#1 Diffbot Alternative
Scrape, crawl, map, and search the web through one API, with JavaScript rendering and anti-bot proxies in every 1-credit page. Diffbot bills 2 credits for any page fetched through its proxy and turns the proxy on by itself for some popular sites, so 1,000 protected pages cost $2.39 on its $299 Startup plan and $0.79 on Context.dev Pro.
1,000 protected pages, rendered in a browser
Context.dev Pro and Growth vs Diffbot Startup, October 2026 list prices
Diffbot bills 1 credit per page and 2 through its proxy, which it turns on by itself for some popular sites. Unproxied pages cost $1.20 per 1,000 on Startup. Diffbot’s free plan is larger: 10,000 credits a month, at 5 calls a minute.
Powering agents and products with the world's data.
Why switch
Diffbot and Context.dev both render JavaScript and return structured data from web pages. Diffbot bills 2 credits once its proxy is involved and starts paid plans at $299; Context.dev bills 1 credit with proxies always on, from $19 a month.
- Key difference
Protected sites cost 1 credit per page, not 2
Diffbot bills 1 credit to extract a page and 2 when the page goes through its proxy, and it applies that proxy on its own to some popular sites. Its rotating-IP proxies for the hardest sites are sold through sales and priced by data volume. Context.dev runs JavaScript rendering, managed proxies, and anti-bot handling on every scrape for 1 credit, so 1,000 protected pages cost $0.79 on Pro and $2.39 on Diffbot Startup.
- Pricing
Paid plans from $19 a month, not $299
Diffbot goes from its Free plan straight to Startup at $299 a month for 250,000 credits, capped at 5 calls per second. Context.dev Developer is $19 for 7,500 credits, and Pro is $99 for 125,000 credits with 100 concurrent requests. At $299, Context.dev Growth includes 500,000 credits and 250 concurrent requests, and paid plans have no per-minute cap.
- Crawl
Crawl and batch on every plan, not from $899
Diffbot Crawl and Bulk Extract require the Plus plan at $899 a month. Context.dev crawls at 1 credit per successful page and runs batches of up to 100,000 URLs on every plan, with any scrape output, including JSON extraction. Failed batch pages are refunded when the batch settles and results stay available for 180 days; Diffbot deletes inactive bulk jobs within 10 days.
- Extraction
Your JSON Schema, not a fixed page-type schema
Diffbot classifies each page as an article, product, discussion, image, video, event, list, or job and returns that type’s fields; anything else needs CSS rules in a Custom API. Context.dev takes your JSON Schema (up to 50 KB) and instructions and returns a typed object for 5 credits, and the 4 extraction credits are charged only when extraction succeeds. The same request can return Markdown, rendered HTML, a screenshot, and images.
- Browser
Click, scroll, sign in, and pick a country before capture
Diffbot’s options are injecting your own JavaScript through a request header, pasting browser cookies for signed-in pages, and bringing your own proxy to fetch from another country. Context.dev runs up to five actions (a plain-language step, scroll, wait, or wait for a selector) for 2 credits on paid plans, and browser profiles sign in once with a username and password and reuse the session. A two-letter country code fetches the page through that country, and screenshots, which Diffbot does not offer, come from the same call.
- Company data
Brand lookups for 10 credits, not 25 per Knowledge Graph record
The Brand API returns logos, colors, descriptions, social profiles, addresses, and industry labels by domain, company name, email, stock ticker, or transaction descriptor for 10 credits, so 1,000 lookups cost $7.92 on Pro. A Diffbot Knowledge Graph record costs 25 credits (100 with a refresh), $29.90 per 1,000 on Startup. The records are different: Diffbot’s carry firmographics such as revenue, headcount, and funding, which Context.dev does not return, while Context.dev’s carry logos, brand colors, and descriptions.
What one request really costs
What 1,000 requests cost on Context.dev Pro and on Diffbot Startup, its cheapest paid plan. Diffbot’s price doubles when a page goes through its proxy; Context.dev’s does not.
| Request | Context.dev | Diffbot | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page with no proxySites that let Diffbot’s default IPs through | $0.79 | $1.20 (1 credit) | 1.5x more |
| Page through Diffbot’s proxyProtected sites, and popular sites Diffbot proxies by default | $0.79 | $2.39 (2 credits) | 3x more |
| Article fields without a schemaTitle, author, date, and text from an unprotected page | $3.96 (5 credits) | $1.20 (1 credit) | 3.3x less |
| JSON against your own schemaA typed object in the shape you define | $3.96 (5 credits) | Not offered | Not offered |
| Screenshot of the pageFull page or viewport, as PNG, JPEG, or WebP | $0.79 | Not offered | Not offered |
| Crawled pageSpider a site and return each page | $0.79 | Plus plan only | Needs $899 plan |
| Company lookupBrand profile vs Knowledge Graph record, with different fields | $7.92 (10 credits) | $29.90 (25 credits) | 3.8x more |
Derived from Context.dev Pro ($99 for 125,000 credits) at monthly billing and Diffbot Startup ($299 for 250,000 credits). On Context.dev Growth, also $299, each Context.dev figure is about 25% lower. Diffbot credit costs are from diffbot.com/docs/credits.
