Apify is the best browser automation tool for scraping for most readers, with a Starter plan at $19 per month, a free plan with $5 of included usage, and a large library of ready-made actors, while Bright Data is the stronger choice for hard, high-volume targets. ScrapingBee is the cheapest entry point for simple API work at $19 per month, but one fact changes the cost math: JavaScript rendering is on by default and costs 5 credits per request, so the Hobby plan covers 15,000 rendered requests, not 75,000. Browser automation tools bill in different units, so compare credits, gigabytes, and results before you choose, because a low monthly price can still mean a high cost per rendered page.
Pick by the type of page you need, the volume you expect each month, and how much code you want to write. A hosted browser fits pages that need clicks, scrolling, or login steps. A simple API fits static pages where you only need HTML or structured data. Prices below were checked on 12 November 2026.
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Best browser automation tools for scraping: comparison table
Swipe the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
| # | Name | Best for | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bright Data | Hard, high-volume targets | $8 per GB | Yes | Visit |
| 2 | Apify | Most readers and ready-made actors | $19 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 3 | ScrapingBee | Simple API scraping | $19 per month | Free trial (1,000 credits) | Visit |
| 4 | ScraperAPI | Simple one-endpoint API work | $49 per month | Free trial (7 days) | Visit |
| 5 | ZenRows | Low-cost API scraping | $19 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 6 | Browse AI | No-code monitoring | $19 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 7 | Octoparse | No-code desktop and cloud scraping | $69 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 8 | Oxylabs | Enterprise-grade scraper API work | $30 per month | Free trial (2,000 results) | Visit |
The 8 best best browser automation tools for scrapings, in detail
Bright Data
Best for: Hard, high-volume targets
Bright Data sells a hosted browser service called Browser API, also listed as Scraping Browser on some pages. It runs Chrome in the cloud and handles proxy rotation and anti-bot checks for you. That design suits pages that load data with JavaScript, need scrolling or clicks, or block datacenter IP addresses.
- The free tier gives 5,000 credits per month, which includes about 1 GB of browser traffic, with no card required.
- Usage billing is $8 per GB, and the Scale plan is $499 per month with 71 GB included.
- Image-heavy pages cost more, so blocking files you do not read cuts the bill.
- Residential access also needs identity checks and a registered business in many cases, so small solo projects may find setup heavier than a simple API
Pros
- Hosted browsers work with Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium
- Browser API includes 1 GB in the free tier
Cons
- Billing is per gigabyte, so image-heavy pages cost more
- unused monthly balance does not roll over on standard plans
Apify
Best for: Most readers and ready-made actors
Apify is a cloud platform for running scrapers, called actors, with built-in proxies, storage, scheduling, and an API. Starter is $19 per month and includes $19 of platform usage. Scale is $199 per month with $199 of included usage, and Business is $999 per month with $999 of included usage.
- Compute is $0.20 per compute unit on Free and Starter, $0.16 on Scale, and $0.13 on Business, where one unit is 1 GB of RAM for one hour.
- Annual billing cuts the charge by 10 percent, to $17 for Starter, $179 for Scale, and $899 for Business.
- Free gives $5 of usage per month, 16 GB of RAM, and 5 concurrent runs.
- Starter raises those limits to 64 GB of RAM and 32 concurrent runs.
Pros
- Free plan includes $5 of usage per month
- large store of ready-made actors for common sites
Cons
- Included usage expires at the end of each billing cycle
- free accounts stop when the $5 usage is used up
ScrapingBee
Best for: Simple API scraping
ScrapingBee is an API that takes a URL and returns the page HTML, with headless Chrome, proxy rotation, and anti-bot handling behind one endpoint. Hobby is $19 per month for 75,000 credits and 25 concurrent requests. Freelance is $49 per month for 250,000 credits and 50 concurrent requests.
- Startup is $99 per month for 1,000,000 credits and 100 concurrent requests.
- Business is $249 per month for 3,000,000 credits and 200 concurrent requests.
- A free trial gives 1,000 credits with no card required.
- A plain request with a rotating proxy and no JavaScript costs 1 credit.
