# A ScrapingBee alternative with a receipt for every request

Skryp and ScrapingBee both sell per-request credits, try the cheapest configuration first, charge nothing when every attempt fails, and work over MCP. ScrapingBee is cheaper for plain pages on its larger plans; Skryp is cheaper when a page needs a browser or the hardest unblocking, is close through a residential IP, and verifies the exit country on every result. This comparison is from each provider's documentation.

Updated 1 Oct 2026 · https://skryp.dev/compare/scrapingbee

## Which to choose

| If you need | Choose | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The lowest price for plain pages that need no browser | ScrapingBee | 1 credit a page: $0.10 per 1,000 on its $99 plan and $0.07 on its $599 plan [checked 1 Oct 2026]; Skryp is $0.20 to $0.45 depending on the plan [checked 1 Oct 2026]. |
| Pages that need a browser | Skryp | 1 credit on Skryp's own network, $0.20 to $0.45 per 1,000; JavaScript rendering is 5 credits on ScrapingBee, $0.37 to $1.27. |
| The hardest pages | Skryp | 25 credits when it succeeds, $4.99 to $11.25 per 1,000; a stealth proxy is 75 credits on ScrapingBee, $5.62 to $19.00. |
| Proof of where each request came from | Skryp | The exit is checked before each request and recorded in the result; strict mode fails rather than substitutes. |
| Ready-made APIs for specific sites, such as Google search | ScrapingBee | It sells dedicated scraping APIs; Skryp does not. |
| Collections kept current, monitors and past versions of pages | Skryp | Datasets with change events, monitors and the web archive are part of the same 17 tools. |
| Both work from an AI agent | Either | ScrapingBee runs a remote MCP server [checked 1 Oct 2026]; Skryp's was tested in Claude Code and Codex [checked 1 Oct 2026]. |

## How they charge

Both sell credits and both start with the cheapest way of fetching a page. ScrapingBee's Auto-Mode tries configurations from cheapest to most expensive, charges only for the one that worked, and costs 0 credits when every one fails; you can cap the most it may spend with `max_cost`. Skryp's route ladder does the same, and failed and blocked pages cost nothing [checked 1 Oct 2026].

The difference is what each configuration costs. Price per 1,000 successful pages on three plans of each, from each provider's own pages on 1 October 2026:

| Plan | A plain request | With JavaScript | Premium or residential IP | Premium or residential IP, with JavaScript | The hardest tier |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Skryp Hobby ($9 a month) | $0.45 | $0.45 | $2.25 | $4.50 | $11.25 |
| Skryp Standard ($49) | $0.33 | $0.33 | $1.63 | $3.27 | $8.17 |
| Skryp Scale ($399) | $0.20 | $0.20 | $1.00 | $2.00 | $4.99 |
| ScrapingBee Hobby ($19) | $0.25 | $1.27 | $2.53 | $6.33 | $19.00 |
| ScrapingBee Startup ($99) | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.99 | $2.48 | $7.43 |
| ScrapingBee Business+ ($599) | $0.07 | $0.37 | $0.75 | $1.87 | $5.62 |

Each figure is the plan's price divided by its monthly credits, times the credits that kind of page costs: on ScrapingBee 1, 5, 10, 25 and 75; on Skryp 1 on its own network with or without a browser, 5 through a residential IP or 10 with a browser, and 25 for advanced unblocking (a real Chrome window or an unblocking service), only when it succeeds. The tiers do not line up exactly: a ScrapingBee premium proxy is not the same network as a Skryp residential IP, and the hardest tiers are different methods.

## Countries

ScrapingBee targets a country with `country_code`; classic and premium proxies each have their own list of supported countries [checked 1 Oct 2026]. Skryp leaves from an exit in the country you name, checks it with a geolocation service before the page loads, and records the check in every result. With strict mode on, a country it cannot verify fails instead of falling back: in a test of 20 countries, 19 returned through a verified exit [checked 30 Sept 2026]. See [Price scraping by country](https://skryp.dev/solutions/price-scraping) for a recorded run.

