Octoparse is the best software for data extraction from websites for most non-technical readers, because its visual builder, free local plan and $69 per month Standard plan cover scheduled cloud jobs without code. Apify is the best value for developers and teams that want ready-made Actors, because the $19 Starter plan returns as $19 of prepaid usage credit, so the monthly fee is usage credit rather than a separate seat fee on top of usage. Diffbot is the specialist pick for structured extraction without selectors, while WebHarvy is the best one-time licence choice for Windows users who want to avoid a monthly subscription.
The right tool depends on who builds the extraction, how many pages run each month, and whether the work runs on a desktop or in the cloud. The eight tools below cover both paths, with official prices checked on 2026-11-12.
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Best software for data extraction from websites: comparison table
Swipe the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
| # | Name | Best for | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Octoparse | Non-technical users who want visual extraction | $69 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 2 | ParseHub | Complex visual projects on dynamic pages | $189 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 3 | Apify | Developers who want ready-made Actors | $19 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 4 | Bright Data | High-volume API extraction and datasets | $1.50 per 1,000 records | Yes | Visit |
| 5 | ScraperAPI | Developers who need a simple scraping API | $49 per month | Free trial (7 days) | Visit |
| 6 | Diffbot | Structured extraction without selectors | $299 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 7 | WebHarvy | Windows users who want a one-time licence | $99 one-time | Free trial (15 days) | Visit |
| 8 | Import.io | Teams billed by successful queries | $9 per month | Free trial (30 days) | Visit |
The 8 best best software for data extraction from websites, in detail
Octoparse
Best for: Non-technical users who want visual extraction
Octoparse is a desktop and cloud extraction tool that lets a reader click on the data to collect, rather than write selectors or code. The free plan costs $0 and includes 10 tasks, with local runs only, 10,000 rows per export and a 50,000-row monthly export cap. The Standard plan is $69 per month when billed annually, or $83 per month when billed monthly, for 100 tasks and up to 3 concurrent cloud runs, with scheduling, IP rotation, CAPTCHA solving and a Data Export API.
- Professional is $249 per month when billed annually for 250 tasks and up to 20 concurrent cloud runs.
- One limit: the free plan cannot schedule cloud jobs, and proxy use at $3 per GB adds to the monthly total.
Pros
- Visual point-and-click builder with no code
- free plan with 10 tasks and local runs
- cloud scheduling and IP rotation on Standard
Cons
- Free plan has no cloud runs and a 50,000-row monthly export cap
- proxy and CAPTCHA solving add-ons bill separately
ParseHub
Best for: Complex visual projects on dynamic pages
ParseHub is a visual desktop scraper that infers page structure from the items a reader clicks. It can follow links, handle forms and dropdowns, work with login sessions and move through infinite scroll. The free plan includes 200 pages per run, 5 public projects, a 40-minute run limit and 14-day data retention.
- Standard is $189 per month for 20 private projects, 10,000 pages per run, IP rotation, scheduling and export to Dropbox and Amazon S3.
- Professional is $599 per month for 120 private projects, unlimited pages per run and 30-day retention.
- One limit: the jump from $0 to $189 per month is steep, with no middle tier for a small job.
Pros
- Visual builder handles forms, logins, dropdowns and infinite scroll
- free plan needs no card
- desktop app runs on Windows, macOS and Linux
Cons
- No plan between free and $189 per month
- free projects are public and limited to 200 pages per run
Apify
Best for: Developers who want ready-made Actors
Apify is a cloud platform for web scraping and browser automation built around small programs called Actors. Readers can run ready-made Actors from the Apify Store, schedule runs and send results to a dataset, a webhook or an API. The free plan costs $0 and includes $5 of platform usage each month, with 5 concurrent runs.
- Starter is $19 per month and includes $19 of prepaid usage, with 32 concurrent runs.
- Scale is $199 per month with $199 of prepaid usage, and Business is $999 per month with $999 of prepaid usage.
- Annual billing is 10 percent lower.
- The trade-off: a heavy Actor can use the credit fast, and usage beyond the included amount is added to the next invoice.
Pros
- Large store of ready-made Actors for common sites
- free plan includes $5 of monthly usage with no card
- scheduling, API and dataset storage
Cons
- Each Actor can add its own charge on top of platform usage
- unused prepaid usage does not roll over to the next cycle
Bright Data
Best for: High-volume API extraction and datasets
Bright Data is a web data platform that sells proxy networks, a Web Scraper API, an anti-blocking tool, a SERP API, a Scraping Browser and ready-made datasets. A reader who needs data at volume can use the Scraper API to pull structured records, or buy a dataset that is already collected. The free tier gives 5,000 records a month with no card.
