requires no coding and employs a visual scraping interface.
• Employs Cloud-based data extraction and storage.
• The scraping software supports scheduling and automation.
• There are available templates for basic scraping tasks

Use Cases

• Non-technical users- Non-technical users needing web scraping capabilities.
• Ongoing data scraping needs like e-commerce data extraction 
• Market research and competitor analysis.

Pricing

• A free plan is available.
• Paid plans start at $75/month.

Pros

• User-friendly interface.
• Powerful cloud-based scraping and automation.
• Can handle dynamic content.

Cons

• It is expensive when used on a large scale.
• Provides relatively fewer customisation options compared to rival products

ParseHub

Parsehub is a web scraper capable of collecting data from dynamic web pages and utilises machine learning to extract from web documents as well. 

Features

• It requires no coding and is a visual web-scraping tool
• Can handle dynamic content.
• Facilitates both cloud-based and local execution.
• Utilises API access for integration with other tools.

Use Cases

• Monitoring e-commerce prices.
• Aggregating news and social media content.
• Extracting data for real estate listings and analysis. 

Pricing

• Free plans are available. 
• Paid plans start at $99/month.

Pros

• Easy to use for non-technical users.
• Handles dynamic content easily and efficiently.
• Provides cloud storage and automation.

Cons

• Pricing can be high when used extensively.
• The tool has limited flexibility for complex scraping tasks.

WebHarvy

WebHarvy is a web scraping tool that facilitates automated tasks and allows users to perform keyword scraping.

Features

• One-click interface for scraping.
• Allows keyword-based scraping.
• Provides scheduling and automation.

Use Cases

• Extraction from e-commerce sites.
• Facilitating real estate research
• Aggregating content from various sources.

Pricing

• One-time payment of $139 for a single license.
• Enterprise pricing is available upon request.

Pros

• User-friendly and requires no coding.
• Utilizes a one-time payment model.

Cons

• It is only available on Windows OS.
• Relatively not scalable for large scraping tasks.

Diffbot

Diffbot is an AI-powered tool that provides APIs for multiple data types and extracts with high accuracy.

Features

• AI-powered web scraping tool.
• Provides APIs for various types of data.
• High accuracy and data quality.

Use Cases

• Aggregating and analysing large datasets.
• Automated data extraction for business intelligence.
• Content enrichment and data augmentation.

Pricing

• It utilises a pay-per-use pricing model and charges starting from $299 for 50,000 API calls per month.

Pros

• High data accuracy and quality.
• Easy integration via APIs.
• Powerful AI-based extraction.

Cons

• Expensive for small-scale projects.
• Limited control over extraction logic.

Content Grabber

Content Grabber is a beginner-friendly scraping tool that requires no coding knowledge and allows users to build scripts with C#.

Features

• Requires no coding.
• Supports large-scale web scraping.
• Customisable scripting with C#.
• Advanced error handling and debugging.

Use Cases

• Enterprise-level web scraping projects.
• Competitive intelligence and market research.
• Data aggregation and analysis.

Pricing

• A professional plan is available, starting from $4495.
• The enterprise plan is only available upon request.

Pros

• It is powerful and flexible.
• Suitable for large-scale and complex projects.
• Advanced error handling.

Cons

• Very expensive.
• There is a steeper learning curve for advanced features.

Import.io

Import.io is a software that provides services for data extraction, from collection to analysis. It also integrates easily with other software and systems. 

Features

• No coding is required; visual interface.
• API for data integration and real-time updates.
• Cloud-based with automation and scheduling capabilities.
• Extracts data from interactive and dynamic web pages.

Use Cases

• Real-time data extraction for business intelligence.
• E-commerce price monitoring and competitor analysis.
• Aggregating data from multiple sources for market research.

Pricing

• Custom pricing based on particular case and situation

Pros

• User-friendly and suitable for non-technical users.
• Powerful data extraction from complex websites.
• Robust API for integration and automation.

Cons

• Pricing can be high for extensive data needs.
• Steeper learning curve for advanced features.

DataMiner

DataMiner also provides a web scraping extension for Google Chrome called Data Scraper. Through this, users can scrape directly from web pages and store them as CSV files.

Features

• It has a browser extension for Chrome.
• Utilises a one-click interface and requires no coding.
• Can scrape dynamically loaded web pages.

Use Cases

• Quick data extraction from the browser.
• Perfect for small-scale tasks.

Pricing

• A free plan is available.
• Paid plans start at $19/month.

Pros

• It’s very easy to use.
• It requires minimal setup, and extraction is directly in the browser.
• Paid plans are relatively affordable.

Cons

• Limited scalability for large-scale scraping.

Common Crawl

Common Crawl is a free web scraping that is registered as a non-profit platform and is managed on donations. 

Features

• Open-source repository of web crawl data.
• Provides petabytes of web data for analysis.
• Accessible via Amazon S3.

Use Cases

• Useful for large-scale analysis of online data.
• Suitable for academic research 
• Ideal for collecting training datasets for AI and machine learning.

