Web Scraping Cost Calculator: DIY vs ScrapingBee vs Bright Data

Web Scraping Cost Calculator

Below is an interactive cost calculator. Plug in your monthly volume and anti-bot needs; get the real 12-month cost for each path. Math runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere.

How the math works

DIY:

• $5/mo VPS (Hetzner CX22 or DigitalOcean Basic)
• $3-15/mo Webshare proxy (residential if needed for anti-bot)
• $1.50/1k CAPTCHA solves via 2Captcha (only if escalation expected)
• Setup time: 4-8 hours for basic, 8-16 hours if browser rendering needed

Apify: ~$0.0015 per request for typical scraping actors. Minimum ~$49/mo on the entry plan.

ScrapingBee: ~$0.001-0.005 per request depending on JS rendering and proxy features. Minimum ~$99/mo.

Bright Data Web Unblocker: ~$3-5 per 1,000 requests for residential + JS-rendering tier. Minimum ~$500/mo.

The break-even pattern: managed services win at volumes below ~500 requests/day, DIY wins above ~1,000 requests/day. The middle is roughly equivalent.

What this calculator doesn't capture

• Maintenance time for DIY (CSS selector drift, anti-bot escalation). Budget ~2-5 hours/quarter per active scraper.
• Per-request feature costs on managed services (premium proxies, browser rendering, geo-targeting). These can 2-5× the base rate.
• Storage and BI integration — separate cost regardless of approach.
• Your time value. If your hourly rate is $200 and DIY takes 10 hours/quarter, that's $8k/year of opportunity cost vs paying for managed.

For most freelance briefs, DIY wins on raw economics but managed wins if you don't have someone on the team who's shipped 50+ scrapers. That's the real decision point.

What to read next

• Why a $5/mo VPS Beats a $1,200/mo ScrapingBee Plan — the long version of the math
• Web Scraping Tools Comparison — when each tool fits
• Best Residential Proxy Services 2026 — the proxy cost detail