Scraping API PricesScrapfly vs ZenRows
The multi-step standard-request boundary between additive scrape credits and result-mode credits.
Scrapfly
ZenRows
The difference
Both paths, one ruler
Scrapfly
Successes you want
100,000 pages
Your stated workload. Every vendor on this site is priced against this same number.
- ÷ 0.95
Attempts you are billed for
105,263 requests
Scrapfly bills failed fetches, so a 5% failure rate is billed work.
- × 6
What the meter counts
631,579 credits
One attempt is not one billed unit here: this workload multiplies by 6 before any money is involved.
- =
Cash per month
$100.00 /mo
Pro. Cheapest of every eligible purchase option, not the first plan that fits.
Bars share one linear scale across the 3 counted stages, so a multiplier shows as length. Units differ by stage and are labelled. Cash is not on that scale.
ZenRows
Successes you want
100,000 pages
Your stated workload. Every vendor on this site is priced against this same number.
- × 1
Attempts you are billed for
100,000 requests
ZenRows does not bill failed fetches, so failures cost nothing here.
- × 5
What the meter counts
500,000 credits
One attempt is not one billed unit here: this workload multiplies by 5 before any money is involved.
- =
Cash per month
$129.99 /mo
Startup. Cheapest of every eligible purchase option, not the first plan that fits.
Bars share one linear scale across the 3 counted stages, so a multiplier shows as length. Units differ by stage and are labelled. Cash is not on that scale.
Both ladders share one linear scale, topping out at 631,579 counted units, so a longer bar means more billed work rather than a different drawing.
These figures are for one stated workload: 100,000 JavaScript-rendered pages a month at a 95% success rate. The comparison below names where the answer changes.
The boundary
After one-time trial allowances are excluded, Scrapfly is lower for paid successful standard datacenter pages through 200,000 requests a month. ZenRows is lower from 200,001 through 250,000 because its entry allowance continues after Scrapfly’s first allowance ends. Scrapfly becomes lower again from 250,001 through roughly 2.75 million, the two totals briefly tie around 2,749,925 to 2,749,974, and ZenRows becomes lower above that narrow band. This is exactly the kind of pair where an entry-plan comparison fails: the cheaper choice changes at both vendors’ plan steps and later changes again as their larger bundles diverge. (Scrapfly pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26; ZenRows pricing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26)
The boundary covers the simplest shared workload only. Scrapfly’s JavaScript feature adds credits to the datacenter or residential base, while ZenRows replaces the basic rate with a distinct JavaScript result rate. Scrapfly’s residential request and ZenRows’ premium-proxy result are not assumed to be interchangeable. A target that requires a particular proxy class must pass the capability check before its price can be ranked. (Scrapfly billing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26; ZenRows pricing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26)
How the billing models differ
Scrapfly sells monthly credits. A datacenter request establishes the base, residential routing replaces that base, JavaScript adds credits, and excess request or response payload can add binary bandwidth charges. Several paid tiers publish automatic overage rates, subject to a default cap tied to the monthly quota. ZenRows sells monthly result capacity. Basic, JavaScript, premium-proxy, and protected modes replace one another at fixed result-credit ratios, while Scraping Browser introduces browser time and bandwidth. (Scrapfly billing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26; Scrapfly pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26; ZenRows pricing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Failure billing is not identical. ZenRows says failed requests and its internal retries are free, with documented target response classes treated as successful. Scrapfly normally applies failure protection to eligible responses, but publishes exceptions and a fairness rule under which protection can be disabled when eligible failures exceed its threshold over a sustained period. The page therefore does not assume that the same count of attempted requests creates the same bill. (ZenRows pricing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26; Scrapfly billing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26)
What each offers that the other does not
Scrapfly publishes automatic overage rates on several plans, payload-size meters, request and log retention by plan, and an Automatic Scraping Protection option that can upgrade the proxy pool. ZenRows publishes a remote Scraping Browser, protected-result capacity as a named mode, and response-size ceilings that increase by plan. Scrapfly can absorb a moderate credit overrun without an immediate plan jump where overage is available. ZenRows gives a buyer a more explicit protected-result ladder and a browser-session path. (Scrapfly pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26; Scrapfly billing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26; ZenRows pricing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Who should pick which
Pick according to the volume segment, then rerun the comparison with the real modifiers. Scrapfly fits teams that value automatic overage and can describe JavaScript, residential routing, and payload sizes in advance. ZenRows fits teams that want an explicit protected-result tier or a remote browser in the same commercial system. Do not use the 2.75-million crossover for JavaScript, residential, protected, large-response, or browser workloads because each changes the billing rule. (Scrapfly billing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26; ZenRows pricing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26)
The reviewed Scrapfly pages do not publish annual prices, and ZenRows’ largest named plan differs between its pricing page and pricing documentation. Those gaps are reported rather than normalized. (Scrapfly pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26; ZenRows pricing page, retrieved 2026-07-26; ZenRows pricing documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26)