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Scraper API

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image Pengu Smart Proxy

A web scraping API for static sites and JS-heavy apps, at the lowest cost on the market

Give us a URL, get back the page. Works on traditional server-rendered HTML and modern JS-heavy apps. Proxy rotation, CAPTCHA handling, and headless browser rendering are built in, so your scraping jobs keep running when a site updates its defenses. You have a direct line to the engineers who built it, not a support queue.

Static Websites

Covers e-commerce listings, job boards, real estate data and SERP pages. Any site that delivers its content in the first HTML response works without extra configuration.

JavaScript SPAs

The page loads in a real browser, the JavaScript runs, and you get back the rendered DOM as it appears to a user. Works regardless of which frontend framework the site uses.

Residential IPs

Every request exits through a residential IP with automatic rotation. Sites see traffic from real home connections, which is what gets you past aggressive anti-bot systems.

Anti-Bot Bypass

We handle reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, Turnstile, and TLS fingerprint detection. We track anti-bot changes and update our stack accordingly, so that maintenance burden stays on our side.

image How It Works

One API, two ways to fetch

Send us a URL and tell us whether you need the raw source or a fully rendered page. We return the HTML, headers, and status code.

Static pages

Plenty of sites deliver everything in the first HTML response. For those, we fetch it directly and hand back the body. Good for product pages, news, and directories where the content is already in the source.

JavaScript-rendered apps

Some sites load their content client-side, after the initial response arrives. We run those in a headless browser, wait for the JavaScript to finish executing, and return the page as it appears once fully loaded.

Residential IP network

Requests go out through residential IPs with automatic rotation. To the target site the traffic looks like it comes from a regular home connection, which clears the detection rules that datacenter traffic trips almost immediately.

Browser actions

Sometimes the content you need isn't visible until something happens on the page. You can define a sequence of steps like clicking a button or waiting for a selector to load, and we execute them before capturing the output.

Custom headers

Pass any HTTP header your target site expects: Referer, Accept-Language, custom session cookies. Whatever a real logged-in browser session would send.

Pricing

Billing is per successful request. Rates depend on the target domain. Reach out for a quote based on your actual volume.

Get API Access
image Browser Automation

Sticky sessions for multi-step scraping

A lot of useful data sits behind a login or spans multiple pages. Single requests won't cut it. Sticky sessions keep the same browser and session state alive across requests so you can work through a site the way a real user would.

Persistent Sessions

Cookies and session state carry over from one request to the next. You pick up exactly where the last request left off, with no re-initialization needed.

Authenticated Scraping

Log in once at the start of a session. Every subsequent request runs under that authenticated context without repeating the login flow.

Multi-Step Flows

Need to paginate through results or work through a multi-page form? Script the steps and let them run inside a single persistent session.

image Pricing Comparison

Honest pricing, lower than the big names

Approximate cost per 1,000 successful requests across the main scraping API providers.

Provider~Cost per 1,000 RequestsNotes
Scraping Penguins API
✓ Best value		~$0.04 – $0.76Static and browser-rendered requests with residential IPs. Rate depends on target domain.
Zyte API~$0.06 – $1.27Competitive on basic HTTP requests. Costs rise sharply once you add browser rendering or target complex sites.
Scrape.do~$0.07 – $0.80Credit-based model where different request types draw different credit amounts. Effective rate depends heavily on plan size.
ScraperAPI~$0.10 – $12.25+Standard requests start at $0.10/1K on higher-tier plans. JS rendering costs 10 credits per request, pushing entry-plan costs to $4.90/1K. Premium proxies combined with JS rendering can reach $12.25/1K.
ScrapingBee~$0.08 – $5.00Credit volume scales with plan tier. High end reflects residential proxies combined with browser rendering, which draws 25 credits per request.
ZenRows~$0.10 – $1.40+Base rate covers simple requests. Turn on JS rendering or premium proxies and a 5x to 10x multiplier applies.
Oxylabs Web Scraper API~$0.50 – $1.15Rate card varies by target. Universal targets sit at the upper end of the published range; Amazon is priced at the lower end.

* Competitor pricing based on publicly available plan information as of early 2026. Actual costs may vary by usage volume, target site, and plan tier. Contact us for a custom quote.

Comparing specifically against Zyte? See our full Zyte vs Scraping Penguins breakdown →

Comparing specifically against Oxylabs? See our full Oxylabs vs Scraping Penguins breakdown →

image Try It

What a request looks like

The examples below use our own site. The first fetches the raw HTML directly; the second renders the page in a headless browser and waits for a selector before capturing it.

Static page fetch

POST /api/extract
Authorization: Basic <your_credentials>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "url": "https://scrapingpenguins.com",
  "httpResponseBody": true,
  "browserHtml": false,
  "httpRequestMethod": "GET"
}

Response

{
  "statusCode": 200,
  "httpResponseBody": "<!DOCTYPE html>...",
  "httpResponseHeaders": [
    { "content-type": "text/html; charset=utf-8" }
  ],
  "request": {
    "url": "https://scrapingpenguins.com",
    "browserHtml": false,
    "httpRequestMethod": "GET"
  }
}

With browser rendering

POST /api/extract
Authorization: Basic <your_credentials>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "url": "https://scrapingpenguins.com",
  "httpResponseBody": true,
  "browserHtml": true,
  "httpRequestMethod": "GET",
  "actions": [
    {
      "action": "waitForSelector",
      "selector": {
        "type": "css",
        "value": ".navbar-area"
      },
      "values": []
    }
  ]
}

Response

{
  "statusCode": 200,
  "httpResponseBody": "<!DOCTYPE html>...",
  "httpResponseHeaders": [
    { "content-type": "text/html; charset=utf-8" }
  ],
  "request": {
    "url": "https://scrapingpenguins.com",
    "browserHtml": true,
    "httpRequestMethod": "GET"
  }
}
image FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does API access approval take?

In a couple of hours at most. Once you reach out we validate your request and get you set up with credentials the same day.

Is Scraping Penguins SOC 2 compliant?

We are currently in the process of obtaining SOC 2 certification.

I need a new feature - are you open to it?

We go by the rule of cool. Share the feature with us and if it makes sense it will probably end up on our roadmap. Reach out through the contact form.

Is the API able to handle CAPTCHAs?

Yes. The API handles most CAPTCHAs including reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, and Turnstile automatically, with no extra configuration required on your end.

What payment methods do you accept?

We currently only support PayPal. If that's a blocker for you, reach out and we'll see what we can work out.

What does the API return?

The API returns the full HTML body, HTTP response headers, and status code. For browser-rendered requests, the HTML reflects the fully executed DOM, exactly what a user would see in their browser.

What programming language do I need to use?

None in particular. The API is a standard HTTP POST endpoint and works from any stack: Python, Node.js, Go, Ruby, or anything else that can make an HTTP request.

image Get Started

Want to give it a try?

Reach out and we'll get you set up with credentials. Most people have their first requests running the same day.

Get API Access
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