When looking for a Decodo alternative, you need to take a number of things into account. Your choice should be based on project requirements, team needs, budget and overall infrastructure requirements.
- Project requirements: Are you running hardcoded scrapers? Are you using AI agents? Does your data require browser rendering?
- Team needs: If you’re short on coders, you might want a no-code solution. Does your team know how to manage a database? What do your AI data pipelines look like?
- Budget: This is one of the trickiest issues when choosing a web data infrastructure provider. Some projects offer dynamic pricings for precision level savings but also make it difficult to calculate your actual costs.
- Infrastructure requirements: If you need cloud browsers, are you hosting them yourself? Which data formats do you need — Markdown, JSON, HTML? Do you need simple web unlocking? Do you need custom schema?
Whichever alternative you choose, your provider’s strengths need to align with your answers to the questions above. Once you understand the shape of your project, you can find a provider that fits it.
What is Decodo?
Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) has been gaining traction as an AI-ready scraping solution. They offer an All-In-One scraping API (Application Programming Interface) and an AI-powered parser. There are plenty of alternatives to Decodo and these solutions vary based on team needs, project complexity and scaling requirements.
Decodo has three major offerings — Scraping API, AI parser and Site Unblocker. All of these tools revolve around one thing: Web data extraction. Read on and learn about some of the best Decodo alternatives on the market today.
Top Decodo alternatives
Bright Data
Bright Data’s tools are built for enterprise-grade infrastructure. They offer APIs with direct access to web unlocking, search engine results pages (SERP) and remote browsers. Their pricing plans range from Pay-As-You-Go for smaller projects to larger plans tailored toward data extraction at scale.
- Unlocker API: Unlock websites and solve CAPTCHAs. Output your data as Markdown, JSON or HTML.
- Crawl API: Define a URL and extract the entire website.
- Web Scraper API: Use prebuilt scrapers to extract data or request your own.
- Functions: Run custom-built, serverless scraping functions on-demand. Using their Integrated Development Environment (IDE), you can generate these scrapers with a single prompt, no coding required.
- SERP API: Extract search engine results using sites like Google and Bing. Send structured search results directly into your data pipeline.
- Browser API: Automated AI-friendly cloud browsers for extracting dynamic website content.
- Pricing: They have a large variety of offerings. Pay-per-request products like the Unlocker API and SERP API cost $0.0015/result on the Pay-As-You-Go plan. Things scale from there. Their highest tier plan offers up to 2,000,000 results for $1,999/month. Their Browser API begins at $8/GB for Pay-As-You-Go with the highest tier costing $1,999/month ($5/GB).
ZenRows
ZenRows focuses on simplicity by offering a single flexible scraping API that handles unlocking, rendering and structured output. With ZenRows, teams can go from zero to pipeline using just a few lines of code. If your team needs an general purpose web scraper, it’s a solid choice.
- Universal Scraping API: Extract data from nearly any website.
- Multiple formats: Choose to extract data using Markdown, JSON or screenshots.
- SERP: Extract from search engines for efficient crawling and data discovery.
- Scraping Browser: Use cloud browsers to extract data from dynamic web pages.
- Pricing: They offer a 14 day free trial. Paid plans begin at €69/month. Their highest tier, the Business plan costs €299/month.
Zyte
Zyte has been around for a long time. Their APIs utilize adaptive unlocking — you only pay for what you use. This model works best for scraping low to medium difficulty sites because it offers real savings. When sites require CAPTCHA solving or browser rendering, costs tend to add up quickly. Dynamic pricing offers real savings but some teams may find it difficult predict your final extraction costs.
- Zyte API: Unlock websites and extract structured data using a simple API.
- AI scraping: Use AI-powered scrapers to extract product, review, article and job results.
- Search: Scrape SERP results using the Zyte API.
- Pricing: Zyte uses dynamic pricing, so things are a bit tricky to calculate. For unrendered, easy-to-access websites, the Zyte API starts at $0.00013/request on their Pay-As-You-Go plan. Heavy usage on difficult sites can cost as much as $500/month.
Apify
Apify lets teams assemble pipelines using components called “Actors.” Using these actors, teams can choose from all sorts of prebuilt scrapers provided by both Apify and independent developers. Costs are next to impossible to predict due to their diversity of offerings. Apify offers a very unique solution for developers looking to build modular systems in low-code environments.
- Actors: Prebuilt components that allow you to put pipelines together quickly.
- Apify store: Choose from a variety of Actors built by Apify and the Apify community.
- Scales with you: Because you’re tied to components rather than a single pricing plan, Apify allows teams to build while only using exactly what they need.
- Pricing: Apify offers a free trial which allows you to spend $5 on the platform. Paid plans operate on both monthly and Pay-As-You-Go models. These paid plans start at $39 and scale up to the Business plan at $999.
Reworkd
Reworkd takes a highly automated approach by scanning websites, generating extraction logic and maintaining scrapers using AI. This system attempts to fix broken extractors automatically, reducing the cost of maintenance. Reworkd is a solid choice for teams looking to build data pipelines using minimal code.
- Automated data pipeline: Design end to end extraction systems using zero code.
- Scan websites: Their platform scans websites entirely to get a lay of the land.
- Code generation: After scanning, Reworkd generates extraction code based on the results.
- Self-healing scrapers: The platform is controlled dynamically by AI. When a scraper breaks, Reworkd attempts to fix it on the fly.
- Pricing: They offer a free plan with no CAPTCHA solving and a paid plan at $99/month. They do offer enterprise plans but require a custom quote.
Firecrawl
Firecrawl focuses on scraping, crawling and structured extraction using low-code and no-code workflows. Enter a URL and it scrapes the website. Their extract feature lets users define custom schemas for structured data extraction.
- Scrape: Gain intelligent access to almost any website.
- Crawl: Collect entire websites intuitively.
- Extract: Collect structured data from websites using natural language.
- Pricing: Their free plan allows you to scrape up to 500 pages/month. Paid plans begin at $19/month or $16 billed yearly. Their top tier plan costs $399/month or $333 when billed yearly.
Key comparison of providers
| Provider | Rendering support | SERP support | AI features | Pricing range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bright Data | Full cloud browser | Yes | Moderate automation | Low–High |
| ZenRows | Cloud browser | Yes | Light automation | Low–Mid |
| Zyte | Dynamic rendering | Yes | Moderate AI | Variable |
| Apify | Optional | Yes | Light automation | Low–High |
| Reworkd | Dynamic | Limited | Strong automation | Mid |
| Firecrawl | Light rendering | Basic | Strong NLP | Low–Mid |
Conclusion
Choosing between Decodo and alternatives depends on your workflow. At enterprise scale, teams might prefer a tool like Bright Data. If you just need a scraping pipeline, Zyte and ZenRows are capable of getting the job done. For teams who need fully AI-driven workflows, Reworkd and Firecrawl offer solid alternatives.
When you choose a web data infrastructure provider, choose one that fits your individual needs best. Strike a balance between budget and project requirements. Then the choice becomes obvious.