List of the main web scraping tools
This list includes both paid and open-source tools (free/free). You can find the corresponding ratings from 1 to 5 stars as well as a description of their functionalities or the links to obtain the various tools.
1. PhantomBuster.
Phantombuster Is a no code automation and data extraction software that helps organizations generate marketing contacts and business leads while facilitating overall growth. It allows users toautomate almost all of their actions on the web. The software executes the functions on behalf of its users from the cloud and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Users can easily extract data from any web source, because the software visits the page in question and starts to extract the relevant content in an automated manner. It offers ready-to-use automation on major websites and social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more.
Features
- Extraction from numerous social networks or websites (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google Maps, etc.)
- Easy integration with Google Spreadsheet
- Execution of actions in the cloud
- Rapid skill build-up
- Great tutorials available
- Simplified data extraction (emails, rates, documents, images, IP addresses, telephone numbers, etc.)
- Possibilities of simply connecting the various treatments (Phantoms)
In Phantombuster, users can program or trigger variable actions such as accepting requests, automatically liking posts, following profiles, etc. The software also supports chain automation, which helps professionals create advanced workflows, trigger launches at specific times, and facilitate marketing growth.
If you are looking for new growth tipsIf you want to save time scraping data, Phantombuster offers a ton of automation features and hacks.
> Discover for free PhantomBuster
2. ParseHub.
ParseHub can be your entry point for data collection. You don't need to know a single line of code - just start a project, click on the information you need to gather, and let ParseHub do the rest.
This tool is very useful for those who have just started web scraping and who have no programming knowledge. However, this tool is still very advanced and can perform many complex web scraping tasks. ParseHub is compatible with most operating systems like Windows, Mac OS X, and LINUX and also has a browser extension that allows you to scrape directly.
Here are some of the features that you can find in this tool.
Features
- Extract text, HTML, and CSS properties
- Scrape and download images/files
- Obtain data even on sites that have login forms
- Managing Infinite Page Scrolling
- Extracting form data
- Management of dropdown menus, tabs or pop-ups.
- Easy to use graphical interface
The versatility of ParseHub is fully unleashed once you learn how to use its controls. This tool is very popular because it is quite easy to understand how to use it to extract even complex data. That is why this tool will remain one of the most popular for those who are not familiar with development.
> Discover ParseSehub
3. Scrapebox.
Google must hate ScrapeBox.
It has long been one of Black Hats SEO's favorite tools. But today, this tool is finding new life as an excellent time saver for SEO but also for Web Scraping!
Features
Scrapebox has a large number of different functions that you can use to recover different types of data in different scenarios.
- You can provide Scrapebox with a list of keywords and it will visit various search engines to gather search results for those keywords.
- You can give Scrapebox a single keyword or a list of keywords that it will use to give you lists of related keywords to rank on search engines.
- Scrapebox can find you proxy lists automatically or validate lists in seconds
- Scrapebox can automatically leave comments on blogs to create lots of backlinks in minutes.
- The scraper automatically detects all emails from web pages and collects them in a few clicks
- The scraper automatically detects all social media links or phone numbers and collects them
- You can provide it with a list of links and it will analyze HTTP status codes, original pages, anchor text, etc.
- Collect all nofollow or dofollow backlinks on websites (useful for finding your competitors' backlinks)
- You can provide him with a list of URLs and he will check the Alexa rank of these URLs.
- You can provide it with a list of URLs and it will scrape item data from these URLs.
- The Scrapebox Scraper can search for you all the broken links in a list of websites to help you with your link building campaigns.
- You can provide it with a list of URLs and it will extract the authority from each of these pages
- Scrapebox costs $97 for a lifetime license
The final portion of these features, along with half a dozen others, are all free Scrapebox add-ons.
In short, I myself hesitated for a long time before buying Scrapebox (the website seemed really outdated and selling) but I can assure you that even if the handling is not very intuitive, you will do wonders for all your Web Scraping or SEO activities.
> Discover Scrapebox
4. Scrapy.
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You may already know that Scrapy is an open-source and collaborative tool. This tool is one of the favorites of those who work with the Python library and it can certainly offer you a lot.
Here are some of the features that you can find in this tool.
