Crawlbase alternative
Most people looking for a Crawlbase alternative want finished data, not a page of HTML to parse. CrustAPI is one clean data API for the data you actually want: the whole Google menu through one endpoint, plus LinkedIn profiles and local business leads. You get clean JSON from the API, or the same rows as CSV, and pay one credit per successful call.
One request, real response
No page to fetch, no HTML to parse. You send one GET request and get clean records back in about a second. The example below is a web search:
The API sends back clean JSON, and the same results are available as CSV so they drop straight into Sheets or a CRM with no parsing:
Swap type=web for maps, news, shopping, images, videos, scholar, patents, places, reviews, or autocomplete. Same key, same shape, no HTML to clean up.
The full record, ready to use
Each result arrives structured and complete, so you build a feed or a dataset with no second call and no selectors to write. Here is the same record as CSV, ready for Sheets or a database:
Or the clean JSON the API returns:
With Crawlbase you fetch the page and write the parser. Here the structure is already done.
Crawlbase vs CrustAPI
Both pull public web data. The difference is what comes back and how you pay for it. Crawlbase is general crawling and scraping infrastructure; CrustAPI is one clean data API for the data you actually want, from the whole Google menu to LinkedIn profiles and local business leads.
| Crawlbase | CrustAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing model | Per request, and the cost rises when you turn on JavaScript rendering or premium and residential proxies | One credit per successful call, no rendering or proxy premium. Maps bills per result; every other search is one flat credit per query |
| Free tier | A limited free trial of requests to start | 3,000 results a month, no card |
| Credit expiry | Tied to a monthly plan | Prepaid credits never expire |
| Data in the response | Returns the fetched page of a URL for you to parse, with ready-made data only for the sites its own scrapers cover | Clean JSON from the API in one stable schema, or the same rows as CSV, no parsing |
| Coverage | Any URL you point it at, plus scrapers for certain sites | Google Search, Maps, News, Shopping, Images, Videos, Scholar, Patents, Places, Reviews, Autocomplete |
| Setup | Fetch a URL and parse it, or configure a crawler | One GET request, clean JSON back in about a second |
One credit per successful call
Prepaid packs, and credits never expire: 25k for $49 · 100k for $149 · 500k for $549 · 2.5M for $1,999 · up to 250M, all self-serve, ex-tax. You pay one credit per successful call: a Maps search bills one credit per business it returns, so 20 results costs 20 credits, and every other search is one flat credit per query. A query that returns none costs nothing. There is no premium for JavaScript rendering or proxies, so the price on the page is the price you pay.
Every Google surface, one API
One key and one schema across the whole Google menu, and the same account covers LinkedIn profiles and local business leads too. Each type returns clean records you can keep, with no page to render and no selectors to write.
Related: Web scraper API · Google Search API · Google Maps scraper API · ScrapingBee alternative · Docs
When Crawlbase is the better pick: if you need to scrape a site off our menu, or you want the raw page of any URL to run your own parsing rules against, Crawlbase is built for that. It is general web-scraping infrastructure, with a headless browser for JavaScript pages, rotating and residential proxies, CAPTCHA handling, an asynchronous crawler with callbacks, and screenshots of a URL. CrustAPI takes a different shape. It returns finished records for the data you actually want, from the whole Google menu to LinkedIn profiles and local business leads, priced one flat way. If your work lives inside that set, the simpler billing and the credits that never expire are the reason to switch. The two are not exclusive, and plenty of teams use both.
Common questions
Clay
Try it on a query you run today
3,000 free credits covers real work. Run one search and look at the clean JSON that comes back.
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