Pricing

• Free to access data.
• Only costs are those associated with cloud storage and processing.

Pros

• Extensive and rich dataset.
• Ideal for large-scale data analysis.
• Free access to the data.

Cons

• The tool requires technical expertise to maximise its potential.
• Data is raw, unstructured, and in need of preparation and cleaning.

Mozenda

Mozenda is a web scraping tool that provides enterprise solutions for businesses looking to harvest data on the cloud and on-premises. 

Features

• It is a web-based visual scraping tool.
• Can automate extraction and storage.
• Can handle dynamic content.
• Possesses scheduling and automation features.

Use Cases

• Capable of supporting market research and competitive analysis.
• Ideal for aggregating data and content from multiple sources.

Pricing

• It is available starting at $299/month.

Pros

• Easy to use.
• Powerful automation.
• Suitable for complex scraping tasks.

Cons

• It is expensive.
• Possesses relatively limited customisation options.

 

Benefits of Using Web Scraping Tools

The benefits of using web scraping tools are unquantifiable because they are inextricably tied to the benefits of data. However, we can at least compare the benefits of web scrapers to the data extraction process by comparing them with manual data collection. Here are some of the benefits of using web scraping tools for individuals, researchers, and businesses:

1. High Accuracy and Quality Assurance. Web page parsers help eliminate human error. So you can be sure that the information you receive is 100% accurate. Crawlers do a better job of assessing content quality. This provides an advantage when performing quality assurance tasks. The added benefit is that scrapers would collect and collate data in a consistent format. 
2. Cost-effectiveness. Web scraping can be more cost-effective because you will need less staff. You can often access an automated solution that requires no infrastructure. Many web scrapers allow you to filter the data points you seek. This helps save time, bandwidth, and money in the long run.
3. Efficiency and Speed. Web scraping tools automate data collection, cutting out the need for constant human intervention. As a result, they are faster and more efficient for dealing with large volumes of data. 
4. Access to real-time data. By providing the option for users to schedule web scraping at intervals, web scraping tools offer real-time services. They can collect up-to-date data, ensuring that their users are current and stay current with subsequent updates.
5. Versatility. Web scraping technology is not limited to any single industry or use case. They are suitable for many different purposes, ranging from marketing to financial market analysis. In other words, wherever the data is and whatever the type of data, you can customise and configure relevant data scrapers to collect it. 
6. Facilitating data-driven decision-making. By helping users improve the accuracy and efficiency of their data collection, web scraping tools encourage data-driven decisions. Businesses and individuals can now collect data to generate actionable insights, discover competitive advantages, and identify areas of improvement with precision.
7. Productivity. Web scraping automates data collection and minimises human input. Consequently, there is more manpower and time to direct at tasks requiring creativity and critical thinking, such as analysis of the obtained data. 

Scraping with Proxy-Cheap

Scraping with Proxy-Cheap can significantly enhance your web scraping projects. It is possible by providing a reliable and cost-effective proxy solution. Proxy-Cheap is popular among other web scraping services, offering various proxy types and features. They are always tailored to various web scraping needs:

• Residential Proxies. Residential proxies are IP addresses associated with real residential devices and internet service providers (ISPs). These proxies are highly reliable and imitate real user behaviour, making them ideal for web scraping tasks where you must avoid detection and IP bans.
• Datacenter Proxies. Datacenter proxies are usually hosted on servers in data centers. They are more likely to be detected by websites with advanced security measures.

You can also notice the following benefits while using Proxy-Cheap:

• Anonymity: Scraping with Proxy-Cheap ensures your IP address remains hidden during scraping, preventing websites from tracking and blocking your requests.
• Reliability: Residential proxies from Proxy-Cheap are known for their reliability, as they are less likely to get blocked by websites.
• Performance: It offers excellent speed and performance, making it suitable for tasks where speed is crucial.

Conclusion

Web scraping tools can come in many forms. Regardless of form and in no particular order, we have provided 10 of the best, and we hope they satisfy your data collection needs.

Frequently asked questions

Are web scraping tools legal?

Yes, web scraping tools are generally legal. However, specific circumstances might lead to ethical issues. As such, users should consider the website’s terms of service, copyright and intellectual property rights, data protection regulations, and legal jurisdiction when scraping online. 

Can web scraping tools extract data from dynamic websites?

Yes, some web scraping tools can extract data from dynamic websites. However, this is only possible with dynamic scraping execution or specialised tools like headless browsers and APIs.

Are web scraping services cost-effective?

Yes, web scraping tools can be cost-effective. However, where a particular tool falls on the scale of cost-effectiveness of users depends on certain factors like the volume of data they expect to be dealing with, the frequency of their scraping needs, the complexity of their features, the level of customisation they offer, and how all of these relate with their pricing models. 

Can web scraping tools handle large-scale data extraction?

Yes, web scraping tools can handle large-scale data extraction. That said, the ability of a particular scraper to do so depends on the scalability of the tool, the number of concurrent requests it can handle, its capacity for error handling, and the flexibility of its data handling and storage.