Features
- Integration of functions for selecting and extracting data from HTML/XML sources
- Integrated support for generating data exports in multiple formats
- Support for encoding and automated detection
- Broad range of built-in extensions and middleware
- Asynchronous request processing
- Scrapy is 100% free
Even though Scrapy was originally designed for web scraping, it can also be used to extract data using APIs or as a multi-purpose web crawler. This tool has one of the best performance rates on the market.
> Discover open-source technology Scrapy
5. Web Scraper Extension
It's a Browser Extension that helps you with your data extraction process. It allows you to create scenarios on numerous pages very simply thanks to its dynamic data extraction capabilities. There is only one drawback: CAPTCHA management, which is not really taken into account.
Features
- Scraper data is stored locally
- Handling a wide range of data
- Extraction of dynamic data and export to CSV
- Simple Infinite Scroll or “Load Plus” management
- Importing, exporting sitemaps (to import/export your projects or share them)
- Allows you to display the mapping of the pages and information collected from the scraper (simple but has the merit of being useful)
- 100% Free
For more advanced users, you can use Regex and XPath to facilitate accurate extraction.
Web Scraper is a must-have for collecting data that every Growth Hacker or Sales de should have installed it in his browser. Its only downside: using useful resources from your PC or Mac during the extraction process, which can be long in the case of important websites.
> Discover for free Web Scraper
6. Scraper API.
The Scraper API tool helps you manage proxies, browsers, and CAPTCHAs (protection against robots). This allows you to get HTML data from any web page with a simple API.
Features
- Allows you to customize the type and headers of each request
- Offers unparalleled speed and reliability
- Allows you to build powerful web scrapers
- Management of rotative/rotating IPs but also Captcha
- Unlimited bandwidth for your cloud data extraction processes
- Dynamic and geolocated proxies (over 40 million IPs and 12 locations!)
It is a very powerful tool that is more oriented towards developers and businesses. Its ability to offer unlimited bandwidth, numerous IP addresses or geolocations make it possible to collect data from any type of website. A must for those who have an already advanced level and technical skills.
> Discover Scraping API
7. Common Crawl.
Common Crawl is a non-profit organization that explores the web (web crawler) and provides data sets and metadata to the general public for free.
Features
- Allows you to compile all web pages in the world (HTML pages classified or not from all over the web, regardless of the type of site)
- Contains functions to load web pages without affecting performance
- Allows you to download HTML data and visually create selectors and web scraping actions.
- Allows you to web scrape data by year and remove unwanted web pages.
- No support for real-time data. The data is available at the end of the exploration month.
- Bulk download of all data
Common Crawl content contains petabytes of data, including raw web page data, metadata data, and textual data collected over eight years of exploring the web.
Common Crawl data is stored on public data sets from Amazon and other cloud platforms around the world.
> Discover Common Crawl
For more information, read this detailed article: How to collect data on the web with Python (+ Common Crawl Bonus with Example)
8. Octoparse.
Octoparse is a powerful web scraper with advanced features. The “point and click” user interface allows you to learn to scrape how to navigate and extract fields from a website.
Users, whether experienced or not, appreciate the ease of use of Octoparse to easily extract all data from the web without the need to code.
Here are some of the features that you can find in this tool.
Features
- The ad blocking feature allows you to extract data from pages loaded with ads.
- The tool makes it possible to imitate the behavior of a human user while browsing and allows data to be extracted from specific websites.
- Octoparse allows you to run your extraction on the cloud or on your local machine
- It allows you to export all types of extracted data in TXT, HTML, CSV, or Excel formats.
For more advanced users, you can use Regex and XPath to facilitate accurate extraction. XPath can solve 80% of potential data extraction problems, even for web scraping dynamic pages. However, not everyone can write good Xpaths. Additionally, Octoparse has built-in templates, like Amazon, Yelp, and TripAdvisor, that beginners can use.
The collected data can be exported to Excel, HTML, CSV, and more.
> Discover Octoparse
9. Zyte (formerly Scrapinghub).
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Zyte is a cloud data extraction tool that helps businesses gather relevant information. There are four different types of tools: Scrapy Cloud, Portia, Smart Proxy Manager, and Splash.
Zyte offers a list of IP addresses covering over 50 countries that allows you to get around problems related to restrictions. This excellent tool allows you to store data thanks to its advanced features.
Here are some of the features that you can find in this tool.
