Spicrawl vs Bright Data: which web scraping API fits your project?
Choose Spicrawl for one simple scrape API with sessions for logged-in pages; choose Bright Data for proxies, site crawling, remote browsers and ready-made scrapers.
Bright Data is a large web data platform: an unblocking API, remote browsers, a crawl API, ready-made scrapers, datasets and one of the biggest proxy networks. Spicrawl is one scraping API: send a URL, get the page back. This page compares Spicrawl with Bright Data’s Web Unlocker API and MCP server, and says where Bright Data is the better choice.
Managed proxies
Crawl a whole site
Staying logged in
Facts about Bright Data were checked against its own website and docs on 1 October 2026. See sources.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Spicrawl if you
- want one API with no zones to set up
- keep logins going with cookies and storage
- want a free beta, no credit card
Choose Bright Data if you
- need managed residential, ISP or datacenter proxies
- need to crawl a whole site from a root URL
- need a remote browser for Puppeteer or Playwright
- want ready-made scrapers or datasets for big sites
Spicrawl vs Bright Data at a glance
marks the stronger option for that row. No mark means it is even, or it depends on your needs.
| Feature | Spicrawl | Bright Data |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | SpicrawlA scraping APIA web scraping API. You send a URL and get the page back as Markdown, HTML, text, PDF or JSON. | Bright DataA web data suiteA suite: Web Unlocker API, Browser API, Crawl API, SERP API, ready-made scrapers, datasets and proxy networks, each set up as its own zone or product. |
| Price today | SpicrawlFree during betaFree while in beta, with no credit card. Prices after the beta have not been announced. | Bright Data5,000 free; $1.50 per 1K5,000 free credits a month with no credit card, shared across its APIs. Web Unlocker is then $1.50 per 1,000 requests pay-as-you-go, or $499 a month for 383,000 requests. |
| How requests are billed | Spicrawl1, 3 or 8 creditsPer successful request, by the engine that ran: 1 credit for a plain request, 3 for browser rendering, 8 for full Chromium. | Bright DataPer 1,000 successesWeb Unlocker is billed per 1,000 successful requests. On the free tier one request is one credit; the Browser API uses 5 credits per MB of traffic. |
| Blocked and failed requests | SpicrawlNot billedErrors, bot challenges and timeouts cost 0. A page that answers with a status such as 403 also costs 0. | Bright DataNot billed, by defaultOnly successful requests are charged. If you turn on custom headers and cookies or manual wait rules, every request is charged, failed or not. |
| Cached results | SpicrawlFreeFree. The cache is on by default and keeps results for up to 48 hours. | Bright DataNot documentedNo result cache is described in the Web Unlocker documentation. |
| Output formats | SpicrawlMarkdown, HTML, JSON, PDFMarkdown, HTML, text, PDF, JSON and screenshots. | Bright DataHTML, JSON, Markdown, PNGRaw HTML or a JSON envelope, with an option to convert the page to Markdown or return a PNG screenshot. |
| Structured data | SpicrawlSelectors + schema freePage metadata, CSS selector maps and JSON Schema at no extra cost. Extraction with a model prompt is coming soon. | Bright DataVia scrapers or MCPWeb Unlocker returns page content, not fields. Structured JSON comes from its ready-made scrapers, or the MCP server’s extract tool, which uses an AI prompt (Pro mode). |
| Ready-made scrapers and datasets | SpicrawlNoNo. It is one general-purpose API. | Bright DataStronger option: Yes, thousandsYes. Thousands of maintained scrapers for sites such as Amazon, LinkedIn and YouTube, ready-made datasets, and a SERP API for search results. |
| JavaScript rendering | SpicrawlAuto or on requestYes. mode=auto tries a plain request first and uses a browser only when the page needs one. | Bright DataAutomatic or render=trueYes. Web Unlocker picks its own setup per request, and render=true forces a browser for pages that need JavaScript. |
| Browser actions | SpicrawlUp to 50 stepsClick, type, select, scroll, wait and run JavaScript, up to 50 steps per request. | Bright DataIn the Browser APIWeb Unlocker cannot click or scroll; it can wait for an element or text. Scripted actions run in the separate Browser API. |
| Remote browser (CDP) | SpicrawlComing soonComing soon. Not available during the beta. | Bright DataStronger option: Yes (Browser API)Yes. The Browser API runs Puppeteer, Playwright or Selenium scripts on hosted browsers, at $8 per GB pay-as-you-go. |
| Many URLs | SpicrawlUp to 10,000 URLsBatch API: up to 10,000 URLs per call, run in parallel, with results as JSON Lines kept for 72 hours. | Bright DataAsync jobs + webhooksAsync requests return a job id, with results by polling or webhook. Its MCP server scrapes up to 10 URLs per call. |
