ZenRows alternative
Data you can use, not HTML to parse.
One request, real response
The same rows show 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. There is no page to render and no HTML to clean up.
What data do you get?
Each result arrives structured and complete, so you build a feed or a dataset with no second call and no HTML selectors. The same record shows as CSV, ready for Sheets or a database:
Or the same record as JSON:
With ZenRows you fetch the page and write the selectors. Here the structure is already done.
CrustAPI vs ZenRows
Both pull public web data. The difference is what comes back, and how you pay for it. ZenRows is a general web-scraping API built to get past anti-bot systems; CrustAPI returns the data you actually want as records instead of raw pages.
| ZenRows | CrustAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing model | Per request on a credit plan; the credit cost of a request rises with JavaScript rendering, premium proxies, and anti-bot bypass | Pay only for results (Maps bills the Maps rate per business returned); empty and failed queries cost nothing |
| What you get back | The HTML of the URL you send, with optional extraction rules | Clean JSON in a stable schema, or the same rows as CSV, no parsing |
| Free tier | A free trial, no card | Free to try, no card |
| Balance expiry | Tied to a monthly plan | Never expire |
| Data in the response | The page you fetch, returned to you to keep | Clean records in the response, no storage limits, keep and export |
| Coverage | Any URL you point it at, built to bypass anti-bot systems | Google Search, Maps, News, Shopping, Images, Videos, Scholar, Patents, Places, Reviews, Autocomplete, Webpage |
How much does CrustAPI cost?
Every search bills the applicable price per successful request. Maps bills per business returned; other Google endpoints bill per successful request. Empty and failed requests are free.
| Deposit | Google Search / 1,000 requests | Maps / 1,000 businesses | LinkedIn reads / 1,000 requests | People, Jobs, Refresh / 1,000 units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10+ | $1.00 | $1.96 | $6.00 | $1.96 |
| $149+ | $0.76 | $1.49 | $4.50 | $1.49 |
| $549+ | $0.56 | $1.10 | $3.30 | $1.10 |
| $1,999+ | $0.41 | $0.80 | $2.45 | $0.80 |
| $6,500+ | $0.33 | $0.65 | $1.95 | $0.65 |
| $27,500+ | $0.28 | $0.55 | $1.65 | $0.55 |
| $50,000+ | $0.26 | $0.50 | $1.50 | $0.50 |
| $100,000+ | $0.20 | $0.40 | $1.50 | $0.40 |
Every eligible account gets $6 of free usage monthly. Each deposit keeps its prices until spent; paid funds never expire. People and Jobs bill per successful search, Refresh per accessible profile. Full profiles in People use the read rate per full profile. See all billing details.
Larger deposits unlock lower endpoint prices. Each deposit keeps its prices until spent. See the full deposit table on the pricing page. Prices in USD, ex-tax.
Paid funds never expire. Endpoint prices and the price saved with each deposit determine the charge. Your dashboard shows an estimate before each run.
How do you get started?
From zero to clean JSON in about two minutes:
- 1
Create a free account. Try it free, no card needed.
- 2
Type a search in the playground. The results land in a flat table, with no selectors to write.
- 3
Export the CSV, or copy your key and run the curl above. Same data either way.
Every Google surface, one API
One key and one schema across the whole Google menu. Each surface returns clean records you can keep, with no page to render and no selectors to write.
Who uses CrustAPI?
- Devs tired of selectors. Stop maintaining parsers for Google pages; the JSON schema stays stable while you build.
- Lead gen teams. Pull local businesses with phone and website, export the CSV, and start outreach the same day.
- AI and RAG builders. Feed agents clean records from every Google surface with one key and one schema.
- Ops and no-code users. Run searches in the browser playground with no scraper setup at all.
When ZenRows is the better pick
ZenRows and CrustAPI solve different problems. If your target is off our menu, ZenRows is the right tool, and here is where it clearly wins.
Any website, not a fixed menu. ZenRows is a general web-scraping API. You point it at any URL and it hands back the page. CrustAPI covers a fixed set of data products, not any URL you hand it, so for an arbitrary site ZenRows is what you want.
Anti-bot bypass on hard targets. ZenRows is built to get past the anti-bot walls that block a plain request. If your target is a tough site that fights scrapers, that is the job ZenRows is designed for.
Proxies, a browser, and your own rules. ZenRows pairs its scraper with a residential proxy network and a scraping browser, and it lets you run your own extraction rules on the raw page. CrustAPI decides the schema for you, which is the point here, but it is not what you want when you need the raw page or your own proxy pool.
This compares public product behavior, not a ranking. If anything here is stale or unfair, email support@crustapi.com and I will fix it.
Related: Google Search API · Google Maps scraper API · Web scraper API · ScrapingBee alternative · Docs
Common questions
ZenRows is a general web-scraping API built to bypass anti-bot systems: you send any URL and get the page back, then parse it yourself. CrustAPI is one clean data API that returns records across the Google menu, LinkedIn profiles, and local business leads, already parsed into a stable schema, so there is no HTML to clean up.
No. Every endpoint returns clean JSON, not a page of markup, and the same rows are one click away as CSV. If you need the raw HTML of an arbitrary URL to run your own selectors against, or you are fighting a hard anti-bot wall, ZenRows is the better fit for that job.
Google Search, Maps, News, Shopping, Images, Videos, Scholar, Patents, Places, Reviews, Autocomplete, and Webpage, all under one key and one schema. Beyond Google, CrustAPI also returns LinkedIn profiles and local business leads.
Pay only for results at the applicable endpoint rate. Google Search bills per successful request and Maps per business returned. LinkedIn reads bill per successful request, People and Jobs per successful search, Refresh per accessible profile, and enriched People per full profile. Empty and failed requests are free. The pricing page lists every rate.
CrustAPI is free to try with no credit card. Deposits start at $10, and paid funds never expire.
When you need to scrape a website that is not on the Google menu, get past a tough anti-bot system, use a residential proxy network or a scraping browser, or run your own extraction rules on the raw HTML. That is what a general web-scraping API is built for.
Clay
Try it on a query you run
the free plan covers real work. Run one search and look at the clean JSON that comes back.
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