Features
- Handling a wide range of data
- Allows you to convert the entire web page into organized content
- Simple Infinite Scroll or “Load Plus” management
- Helps you deploy crawlers and upgrade them on demand without having to worry about servers and their maintenance
- Allows you to bypass anti-bot measures to collect data on important or protected sites
- It allows you to export all types of extracted data in TXT, HTML, CSV, or Excel formats.
Since Zyte is very rich for businesses, this tool is a great solution for extracting important data without problems. That's why Zyte is one of the most popular web scraping services out there.
> Discover Zyte
10. Import.io.
Import.IO is a web scraping platform that supports most operating systems. Its interface is user-friendly and easy to master without having to write any code, which is especially valuable for beginners in web scraping.
You can click and extract all the data that appears on the web page. The data is then stored for several days on the cloud service. It is a great choice for businesses.
This web scraping tool helps you build data sets by importing data sets from a specific web page and exporting them in CSV format. It allows you to integrate data into applications using APIs and Webhooks.
Here are some of the features that you can find in this tool.
Features
- Simplified interaction with web forms/logins
- Scheduling data extraction processes
- You can store and access data using the Import.io Cloud
- You can get practical information using reports, charts, and visualizations
- Automating interaction and workflows on the web.
- Works with most operating systems
Import.IO has numerous advantages and is very easy to use whether you are a beginner or an expert. Its main strength is its ability to be integrated into your information system thanks to its APIs to collect and enrich any data.
> Discover Import.io
11. Scrapingbot.
It is an effective tool for extracting data from a web page. It works particularly well on product pages on e-commerce sites, real estate ads, Google rankings, or any website.
It provides APIs tailored to your data collection needs:
- A generic API for retrieving “raw” HTML data from a page,
- An API specialized in Web Scraping e-commerce or other retail sites
- An API intended to collect leisure accommodation data (YieldBooking)
- And an API to scrape property lists from real estate websites.
Features
- Works in the background in the Browser (based on “Chromium”: Chrome, Mozilla, Edge, SideKick, Brave, etc.)
- High quality proxies
- Retrieving all the elements of an HTML page
- Up to 20+ simultaneous requests
- Location-based targeting
- Responds to needs requiring big requests
- Ability to create powerful web crawlers
- Free plan available
One of its major strengths is its ability to be integrated into all your applications thanks to its APIs or WebHooks.
> Discover ScrapingBot
12. X-Tract.io.
X-Tract.io is a data extraction platform that can be customized to extract and structure web data, social media messages, PDFs, “text” documents, statistical data, and even emails.
Features
- Collection of specific information such as product catalogs, financial or geographic information, contact details of companies/contacts, job offers, reviews and evaluations, etc...
- Allows you to easily integrate enriched and cleaned data directly into your applications thanks to powerful APIs.
- Automate the entire extraction process with preconfigured processes
- Export data in the desired format like JSON, text file, HTML, CSV, TSV, etc.
- Bypass CAPTCHAs to easily extract data in real time using rotating proxies.
A powerful tool that simply has numerous functionalities but is mainly aimed at professionals who need to carry out mass queries in real time. X-Tract.io also has connectors for verifying and validating CRM information, but especially powerful connectors for competitive intelligence.
> Discover X-Tract.io
13. Apify SDK.
Apify is a web scraping and automation platform that can extract structured data or automate any workflow on the web.
Apify allows you to automatically launch your collection processes to download information and automatically feed your CRM or send you an email with the information.
Features
- Automates any workflow on the web
- Powerful Web Scraper
- Data cleaning
- Structured and unstructured data collection
- Extracting documents
- Powerful web crawler
- Allows you to navigate the web easily and quickly
- Works locally and in the cloud
- Works with JavaScript or any Ajax request
> Discover Apify
14. Spider Pro
Spider Pro proposes to go on another axis of Web Scraping: facilitate access to data extraction by simplifying its use on hand selection that does not require any configuration but with semi-automation.
Features
- Chrome extension available
- The data collected is stored locally
- Export collected data in CSV format
- Supports a wide range of data and structures
- Dynamic data extraction (Ajax compatibility)
- Data extraction with a single click
- Improving selection for better results;
- A custom selector for atypical website structures.
A simple tool that does the job for extractions that are not very complex but super fast and effective.
> Discover Spider Pro
15. ScrapingBee.
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Scrapingbee is a scraping tool that allows you to perform general tasks on the web. The tool offers an API store to get data other than HTML.
