At Apify, we try to make building web scraping and automation straightforward. You can customize our universal scrapers with JavaScript for quick tweaks, use our code templates for rapid setup in JavaScript, TypeScript, or Python, or build from scratch using our JavaScript and Python SDKs or Crawlee libraries for Node.js and Python for ultimate flexibility and control. This guide offers a quick overview of our tools to help you find the right fit for your needs.
Universal scrapers were built to provide an intuitive UI plus configuration that will help you start extracting data as quickly as possible. Usually, you just provide a simple JavaScript function and set up one or two parameters, and you're good to go.
Since scraping and automation come in various forms, we decided to build not just one, but six scrapers. This way, you can always pick the right tool for the job. Let's take a look at each particular tool and its advantages and disadvantages.
| Scraper | Technology | Advantages | Disadvantages | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌐 Web Scraper | Headless Chrome Browser | Simple, fully JavaScript-rendered pages | Executes only client-side JavaScript | Websites with heavy client-side JavaScript |
| 👐 Puppeteer Scraper | Headless Chrome Browser | Powerful Puppeteer functions, executes both server-side and client-side JavaScript | More complex | Advanced scraping with client/server-side JS |
| 🎭 Playwright Scraper | Cross-browser support with Playwright library | Cross-browser support, executes both server-side and client-side JavaScript | More complex | Cross-browser scraping with advanced features |
| 🍩 Cheerio Scraper | HTTP requests + Cheerio parser (JQuery-like for servers) | Simple, fast, cost-effective | Pages may not be fully rendered (lacks JavaScript rendering), executes only server-side JavaScript | High-speed, cost-effective scraping |
| ⚠️ JSDOM Scraper | JSDOM library (Browser-like DOM API) | + Handles client-side JavaScript<br>+ Faster than full-browser solutions<br>+ Ideal for light scripting | Not for heavy dynamic JavaScript, executes server-side code only, depends on pre-installed NPM modules | Speedy scraping with light client-side JS |
| 🍲 BeautifulSoup Scraper | Python-based, HTTP requests + BeautifulSoup parser | Python-based, supports recursive crawling and URL lists | No full-featured web browser, not suitable for dynamic JavaScript-rendered pages | Python users needing simple, recursive crawling |
<aside> 🎯 Decision points:
To make it easier, here's a short questionnaire that guides you on selecting the best scraper based on your specific use case:
<aside> 📚 Resources:
▶ How to use Web Scraper to scrape any website
▶ How to use Beautiful Soup to scrape the web
▶ Learn about our $1/month Creator plan that encourages devs to build Actors based on Universal scrapers
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Similar to our universal scrapers, our code templates also provide a quick start for developing web scrapers, automation scripts, and testing tools. Built on popular libraries like BeautifulSoup for Python or Playwright for JavaScript, they save time on setup, allowing you to focus on customization. Though they require more coding than universal scrapers, they're ideal for those who want a flexible foundation while still needing room to tailor their solutions.