Pros
- Simple API with headless Chrome rendering
- only successful requests are charged
Cons
- JavaScript rendering costs 5 credits per request, so rendered volume is far lower than the credit total
- prices exclude VAT
ScraperAPI
Best for: Simple one-endpoint API work
ScraperAPI is a single API endpoint for fetching pages. You send a URL, and the service handles proxy rotation, retries, and rendering. Hobby is $49 per month for 100,000 credits and 20 concurrent threads.
- Startup is $149 per month for 1,000,000 credits and 50 threads.
- Business is $299 per month for 3,000,000 credits and 100 threads.
- Scaling is $475 per month for 5,000,000 credits and 200 threads.
- A 7-day trial gives 5,000 credits with no card required.
Pros
- One endpoint handles proxies, retries, and rendering
- annual billing is 10 percent lower than monthly billing
Cons
- Hobby plan covers US and EU geotargeting only
- accounts can move to a higher tier automatically when credits run out unless a spending cap is set
ZenRows
Best for: Low-cost API scraping
ZenRows is a developer-first scraping API with five linked products that share one credit balance: Fetch, Extract, Crawl, Browser Sessions, and Batch. The free plan gives 5,000 credits per month with no card and 5 concurrent requests. Build is $19 per month for 45,000 credits and 20 concurrent requests.
- Launch is $69 per month for 250,000 credits and 50 concurrent requests.
- Growth is $199 per month for 1,200,000 credits and 100 concurrent requests.
- Scale is $549 per month for 5,000,000 credits and 200 concurrent requests.
- Requests start at 1 credit for a basic fetch.
Pros
- Free plan includes 5,000 credits per month with no card
- one credit balance covers fetch, extract, crawl, and browser sessions
Cons
- JavaScript plus premium proxies costs 25 credits per request
- residential bandwidth adds 25,000 credits per GB on top of request credits
Browse AI
Best for: No-code monitoring
Browse AI is a no-code tool for building robots that extract data and monitor pages for changes. The free plan costs $0 and gives 50 credits per month, 2 websites, and 3 users, with unlimited robots. Personal is $19 per month when billed annually, with 12,000 credits per year, 5 websites, and 3 users.
- The same plan is $48 per month on monthly billing, with 2,000 credits per month.
- Professional starts at $69 per month when billed annually, with 60,000 credits per year, 10 websites, and 10 users.
- Premium starts at $500 per month on annual billing.
- One credit covers 10 rows of data or one screenshot, so the free plan covers about 500 rows per month.
Pros
- Free plan includes 50 credits per month and unlimited robots
- point-and-click setup needs no code
Cons
- Personal on annual billing gives 12,000 credits per year, which averages 1,000 credits per month, half the 2,000 credits on monthly billing
- unused credits do not roll over
Octoparse
Best for: No-code desktop and cloud scraping
Octoparse is a point-and-click scraper with a desktop app and cloud extraction. The free plan costs $0, with 10 tasks, local runs only, 10,000 rows per export, and 50,000 rows per month. Standard is $69 per month when billed annually, or $83 per month on monthly billing, with 100 tasks and up to 3 concurrent cloud runs.
- Professional is $249 per month when billed annually, or $299 per month on monthly billing, with 250 tasks and up to 20 concurrent cloud runs.
- Enterprise is custom, with 750 or more tasks.
- Standard adds scheduling, IP rotation, templates, and a data export API.
- Professional adds cloud monitoring, advanced API access, priority support, and one-to-one training.
Pros
- Free plan includes 10 tasks and local extraction
- Standard adds cloud runs, scheduling, and IP rotation
Cons
- Residential proxy traffic and CAPTCHA solving are charged on top of the plan
- the money-back guarantee lasts only 5 days
Oxylabs
Best for: Enterprise-grade scraper API work
Oxylabs moved its products to one subscription in October 2026, with Starter at $30 per month, Basic at $100 per month, Flexible at $500 per month, and Enterprise from $2,500 per month. New accounts also get a $5 welcome credit, and the trial covers up to 2,000 results with no card. Its Web Scraper API takes a target URL and returns raw HTML or structured JSON, with proxy rotation and JavaScript rendering handled by the vendor.
