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It's a split decision.
Oxylabs is a broader hosted web-data stack: its Web API handles live search and structured extraction, alongside proxies, Agent Browser, a remote MCP Server and Agent Skills. ScraperAPI is a hosted scraping layer with structured endpoints, asynchronous requests and no-code DataPipeline. Choose Oxylabs when agents need search, extraction and proxy products under one provider. Choose ScraperAPI when your workload maps to API credits, concurrent threads and its domain-specific endpoints. Their usage units differ, so compare costs against your request mix.
01Side by side
| Oxylabs | ScraperAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly plans start at $15; usage top-ups are available. | Monthly plans start at $49; annual billing is 10% off. |
| Free tier | $5 welcome credits toward any product. | 1,000 API credits, five concurrent connections, and a seven-day trial. |
| API and agent interfaces | Web API, remote MCP Server, Agent Skills. | Scraping API, structured endpoints, asynchronous requests. |
| Integrations | MCP Server and Agent Skills connect agents to endpoints. | API can connect to in-house web scrapers. |
| Deployment model | Hosted APIs, proxies and browser tools. | Hosted scraping API and low-code collection tools. |
| Platforms | Web. | Web. |
| Concurrency limits | Plan concurrency limits are not listed. | 20 to 500+ concurrent threads by plan. |
| Product scope | Search, scraping, proxies, Agent Browser and public datasets. | Scraping API, domain endpoints, async scraper and DataPipeline. |
Oxylabs Choose Oxylabs if
- Choose Oxylabs if agents need live, geo-targeted search and structured extraction.
- Choose Oxylabs if you also need residential, mobile, ISP or datacenter proxies.
- Choose Oxylabs if a hosted MCP Server and Agent Skills fit your agent stack.
ScraperAPI Choose ScraperAPI if
- Choose ScraperAPI if credit-based scraping plans match your request volume.
- Choose ScraperAPI if you need structured Amazon, Google or Walmart data.
- Choose ScraperAPI if asynchronous requests or no-code DataPipeline fit the workflow.
02Pricing at real usage
Oxylabs offers $5 in welcome credits toward any product. Its paid monthly plans start at $15 for Starter, which includes up to 5.6K searches, 10K scrape results, 0.8 GB of residential proxies and 0.7 GB of Web Unblocker. Basic is $100, Flexible $500 and Enterprise starts at $2,500 per month. Top-ups are available, with additional usage billed at listed product rates.
ScraperAPI’s free account includes 1,000 API credits and up to five concurrent connections; it also lists a seven-day free trial. Hobby starts at $49 monthly for 100,000 credits and 20 concurrent threads. Higher plans range from Startup at $149 to Advanced at $1,975 per month. Annual billing is listed at 10% off, as monthly equivalents billed annually. Its pay-as-you-go option is available on higher plans, but the per-credit rate is not published. These products use different billing units, so model costs against your target sites and request mix.
03API, SDKs and integration
Oxylabs puts live search and structured data retrieval behind its Web API. Its homepage also lists a hosted remote MCP Server for agent access and Agent Skills that give agents instructions for using its tools. The broader product set includes proxy products and Agent Browser for multi-step tasks on dynamic websites. ScraperAPI centers on a scraping API that handles proxy rotation, CAPTCHA and browser handling. It adds structured data endpoints for domains including Amazon, Google and Walmart, an async scraper, and DataPipeline for no-code collection. Its homepage says the API can connect to in-house web scrapers.
Neither homepage names language-specific SDKs or a CLI, or specifies supported programming languages. Oxylabs names MCP and Agent Skills rather than third-party integrations; ScraperAPI names no third-party integrations. Confirm SDK support, request and response formats, authentication, retry guidance and documentation coverage with each vendor before choosing a production integration. Those details affect how much of your own client, monitoring and error-handling code you must maintain.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
Both products are presented as hosted services: Oxylabs offers APIs, proxies and a hosted remote MCP Server, while ScraperAPI offers a scraping API and low-code collection tools. Neither product page specifies an open-source licence, a self-hosted deployment, or a data-export path. Ask each vendor whether you can export request histories, results and configuration in usable formats, and what happens to stored data when an account closes.
The main portability risk is integration and output shape. Oxylabs combines search, extraction and proxy products; ScraperAPI offers credit-based requests and structured endpoints for named domains. Code built around either provider’s response formats, endpoint behavior or account-level features may need adaptation if you switch. Keep raw responses and your own schemas where your retention and compliance requirements allow, and isolate provider-specific calls behind an internal interface.
Questions people ask
Is Oxylabs a legitimate company?
Oxylabs presents itself as a provider of web data APIs and proxies. Its homepage reports more than 15,000 clients and lists ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and SOC 2 Type II credentials for specified products and controls. Verify the scope of any certification and the terms for your intended use directly with the vendor.
What are alternatives to web scraping APIs?
For hosted scraping, Oxylabs and ScraperAPI offer APIs that handle public-web data collection. Oxylabs adds proxy products, live search and agent interfaces; ScraperAPI offers structured domain endpoints, asynchronous requests and DataPipeline. Other approaches include building an in-house scraper or evaluating self-hosted tools, with added responsibility for proxies, browser handling and maintenance.
Who are the top proxy providers?
There is no single provider that fits every workload. Oxylabs sells residential, mobile, ISP, dedicated ISP and datacenter proxies, alongside web-data APIs. Compare providers on location coverage, usage pricing, support and the target sites you need to access. Oxylabs’ homepage reports a network spanning 195 locations.
Where is Oxylabs based?
Oxylabs’ product homepage does not state its headquarters location. If jurisdiction, data processing location or contracting entity matters to your deployment, ask the vendor for its legal entity details and the relevant data-processing terms.