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• Web Scraping Applications
• Free Web Scraping Tools
• Best Web Scraping Tools Free Online
• Best Web Scraping Tools Free Downloads
• Web Scraping Tools Open Source

Octoparse is an extremely powerful data extraction tool that has optimized and pushed our data scraping efforts to the next level. I would recommend this service to anyone. The price for the value provides a large return on the investment. For the free version, which works great, you. While this article tackles the main aspects of web scraping with NodeJS, it does not talk about web scraping without getting blocked. If you want to learn how to avoid getting blocked, read our complete guide, and if you don't want to deal with this, you can always use our web scraping API.

In the era of COVID19, people are interested in finding remote jobs. A lot of job posting sites offer different positions from different companies, either remote or onsite. If you want to gather all of those remote jobs manually, there is a possibility COVID19 ends before you finish the task. Copy-pasting all that info according to your needs is known as web scraping. In our modern days, scraping is mostly done using automated systems. As already stated, manually, copy-pasting data can take forever. The subtlety here is that it is possible to find either paid or free web scraping options. According to your budget and needs, you can choose the one that suits you the most.

Tools for Web Scraping

If you surf enough through the internet, there is a strong likelihood you will find what you are looking for. The same goes for scrapers—especially free ones. You don’t have to surf for a long time. A lot of web scraping services already offer their tools for free. Of course, there is a catch. The tools are for general use and may not meet your requirements. In scraping, everyone has different needs, and scraping tools are developed according to that. The free tools are offered to show the capability of the scrappers to some extent. Therefore, if collecting data is of utmost importance for you, we advise you to use tools from professionals, like MyDataProvider.

Top 5 Free Web Scraping Tools

It would be fair to list some free scraping tools with their pros and cons. Just note that those scraping tools can be separate applications, browser extensions, separate browsers, or just an addon or a library for programming languages.

1. MyDataProvider

MyDataProvider is a professional data scraping service. Together with paid options, it delivers users a free tool. All you need to use the software is sign up, download the tool, and test it. In case you like the app but need more functionality, you may consider buying a paid version. That way, you will be able to use the app to its fullest potential.

2. Octoparse

Octoparse is a cloud-based web data parsing service that doesn’t require any previous coding knowledge. You can find different plans according to your needs. Moreover, it is possible to get a discount for writing a review, for being educational and non-profit institutions. The main disadvantage that some users complained about it being detected as a robot and blocked. Also, running locally, not the cloud, is limited to some time, about 4 hours. The paid plans start at $75/month only if you pay annually. Otherwise, it is $89/month for only monthly payment. It only has Windows and Mac versions.

3. Parsehub

Parsehub is a scraper that works inside a browser. It has Windows, Mac, and Linux versions. What is even better, it offers browser extension, but for Firefox only. The free version has some limitations. Like 200 pages per run or 5 public projects. The paid version starts at $149, which is a little pricey. Some online users complain about limited javascript/regex integration.

4. Web Scraper

Web Scraper is an extension and doesn’t need any installation. The downside is that you are limited to Chrome. One of the powerful extension based scrapers. Most users are satisfied with the results it delivers. The biggest issue with it is that it is tough to find enough support. Community issues on the Chrome store are not addressed. The official website offers paid tools that start 50$/month.

5. Scrapy

Scapy is intended for Python developers since it is more of a framework that a tool. Most probably, it has the tools you need for scraping. Yet, if you are unfamiliar with coding, then you are in the wrong territory. Otherwise, it is straightforward to use, has one of the most detailed documentation, and the community support is exceptional. For some projects, where milliseconds matter, some developers prefer not to use Scrapy due to its performance.

Verdict

Provided that you are looking for a free scrapping option, give a try to Free Web Scraping Tool from MyDataProvider. In case you are satisfied, we are more than sure that you will be, and need much more data, consider a paid version. Feel the power of the cloud web scraping.

Web Scraping is easier than you think.

Especially when you are using the right tools.

And you might be wondering, what tools should I use for my next web scraping project?

Today, we’ll discuss some of the best options to scrape, edit and present data from the web.

Best Web Scraper

First, you will need a powerful and easy-to-use web scraper.

While there are many options out there for web scraping software, there are a few features that are definite must-haves.

For example, a good web scraper needs to be reliable and powerful, meaning that it can work with any website you throw at it.

Ease of use is also key, in this field, point-and-click scrapers excel thanks to how they select the data you want to extract from a website.

Other features that will significantly improve your web scraping experience include Cloud Scraping, Automatic IP Rotation, Pagination Features and more.

In fact, we’ve written an in-depth guide on what features make the best web scraper.

When it comes to a specific web scraper, we recommend ParseHub a powerful web scraper that has all the features we’ve mentioned so far.

Best part yet, you can download and use ParseHub for free.

Get ParseHub now and get started with step-by-step guide on how to scrape data from any website.

Best Spreadsheet Editor for Web Scraping

Once your first web scraping job is complete, you might want to go through the data you’ve collected for further review. You might want to remove irrelevant data points, filter the entries or check for duplicates.

The best way to do this is with a spreadsheet editor. For this task, we have a few favorites.

Web Scraping Applications

First, the obvious choice is Microsoft Excel, the industry standard for web scraping data. While Excel will be able to meet most of your spreadsheet needs, it can also be expensive. Specially since the Microsoft Office suite has switched to a subscription model.

Google Sheets works great as a free alternative. Better yet, it saves your work to the cloud, meaning that you can have access to your dataset from anywhere with an internet connection.

Free Web Scraping Tools

Better yet, with Google Sheets you can create online spreadsheets that auto-update every time you run a new scrape job (be it hourly, daily, or weekly). Learn more with our guide on how to integrate Google Sheets and ParseHub.

Best Data Visualization

After scraping and cleaning up the data you want, you’ll want to be able to present it in the best way possible.

When it comes to Data Visualization tools, we love the following ones.

Best Web Scraping Tools Free Online

First up, Tableau, a pioneer in the field of data visualizations. With Tableau, you can create simple charts or complex graphs from multiple datasets and integrations.

Best Web Scraping Tools Free Downloads

Better yet, we’ve written a guide with multiple methods to integrate Tableau and ParseHub.

Lastly, we also love Flourish, another data visualizer with a long list of useful features. We personally love their animation features which allowed us to put together videos like the one below.

Both of these tools offer free plans / trials to get started with and learn their tools.

Closing Thoughts

Web Scraping Tools Open Source

Web scraping doesn’t have to be a challenge. In most cases, you might just be using a tool that is not powerful or versatile enough.

With the proper tools, there won’t be a web scraping project that you cannot complete.

If you want to learn more about web scraping, check out our guide on common web scraping uses.

Happy Scraping!