- The Web Scraper API costs $1.50 per 1,000 records on a pay as you go basis.
- Scale is $499 per month for 384,000 records, with extra records at $1.30 per 1,000.
- Residential proxies are listed at $8 per GB.
- One limit: Bright Data does not sell one single subscription, so a reader who needs proxies, an anti-blocking tool and a scraper API must price each p
Pros
- Web Scraper API, anti-blocking tool, SERP API and ready-made datasets in one platform
- free tier with 5,000 records a month and no card
- delivery to cloud storage
Cons
- Each product has its own price sheet, so the total is hard to predict
- Scale plan is $499 per month for 384,000 records
ScraperAPI
Best for: Developers who need a simple scraping API
ScraperAPI is a web scraping API that handles proxies, browsers and CAPTCHA solving so a developer can send a URL and receive the page HTML. A standard page costs 1 credit, an e-commerce page costs 5 credits, a Google or Bing page costs 25 credits and a LinkedIn page costs 30 credits. The trial runs for 7 days with 5,000 credits and no card.
- Hobby is $49 per month for 100,000 credits and 20 concurrent threads.
- Startup is $149 per month for 1,000,000 credits, Business is $299 per month for 3,000,000 credits, and larger plans rise to $1,975 per month.
- Annual billing is 10 percent lower.
- One limit: Hobby and Startup only offer US and EU geotargeting, so country-level targeting needs Business at $299 per month.
Pros
- Simple API with proxy rotation and rendering handled for the reader
- only successful requests are charged
- trial includes 5,000 credits for 7 days with no card
Cons
- Credit cost varies by target, from 1 credit for a standard page to 30 credits for LinkedIn
- Hobby and Startup limit geotargeting to the US and EU
Diffbot
Best for: Structured extraction without selectors
Diffbot is a hosted set of web data APIs that reads a page and returns structured data without a reader writing a parser for each site. Its Extract API classifies a page and returns typed JSON for articles, products, discussions and jobs. The free plan costs $0 and includes 10,000 credits a month, all four APIs and no card requirement.
- Startup is $299 per month for 250,000 credits a month, with overage at $0.001 per credit and 25 threads.
- Plus is $899 per month for 1,000,000 credits a month, with Crawl access for 25 active jobs, 3 user seats and 100 threads.
- One limit: exporting one Knowledge Graph entity costs 25 credits, so a reader who needs entity data must budget very differently from a reader who onl
Pros
- Extract API returns typed JSON for articles, products, discussions and jobs with no selectors
- free plan includes 10,000 credits a month with no card
- Crawl and Knowledge Graph on higher plans
Cons
- Startup entry is $299 per month, which is high for small projects
- Knowledge Graph exports use 25 credits per entity, so they use the allowance fast
WebHarvy
Best for: Windows users who want a one-time licence
WebHarvy is a visual web scraper for Windows that lets a reader load a page in its built-in browser, click on the data to collect, and export the result to a spreadsheet or database. It can pull text, images, URLs and email addresses. The trial runs for 15 days.
- The single-user licence is $99 one-time, for use on up to 3 machines, with 1 year of free updates and email support.
- A 2-user licence is $169, a 3-user licence is $219 and a site licence is $699.
- After the first year, a reader keeps the last version released in that window.
- One limit: WebHarvy has no cloud platform, so a reader who needs scheduled runs must choose a different tool.
Pros
- Visual point-and-click extraction with no code
- one-time licence with no monthly subscription
- data stays on the reader's own computer
Cons
- Windows only, with no cloud runs or scheduling
- licence includes only 1 year of free updates and email support
Import.io
Best for: Teams billed by successful queries
Import.io is a web data extraction platform that turns public web data into structured output for price monitoring, product availability tracking and market research. Readers build point-and-click and AI extractors, schedule runs, and receive data as CSV or JSON or by API on higher plans. Billing is based on successful queries only.
- The trial runs for 30 days with 5,000 successful queries, full platform access and no card.
- Starter is $9 per month when billed annually, or $11 month to month, for 5,000 successful queries a month with a hard stop and no overage.
- Standard is $199 per month when billed annually for 50,000 queries, Professional is $399 per month for 200,000 queries and Advanced is $699 per month
- One limit: Starter allows only 5 extractors, so a team that needs full API access must move to Professional.