Features
- Uses automatic rotating proxies natively to avoid bot detection
- You can use this application directly on Google Sheet.
- The application can be used with a Chrome browser.
- Ready-to-use APIs to scrape popular websites
- IP geolocation function
- Possibility to execute Javascript or manipulate Ajax
- Great Support.
It's a great tool but the onboarding process could be easier. It thus limits access to people who do not have time to improve their skills or who are not technical.
> Discover ScrapingBee
16. Webhose.io.
Webhose.io provides direct access to structured, real-time data to thousands of websites. It allows you to access historical data feeds over a period of more than ten years.
Features
- Get structured and directly usable data sets (JSON and XML formats)
- Allows you to access a vast repository of data feeds without paying additional fees
- An advanced filter allows you to perform detailed analyses and define the data sets you want to use.
> Discover Webhose.io
17. Dexi.io.
Smart dexi is a scraping tool that makes it possible to transform unlimited data from the web into immediate commercial value. This tool allows you to reduce costs and save your organization valuable time.
Features
- Increased efficiency, precision, and quality
- The ultimate scale and speed for data intelligence
- Fast and efficient data extraction
- Large-scale knowledge acquisition
> Discover Dexi.io
18. Diffbot
Diffbot allows you to easily get various types of useful data from the web. You don't need to pay expensive scraping fees or do manual web searches. The tool will allow you to extract structured data from any URL using AI extractors.
Features
- Offers multiple data sources to obtain a complete and accurate view of each entity
- Offers support for extracting structured data from any URL with AI extractors
- Helps you increase your extraction to 10,000 domains with Crawlbot
- The Knowledge Graph function provides accurate, comprehensive, and in-depth data from the web that BI needs to produce useful information.
> Discover Diffbot
19. Mozenda
Mozenda allows you to extract text, images, and PDF content from web pages. It helps you organize and prepare your data files for publishing.
Features
- You can collect and publish your data on the web to your favorite Bl tool or database
- Offers a “point and click” interface to create web scraping agents in minutes
- Task sequencer and request filtering device for collecting web data in real time
- An excellent support team
> Discover Mozenda
FAQs
What is web scraping?
Web Scraping refers to the extraction of data from a website. This information is collected and then exported in a format that is more useful to the user. Whether it's a spreadsheet (XLS, CSV, etc.) or an API.
Although Web Scraping can be done manually, in most cases, automated tools are less expensive (compared to the time spent by an individual copying and pasting) and allow larger volumes of data to be collected “without human errors.”
More information can be found in this article: What is web scraping?
Is web scraping legal?
The answer is not easy: YES and NO.
Above all, it is a question of ethics.
Depending on the type of data you want to obtain via your scraping tools, their use but also the method of collection, you could end up legally or not.
We discuss this issue in depth in this article where we give you the best practices of ethical web scraping: Is web scraping legal?
Why Web Scraping?
Unsurprisingly, more than 71% of sales people or marketers complain that they spend too much time manually looking for new leads or enriching them via various online data sources.
All this work results in cold calling and emailing campaigns that are as exhausting as they are ineffective.
You will have understood it: winning times is essential to the profitability of your business and morale of your teams.
Fortunately, today's solutions allow you to systematize, accelerate, and optimize the detection of qualified B2B leads.
What types of web scrapers are available to you?
Depending on your uses, skills or the complexity of what you want to achieve, you will have the choice of:
- Build a scraper from scratch or use turnkey tools
- Choose software installed on your computer or a browser extension (based on Chromium: Google Chrome, Edge, Mozilla, Brave, etc.)
- Work with a more or less rich user interface or through a console (or Development Interface that allows you to launch your programs)
- Start your web scraper locally - that is to say from your PC/Mac or through the Cloud
In this article we are going to focus on the turnkey tools that are installed on your computer or that can be used as a browser extension.
To go further in (advanced) data collection on the web: How do you collect data on the web with Python?
Conclusion
Les tools for collecting data on the web are essential if you want to save time, minimize human error, but also obtain more quality data to promote your marketing and sales forces.
As you know, time and data are crucial nowadays, you need to make good use of them.
There are lots of other tools for collecting data on the web on the market. So much that we can't cover all of them through this article. But remember that a tool is only as good as the person who uses it.
