A scraping and proxy layer you build on versus a finished business-data API.
What ScraperAPI is
ScraperAPI is a web scraping and proxy API. It handles the hard parts of scraping - rotating proxies, browsers, retries, and anti-bot challenges - so you can fetch pages reliably at scale. On top of raw fetching it offers structured data endpoints that turn certain pages, including Google Maps search, into JSON or CSV, plus a DataPipeline feature for scheduling scraping projects and delivering results to a webhook or dashboard.
ScraperAPI is infrastructure you build pipelines on. It shines when your targets are varied, you need control over how pages are fetched and parsed, and you want a reliable unblocking layer underneath your own logic. For local business data you would use its Maps endpoint or DataPipeline, then own pagination, deduping, and any website enrichment as part of your pipeline.
Head to head
| Dimension | ScraperAPI | biz collect |
|---|---|---|
| Primary model | Proxy/scraping API plus structured endpoints you build on | API-first product: POST search, poll job, get enriched JSON |
| Data freshness | Per fetch or scheduled pipeline run you configure | Per-request: Google Places search plus live website enrichment per job |
| Email/website enrichment | Not built in; a step you add on top of fetched pages | Built in: emails and socials scraped from each business website, deduped |
| Output format | Raw pages, or structured JSON/CSV from select endpoints | One stable JSON schema (plus CSV export), OpenAPI 3.1 |
| Setup effort | Build the pipeline: fetch, parse, dedupe, enrich, schedule | Two endpoints, one bearer token, three lines of code |
| Best for | Teams building custom scraping pipelines across varied sites | Local business contacts by city + category for agents and automation |
| Pricing model | Usage-based scraping plans; check current pricing | Free tier, then credit-based plans from $19/mo (annual) |
Which fits the job
These tools often coexist. The best stack is usually the simplest reliable tool at each layer - not one tool forced to do every job.
biz collect vs ScraperAPI
For the focused job of local business contacts as JSON, yes. ScraperAPI is a proxy and scraping layer you build pipelines on; biz collect is a finished product that runs the search, enriches each website, and dedupes the records. For broad, custom scraping across varied sites, ScraperAPI is the more flexible foundation.
ScraperAPI fetches and, for select endpoints, structures pages such as Google Maps search; website email extraction is a step you add on top. biz collect makes website email, social, and outgoing-link extraction part of every job and dedupes the results.
No. biz collect runs the Google Places search and website enrichment pipeline for you and returns a stable JSON schema. There are no proxies, parsers, schedulers, or selectors for you to maintain.
biz collect, for its target job: two endpoints and one OpenAPI 3.1 document let an agent fill location, keywords, and radius and parse predictable JSON. ScraperAPI can be driven by agents too, but the agent usually needs to know how to build and parse the scrape.
Yes. Teams often use ScraperAPI as the scraping layer for varied or custom targets and biz collect for the local-business-contacts layer with website emails included.
Yes. It includes 200 signup credits plus 20 daily login credits with no credit card, and polling is free, so you can test real searches before upgrading.
Still have questions? Talk to us.
Sign up free with 200 signup credits, no credit card. POST a city and keywords, poll the job, and see the structured JSON for yourself.