Full comparison
| Feature | Context.dev | Diffbot |
|---|---|---|
| Scraping & Crawling | ||
| Scrape to Markdown or HTML | Yes | Yes |
| JavaScript rendering | Always included | Yes |
| Proxies and anti-bot handling | Always included | 2x credits with proxy |
| Screenshots | Yes | No |
| JSON extraction against your schema | 5 credits | Fixed page types |
| Fields by page type, no schema | Product data, +1 | 8 page types |
| Site parsers (Maps, app stores, reviews) | 13 parsers | No |
| Crawl a site | 1 credit/page | $899 Plus plan and up |
| Map site URLs | 1 credit | Via Crawl or links |
| Async batch scraping | Up to 100,000 URLs | Plus plan and up |
| Change monitoring with webhooks | Yes | Repeat crawls only |
| Parse PDFs and office documents | Yes | PDFs, not in Crawl |
| Country geotargeting | Yes | Bring your own proxy |
| Signed-in scraping with saved logins | Browser profiles | Pasted cookies |
| Interaction & Search | ||
| Browser actions before capture | Up to 5 actions | Custom JavaScript |
| Web search with page content | Yes | English-only index |
| Research answers with sources | 10 credits | Diffbot LLM |
| Entities and sentiment from text | No | 1 credit per 10K chars |
| Pricing & Billing | ||
| Cheapest paid plan | $19/mo | $299/mo |
| Throughput at $299 a month | 250 concurrent | 5 calls per second |
| Failed requests free | Yes | Not stated for Extract |
| Free plan | 1,000 credits/mo | 10,000 credits/mo |
| Self-serve yearly billing | Yes | By arrangement |
| Deployment | ||
| Managed scraping API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted option | No | On-prem search, sales |
| Zero data retention | On request | LLM API only |
| Developer Experience | ||
| Public OpenAPI spec | Yes | Yes |
| TypeScript SDK | Yes | Yes |
| Python SDK | Yes | Yes |
| Go, PHP, and Ruby SDKs | Yes | Legacy, not in docs |
| CLI | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes |
| Also Included: Brand & Company Data | ||
| Price per company lookup | 10 credits | 25 (100 with refresh) |
| Logos and brand colors | Yes | Logo field only |
| Firmographics (revenue, headcount, funding) | No | Yes |
| Search a graph of 10B+ entities | No | Yes |
| Logo CDN for direct embedding (Logo Link) | Yes | No |
Cost per 1,000 pages
Public list prices on both sites, broken down to the cost of 1,000 pages at each tier. Diffbot’s price depends on whether a page goes through its proxy, so both rates are shown, and it has no paid plan between Free and $299.
| Tier | Context.dev | Diffbot |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free $0/mo 1,000 credits 1 concurrent request $0 per 1K pages, any page | Free $0/mo 10,000 credits 5 calls per minute 5,000 protected pages a month 10,000 unproxied pages a month |
| Entry | Developer $19/mo 7,500 credits 10 concurrent requests $2.11–$2.53 per 1K pages, any page | No plan at this price |
| Mid | Pro $99/mo 125,000 credits 100 concurrent requests $0.66–$0.79 per 1K pages, any page | No plan at this price |
| Growth | Growth $299/mo 500,000 credits 250 concurrent requests $0.50–$0.60 per 1K pages, any page | Startup $299/mo 250,000 credits 5 calls per second $2.39 per 1K protected pages $1.20 per 1K unproxied pages |
| High volume | Scale $499/mo 1,000,000 credits 500 concurrent requests $0.42–$0.50 per 1K pages, any page | Plus $899/mo 1,000,000 credits 25 calls per second $1.80 per 1K protected pages $0.90 per 1K unproxied pages |
- Protected pages assume 2 credits per page on Diffbot, its listed price for a page fetched through its proxy, which it also applies by itself on some popular sites. Context.dev bills 1 credit per page with JavaScript rendering, managed proxies, and anti-bot handling always on. Context.dev ranges run from yearly to monthly billing; Diffbot publishes monthly prices only.
- Diffbot prices, credits, and rate limits are from diffbot.com/pricing, diffbot.com/docs/credits, and diffbot.com/docs/rate-limits, accessed October 18, 2026. Its cost per 1,000 pages is the plan price divided by included credits. Rotating-IP proxies for the hardest sites are sold through sales and are not included.
- Limits are measured differently: Diffbot caps calls per second (Startup 5, Plus 25, Free 5 per minute), and Context.dev caps concurrent requests. Diffbot Crawl and Bulk Extract require the Plus plan.
- Company data: a Context.dev brand lookup costs 10 credits. A Diffbot Knowledge Graph entity costs 25 credits, or 100 with a refresh and per facet query result.
Prices and plans checked on .
Which one fits
Both render JavaScript and return structured data. These are the cases where the choice is clear. For formats, pricing, and code, see the Context.dev web scraping API.