## How this comparison was made

From each provider's pricing page and documentation, read on 1 October 2026. We did not use a ScrapingBee account, so this page makes no claims about its success rates, speed or output. Read their pages again before you decide: prices and tiers change.

## Questions

**How do you use ScrapingBee?**

Sign up for an API key, then call its API with the page's URL and options such as render_js, premium_proxy or country_code, or use mode=auto to let it choose; it returns the page's HTML or extracted data. It also runs as a remote MCP server for AI clients.

**Is ScrapingBee cheaper than Skryp?**

For plain pages on its larger plans, yes: $0.07 to $0.10 per 1,000 against Skryp's $0.20 to $0.45. For pages that need a browser or the hardest unblocking, Skryp is cheaper; through a residential IP the two are close, depending on the plan.

**Do failed requests cost credits?**

Not on either. ScrapingBee's Auto-Mode charges 0 credits when every configuration fails, and Skryp charges nothing for failed or blocked pages.


## Evidence

- ScrapingBee's pricing page lists Hobby at $19 a month for 75,000 credits, Freelance $49 for 250,000, Startup $99 for 1,000,000, Business $249 for 3,000,000 and Business+ $599 for 8,000,000, plus 1,000 free credits without a card. Its documentation says a request costs 1, 5, 10, 25 or 75 credits depending on JavaScript rendering and premium or stealth proxies, and that Auto-Mode charges only the configuration that worked, and 0 credits if every configuration fails. (provider docs, checked 1 Oct 2026; scrapingbee.com/pricing Limits: Prices exclude VAT. Which plans include geotargeting was not legible in the page text. Not tested with an account.)
- ScrapingBee's documentation describes country targeting with country_code (separate country lists for classic and premium proxies; stealth proxies also support it) and a remote MCP server at mcp.scrapingbee.com with tools such as get_page_text and get_page_html. (provider docs, checked 1 Oct 2026; scrapingbee.com/documentation and /documentation/remote-mcp Limits: Not tested with an account; whether a response reports the exit IP was not established.)
- Blocked and failed pages cost 0 credits. (observed test, checked 1 Oct 2026; All page reads through the API, MCP and dashboard. Limits: Applies to page reads; a model extraction that runs is charged when it runs.)
- Asked for 20 countries with strict country on, Skryp returned the page through an exit verified in the requested country in 19 of 20. (observed test, checked 30 Sept 2026; One public page per country, 20 countries, strict-country requests, residential and mobile routes. Limits: A single run of 20 pages. Exit verification proves where the request left from, not that every field on the page is correct for that market.)
- Skryp's HTTP MCP endpoint worked from Claude Code 2.1.280 (added with claude mcp add --transport http, all 17 tools listed, scrape called and answered correctly) and from Codex CLI 0.159.0 (mcp_servers.skryp with url and bearer_token_env_var, scrape called and answered correctly) on 1 October 2026. (observed test, checked 1 Oct 2026; Claude Code and Codex CLI against the preview service; one task each. Limits: Cursor, Claude Desktop and VS Code were not tested. Codex CLI 0.155.1 could not run the account's configured model, so the run used the 0.159.0 CLI bundled with the ChatGPT app.)
- Skryp's plans from 1 October 2026: Free (1,000 credits a month), Hobby ($9 a month for 20,000 credits), Standard ($49 for 150,000), Growth ($149 for 600,000) and Scale ($399 for 2,000,000); unused plan credits expire at the end of each month, and top-ups, which never expire (also after a plan is cancelled), cost $10 for 20,000 credits on Free and the plan's rate on a plan. A page costs 1 credit through Skryp's own network, 5 through a residential or mobile proxy (10 with JavaScript rendering) and 25 for advanced unblocking, only when it succeeds; model extraction adds 5; failed, blocked and cached results cost 0, and a missing page (404 or 410) costs at most 1. (observed test, checked 1 Oct 2026; Skryp's own prices (the service's rate card). Limits: Prices in US dollars, charged in rand through Paystack at R17 to the US dollar (Chad, 2 Oct 2026).)