| Crawl a whole site | SpicrawlNoNo. Spicrawl does not follow links for you: you send the URLs. | Bright DataStronger option: Yes (Crawl API)Yes. The Crawl API takes a root URL and returns the site’s pages as Markdown, HTML, text or JSON, at $1.50 per 1,000 records pay-as-you-go. |
| Proxies | SpicrawlBYO, no surchargeBring your own proxy with no surcharge. Managed proxies are coming soon. | Bright DataStronger option: Residential, ISP, datacenter400M+ residential IPs in 195+ countries, plus ISP and datacenter proxies. New residential zones need a company account and a human-reviewed KYC check. |
| Staying logged in | SpicrawlStronger option: SessionsSessions keep cookies, browser storage and the same exit IP between requests. | Bright DataCookies need approvalWeb Unlocker sets its own headers and cookies. Your own need approval from its compliance team, and then every request is charged. |
| AI agents | SpicrawlMCP, 25 tools + skillHosted MCP server with 25 tools, an agent skill, and one-command setup for Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. | Bright DataMCP (MIT), 60+ toolsMIT-licensed MCP server, hosted or run locally with npx. The free default mode scrapes pages as Markdown and searches the web; Pro mode and tool groups add 60+ tools. |
| SDKs and CLI | SpicrawlJS/TS SDK + CLIJavaScript and TypeScript SDK, a CLI, and HTTP examples in cURL, Python and TypeScript. | Bright DataStronger option: Python, JS SDKs + CLIPython and JavaScript SDKs, and a CLI that scrapes, searches and manages zones from the terminal. |
| Concurrency | SpicrawlIn response headersReported in the headers of every response. Batch jobs run under their own concurrency setting. | Bright DataStronger option: Unlimited when fundedUnlimited concurrency on its paid Web Unlocker plans. Unfunded free accounts are limited to 1,000 requests a minute. |
Switching from Bright Data
Both take the target URL in one POST request. Bright Data also needs the name of a Web Unlocker zone you set up first in its control panel. Spicrawl needs only the URL and the format you want back.
curl https://api.brightdata.com/request \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $BRIGHTDATA_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "zone": "your_unlocker_zone", "url": "https://example.com/blog/post", "format": "raw", "data_format": "markdown" }'# Response: the page as Markdowncurl -X POST https://api.spicrawl.com/v1/scrape \ -H "Authorization: Bearer spicrawl_live_…" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "url": "https://example.com/blog/post", "response_format": "markdown" }'# Response: the page as MarkdownSpicrawl vs Bright Data: common questions
Is Spicrawl a good Bright Data alternative?
It is if you want one scraping API with no zones to set up, free cache hits, and sessions that keep a login going. If you need managed proxies, site crawling, remote browsers or ready-made scrapers for sites such as Amazon, Bright Data is the better fit.
Is Spicrawl cheaper than Bright Data?
Spicrawl is free while it is in beta, and its prices after the beta have not been announced, so a fair price comparison is not possible yet. Bright Data gives 5,000 free credits a month, then charges $1.50 per 1,000 successful Web Unlocker requests pay-as-you-go.
Does Bright Data charge for failed or blocked requests?
Not by default. Web Unlocker charges only for successful requests, and so does Spicrawl. On Bright Data, turning on custom headers and cookies or manual wait rules means every request is charged. Spicrawl also does not charge for cached results.
Can Spicrawl replace Bright Data’s proxies?
Not yet. Spicrawl lets you bring your own proxy with no surcharge, but its own managed proxies are coming soon and are not available during the beta. If you need residential, ISP or datacenter proxies for other tools, Bright Data’s proxy networks are a different kind of service.
How do I switch from Bright Data Web Unlocker to Spicrawl?
Send a POST to https://api.spicrawl.com/v1/scrape with your Spicrawl API key and a JSON body with the url and response_format. Drop the zone. Use response_format markdown in place of data_format, and js_render true in place of render. Spicrawl returns the page itself as the response body.
Sources
Bright Data details come from these pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, email support@spicrawl.com and we will correct it.
- Bright Data Web Unlocker pricing
- Bright Data Browser API pricing
- Bright Data MCP server pricing
- Bright Data Crawl API
- Bright Data docs: index (llms.txt)
- Bright Data docs: free tier
- Bright Data docs: Web Unlocker overview
- Bright Data docs: Web Unlocker API reference
- Bright Data docs: Web Unlocker features
- Bright Data docs: Web Unlocker configuration
- Bright Data docs: send your first request
- Bright Data docs: Browser API
- Bright Data docs: residential proxies
- Bright Data docs: residential network access (KYC)
- Bright Data docs: CLI
- Bright Data docs: MCP server
- Bright Data docs: MCP tools
- Bright Data MCP on GitHub
- Spicrawl docs: credits
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