Choose Context.dev if
- You scrape protected or JavaScript-heavy sites and want 1 credit per page with proxies and anti-bot included, not 2 credits whenever a proxy is used.
- You want a paid plan under $299, or crawl and batch jobs without moving to the $899 Plus plan.
- You want JSON in your own schema, plus Markdown, HTML, screenshots, and browser actions, from one scrape call.
- You need logos, brand colors, and company descriptions at 10 credits a lookup next to your scraping.
Choose Diffbot if
- You need to search a graph of 10 billion entities, including more than 245 million organizations, by industry, location, revenue, headcount, or investors. Context.dev looks up one brand at a time.
- You need firmographics such as revenue, employee counts, funding, and executives, or company matching by phone or IP address. Context.dev’s Brand API returns logos, colors, and descriptions, not financials.
- You want article, product, and discussion fields with no schema for 1 credit a page, about $1.20 per 1,000 on Startup, plus a Natural Language API for entities and sentiment.
- You want a larger free tier (10,000 credits a month instead of 1,000, at 5 calls a minute) or a web search index you can host yourself.
A few things to know.
More details in the API documentation.
What is the best Diffbot alternative?
Context.dev is a Diffbot alternative for teams that scrape, crawl, and search the web and want a flat price per page. Every scrape includes rendering, managed proxies, and anti-bot handling for 1 credit, where Diffbot charges 2 credits once its proxy is used. Context.dev covers Markdown, HTML, screenshots, JSON against your schema, browser actions, crawl, map, search, batches of up to 100,000 URLs, and change monitoring, from $19 a month. If your main need is searching a knowledge graph of companies and people, Diffbot is the better fit.
Does Diffbot charge extra for proxies?
Yes. Diffbot’s credits page lists 1 credit to extract a page and 2 credits with its proxy. Its proxy docs add that some popular sites always require proxies, so Diffbot applies one by itself and bills 2 credits unless you opt out. Rotating-IP proxies for the hardest sites are sold through sales and priced by data volume. Context.dev includes managed proxies and anti-bot handling in the 1-credit scrape price.
How does Diffbot pricing compare to Context.dev?
Diffbot has a Free plan with 10,000 credits, then Startup at $299 a month for 250,000 credits and Plus at $899 for 1,000,000. That works out to $1.20 per 1,000 pages on Startup, or $2.39 when pages go through its proxy. Context.dev Developer is $19 for 7,500 credits, Pro is $99 for 125,000 credits ($0.79 per 1,000 pages with proxies included), and Growth is $299 for 500,000.
How much do 1,000 company lookups cost on Diffbot and Context.dev?
On Context.dev, a brand lookup is 10 credits, so 1,000 lookups use 10,000 credits, $7.92 on Pro. On Diffbot, Enhance costs 25 credits per matched entity (100 with a refresh), so 1,000 matches use 25,000 credits, $29.90 at Startup’s plan rate. The records are not the same: Diffbot’s include firmographics such as revenue, headcount, and funding, and Context.dev’s include logos, colors, descriptions, and social profiles.
Does Context.dev have a knowledge graph like Diffbot?
No. Diffbot’s Knowledge Graph holds more than 10 billion entities and can be searched with filters across organizations, people, articles, and deals. Context.dev resolves one brand at a time by domain, name, email, ticker, or transaction descriptor, and it does not return revenue, headcount, or funding. If you need to build lists of companies or people from scratch, choose Diffbot.
Can I migrate from Diffbot Extract and Crawl to Context.dev?
Yes. Extract calls map to Scrape: request Markdown, HTML, or JSON against a schema that matches the Diffbot fields you use. Crawl maps to Crawl, and Bulk Extract maps to Batches of up to 100,000 URLs. Cookie headers can move to browser profiles that sign in with a username and password on paid plans. Knowledge Graph searches, firmographics, and the Natural Language API have no Context.dev equivalent.
Can I crawl a site without an $899 plan?
On Context.dev, yes. Crawl costs 1 credit per successful page on every plan, including Free, and batches run on every plan too. Diffbot’s Crawl and Bulk Extract APIs are limited to the Plus plan and up.
When is Diffbot the better choice?
Choose Diffbot when you need firmographic data or entity search across companies, people, news, and deals, automatic page-type extraction without writing a schema, or a web search index you can run on your own hardware. Its free tier is also larger at 10,000 credits a month, though limited to 5 calls per minute.
More comparisons
Other web scraping APIs that teams compare with Context.dev, or see every comparison.
- Context.dev vs ApifyOne price per page instead of compute units plus residential proxy traffic per GB. No Actors to pick or maintain.
- Context.dev vs SpiderOne credit per page instead of per-GB bandwidth, where residential traffic costs $2 to $4 per GB on Spider.
- Context.dev vs Crawl4AIHard sites cost 4x a plain page on Crawl4AI Cloud, and self-hosting means running browsers and proxies. One credit per page here.
Ready to switch from Diffbot?
Point your Extract, Crawl, and Bulk jobs at Context.dev Scrape, Crawl, and Batches, and start on the free plan with 1,000 credits a month.