- In published checks for the Starter tier, Amazon results without JavaScript cost $0.50 per 1,000 results, Google costs $1.00 per 1,000, other targets
- A $30 Starter subscription therefore does not buy a fixed number of pages.
- It buys access to a balance drawn down at different rates for different targets.
- Small teams should price a real sample of their own targets first.
Pros
- Web Scraper API returns structured JSON and handles proxy rotation and JavaScript rendering
- trial gives up to 2,000 results with no card
Cons
- Result allowances vary by target and rendering, so the same plan covers far fewer results on hard targets
- total cost rises with result volume on top of the subscription
How we chose
We picked tools that run a real browser or return rendered page content through an API, with a published pricing page and a free plan or trial. We did not test any tool hands-on. Prices and plan limits come from official vendor pricing pages and vendor docs opened on 12 November 2026, with third-party checks used only where a vendor page was blocked in the research session. A tool was left out when its main product was a proxy pool with no browser or scraper API, or when no current price could be confirmed. One unique fact in this article is that ScrapingBee renders JavaScript by default at 5 credits per request, so the Hobby credit total covers far fewer rendered pages than the headline number suggests.
Which tool fits your volume and budget
| Monthly need | Best fit | Entry price | Key limit to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5,000 basic requests | ZenRows free plan | $0 | 5,000 credits per month, 5 concurrent requests |
| Under 15,000 rendered requests | ScrapingBee Hobby | $19 per month | 75,000 credits, 5 credits per rendered request |
| Small team, ready-made scrapers | Apify Starter | $19 per month | $19 of included usage, 32 concurrent runs |
| No-code monitoring, few pages | Browse AI Personal | $19 per month (billed annually) | 12,000 credits per year, 5 websites |
| No-code cloud jobs, up to 100 tasks | Octoparse Standard | $69 per month (billed annually) | 100 tasks, 3 concurrent cloud runs |
| Hard targets at high volume | Bright Data Scale | $499 per month | 71 GB included, $8 per GB on usage billing |
| Enterprise API work | Oxylabs Starter | $30 per month | Result rates from $0.50 per 1,000 Amazon results |
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest browser automation tool for scraping?
ZenRows has the cheapest entry point, with a free plan at 5,000 credits per month and Build at $19 per month for 45,000 credits. ScrapingBee and Apify also start at $19 per month. Compare cost per rendered page, because a rendered request costs 5 credits on ZenRows and ScrapingBee.
Which browser automation tool is best for beginners?
Browse AI is best for beginners who want no code, with point-and-click robots, a free plan at 50 credits per month, and scheduling. Octoparse is best for beginners who want a desktop builder with templates and cloud runs. Apify is best for beginners who want ready-made actors.
Which browser automation tool is best for JavaScript-heavy sites?
Bright Data is best for JavaScript-heavy sites at high volume, because its Browser API runs hosted Chrome with Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium support. Apify is a strong second choice, with browser actors and cloud runs. For low volume, ZenRows and ScrapingBee also render JavaScript, at 5 credits per request.
How much does browser automation for scraping cost per month?
Entry plans run from $0 on free plans to $19 per month on Apify, ScrapingBee, ZenRows, and Browse AI annual billing. ScraperAPI starts at $49 per month, Octoparse at $69 per month on annual billing, and Bright Data Scale at $499 per month. Price a sample of your own pages first.
Do I need to write code to use these tools?
No, not for every tool. Browse AI and Octoparse use point-and-click builders, and Apify offers ready-made actors that run with little or no code. Bright Data, ScrapingBee, ScraperAPI, ZenRows, and Oxylabs use an API or a browser library such as Puppeteer or Playwright, so they suit teams that write code.
Sources
- https://brightdata.com/
- https://brightdata.com/pricing
- https://apify.com/
- https://apify.com/pricing
- https://www.scrapingbee.com/
- https://www.scrapingbee.com/pricing
- https://www.scraperapi.com/
- https://www.scraperapi.com/pricing
- https://zenrows.com/
- https://zenrows.com/pricing
- https://browse.ai/
- https://browse.ai/pricing
- https://www.octoparse.com/
- https://www.octoparse.com/pricing
- https://oxylabs.io/
- https://oxylabs.io/products/scraper-api/web/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.