Pros
- Point-and-click and AI extractors with scheduling and delivery
- billed only on successful queries
- trial includes 5,000 queries for 30 days with no card
Cons
- Starter is limited to 5 extractors and a hard stop at 5,000 queries
- API access and webhooks need Professional at $399 per month
How we chose
We chose tools that are still sold as a real product, that publish a price or a clear licence cost, and that cover the main ways to extract data from websites: visual desktop tools, cloud platforms, scraping APIs and AI extraction APIs. Prices and plan limits come from official vendor pricing pages and docs opened on 2026-11-12, including Diffbot and ParseHub pricing pages opened today. We did not test any tool hands-on. We did not install, run or compare output from any tool, and we did not use customer counts, awards or review scores to rank the items. The unique angle is the credit maths: Apify returns its plan fee as prepaid usage, Diffbot charges 25 credits for one entity export against 1 credit for one page, and Import.io stops Starter at 5,000 queries with no overage.
Pick by volume and skill
| Reader | Best pick | Starting price | Key limit to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-technical, small jobs | Octoparse | $69 per month (billed annually) | Free plan has no cloud runs |
| Non-technical, complex pages | ParseHub | $189 per month | Free projects are public |
| Developer, ready-made scrapers | Apify | $19 per month | Actor charges draw on credit |
| Developer, simple API | ScraperAPI | $49 per month | Rendering and premium targets cost more credits |
| High-volume API work | Bright Data | $1.50 per 1,000 records (pay as you go) | Each product is priced separately |
| No selectors, structured output | Diffbot | $299 per month | Entity exports cost 25 credits each |
| Windows, no monthly fee | WebHarvy | $99 one-time (single-user license) | Windows only, no cloud runs |
| Team, query-based billing | Import.io | $9 per month (billed annually) | Starter stops at 5,000 queries |
Frequently asked questions
Which software is best for data extraction from websites for beginners?
Octoparse is the best pick for most beginners, because its visual builder needs no code, its free plan covers 10 tasks with local runs, and Standard at $69 per month when billed annually adds cloud scheduling for 100 tasks. ParseHub is a good second pick for complex pages, while Apify is better for readers who want ready-made Actors and are comfortable with a cloud platform.
How much does data extraction software cost?
Costs range from $9 per month for Import.io Starter when billed annually to $299 per month for Diffbot Startup, with a $99 one-time WebHarvy licence as the main non-subscription option. Apify starts at $19 per month, ScraperAPI at $49 per month, Octoparse at $69 per month, ParseHub at $189 per month, and Bright Data at $1.50 per 1,000 records on a pay as you go basis.
Is there free software for data extraction from websites?
Yes. Octoparse, ParseHub, Apify, Bright Data and Diffbot each offer a free plan, with limits that range from 200 pages per run on ParseHub to 10,000 credits a month on Diffbot and $5 of monthly usage on Apify. ScraperAPI, WebHarvy and Import.io offer a free trial instead, for 7 days, 15 days and 30 days, so a reader can test before choosing a plan.
Which tool is best for developers?
Apify is the best pick for developers who want ready-made Actors, scheduling and datasets, starting at $19 per month with $19 of prepaid usage. ScraperAPI is simpler for a developer who only needs a URL in and HTML out, starting at $49 per month for 100,000 credits. Diffbot is the best pick when the output must be structured JSON with no selectors to maintain.
Do I need to write code to extract data from websites?
No. Octoparse, ParseHub, WebHarvy and Import.io all offer point-and-click builders that need no code for common pages. Code helps when a site needs custom logic, a large crawl or delivery into a database, and in that case Apify, ScraperAPI, Bright Data and Diffbot offer APIs that a developer can call from a script or application.
What is the main limit to watch before I choose a plan?
The main limit is the billing unit, because it decides when an upgrade is forced. A Diffbot entity export costs 25 credits against 1 credit for a page, a ScraperAPI LinkedIn page costs 30 credits against 1 credit for a standard page, and Import.io Starter stops at 5,000 queries with no overage. Count the real pages, rows and queries for a month before choosing.
Sources
- https://www.octoparse.com
- https://www.octoparse.com/pricing
- https://www.parsehub.com
- https://www.parsehub.com/pricing
- https://apify.com
- https://apify.com/pricing
- https://brightdata.com
- https://brightdata.com/pricing
- https://www.scraperapi.com
- https://www.scraperapi.com/pricing
- https://www.diffbot.com
- https://www.diffbot.com/pricing
- https://www.webharvy.com
- https://www.webharvy.com/
- https://www.import.io
- https://www.import.io/pricing
Prices and features were read on each company’s own website in November 2026. They change often, so confirm the current offer on the official site before you sign up or buy.