What Is a Web Scraping Service?

There's a vast wealth of information available online, but making effective use of it can be extremely challenging. Even after identifying a valuable source of information, the relevant data may be in an unusable format or spread across thousands of pages.

Web scraping is the process of extracting data from websites and organizing it into a well-structured and easy-to-use format, such as a spreadsheet or database. Without automation, this would be a very tedious and time-consuming task.

A web scraping service can help by managing the complexities of the process and handling the technical aspects so that you simply receive the data that you need. A web scraping service can make a one-time delivery or set up an ongoing feed of data so that you can receive updated data on a regular basis without needing to worry about managing the actual data extraction task.

Many web scraping services exist, but quality can vary considerably. Here we break down our top five choices for web scraping services:

#1 Marquee Data

We selected Marquee Data as the #1 web scraping service because of its great customer service and dedication to its clients, who have consistently given positive reviews. Marquee Data focuses more on communicating well and delivering high-quality data than other web scraping companies. Their website also provides a great resource to learn more about web scraping.

Marquee Data was founded in New York City by former equity research analysts who were dissatisfied with the quality of existing web scraping vendors. Their intense focus on serving their clients has allowed them to grow organically, and their customers now include leading Fortune 500 companies, multi-billion dollar hedge funds and venture capital funds, and world-class academic institutions.

Marquee Data is 100% based in the US, and unlike many other web scraping companies, it does not outsource any of its programming work to offshore contractors. This enables the company to communicate more seamlessly and efficiently with clients and accelerate development times. Clients have noted their appreciation of being able to directly communicate with competent project managers via phone or email.

Marquee Data exemplifies "web scraping as a service." The core of their business is developing custom web scraping services; they do not offer developer tools and are solely focused on delivering their clients the data that they need. In particular, they've invested significant R&D in building capabilities to manage recurring deliveries of data. This investment has allowed them to build robust monitoring and alerting infrastructure that allows them to provide an industry-leading level of reliability and data accuracy.

Delivering a custom project follows an easy three-step process. First, clients consult with the company via phone or email and discuss their requirements and goals. Then, Marquee Data writes the custom code to run the scrape and extracts the required data. After the data has been scraped, any needed cleaning or aggregation can take place. Finally, the data is delivered to the client in their preferred file format on either a one-time or ongoing basis.

Because of their efficient process, they remain one of the most cost-effective enterprise-grade web scraping services out there, and they back it up with a reassuring guarantee - their website reads, "You don't pay a penny until you're satisfied with the data."

#2 Zyte

Our second choice is Zyte, a well-known company in the web scraping industry that brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to meet the diverse needs of its customers. Previously known as "Scrapinghub," the company rebranded in 2021 as "Zyte" to highlight that it is more than just a web scraping company. The company wanted its brand to reflect that they are highly focused on AI and machine learning advancements and how it can assist in sophisticated data analytics. They continue to be a driver of innovation in the space. They offer a wide range of products besides their data extraction service, such as a proxy manager and cloud hosting.

Zyte is headquartered in Ireland and employs a global workforce from Western and Eastern Europe to South America and the Middle East. To ensure that each client receives the necessary data, Zyte conducts a thorough consultation by asking a series of questions, such as the scope of the project, the type of data to be extracted, the necessary transformations, and any required integrations.

Through this process, Zyte provides its clients with efficient and personalized data extraction services backed by a dedicated support team who is available to diagnose and address any potential issues that customers may experience. Their website provides many resources for learning more about web scraping and offers particularly good content for developers who already have familiarity with web scraping.

#3 ScrapeHero

ScrapeHero is recognized as a leading data scraping company that prides itself on providing great service to its customers. The company offers a broad spectrum of customizable and adaptable services and strongly emphasizes superior customer support. One of the company's greatest strengths is its "Data Store," where customers can purchase pre-packaged datasets, which can be a much more cost-effective solution to custom web scraping projects. This offering includes scrapes of single sites and aggregated datasets that would be much more costly if scraped separately.

ScrapeHero has assisted a diverse range of businesses, from small-scale enterprises to large corporations, including global financial institutions, healthcare companies, fast-moving consumer goods conglomerates, hotel chains, and many others.

Another reason we like ScrapeHero is that it maintains an extensive and informative blog that highlights numerous case studies and use cases for scraped data. This provides an abundance of information if you are unsure about how web scraping can be used to benefit your business. Their reports clearly show how actionable web scraped data can be across all industries.

#4 Octoparse

Octoparse stands out among the other web scraping companies because it provides a self-service solution. This allows users to build and run web scraping projects by themselves by using an online interface. Compared to the other web scraping services listed above, Octoparse emphasizes its point-and-click software that empowers users to scrape data without learning to code, which can present a steep barrier. Users just need to enter the URL of the desired website, select the data they want to be extracted from that site, and run the extraction.

The scraped data can be exported in various formats, ensuring that it can easily be imported into a company's internal systems. This gives the client more autonomy in the process, providing them the easy-to-use software to extract their desired data themselves. Through Octoparse, users can extract data from multiple websites simultaneously.

If a company is seeking specific data quickly and prefers to handle the process itself, Octoparse may be the ideal service. However, the self-service solution may not be the best option for very complex projects.

#5 Apify

Apify is a web scraping company dedicated to freeing up companies from tedious tasks that detract from more important work. Unlike the other options in this list, Apify primarily targets developers by offering a suite of developer tools. Another unique aspect is that they offer a Discord channel where clients can connect with professionals. This allows developers to seamlessly and efficiently communicate with others to ensure they get as much value as possible from the platform. They also take pride in offering highly personalized tools.

Apify's website suggests various use cases that users can use to develop solutions to specific problems. In addition to offering web scraping tools, the company also offers an automation platform, making it a one-stop shop for anyone seeking to gain a competitive edge in the market by automating data extraction and other related tasks.

The pricing plans for Apify are flexible and accessible. The company offers multiple pricing options, each providing different services to meet the unique needs of individual users.

All in All

Web scraping can be an extremely valuable asset for a wide range of companies, and the right web scraping service can be an invaluable partner. Hiring a web scraping service will allow you to focus on what you do best while outsourcing a potentially tedious and time-consuming task to a professional partner.

Marquee Data remains our top choice, but we encourage you to reach out and see which service provider best fits your company. Ultimately, each company's unique requirements vary, and each needs to determine which web scraping service is the best fit for them.