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AlterLab vs Oxylabs: Which Scraping API Is Better in 2026?

#automation #proxies #dataextraction #api

AlterLab vs Oxylabs: Which Web Scraping API Is Better in 2026?

See our detailed comparison page for a side‑by‑side feature matrix: /vs/oxylabs.

TL;DR

Choose AlterLab if you are a solo developer, startup, or small team that wants instant sign‑up, pay‑as‑you‑go pricing with no minimums, and a simple REST API. Choose Oxylabs if you need massive residential proxy pools, dedicated enterprise support, and are comfortable with bandwidth‑based contracts and monthly minimums.

Pricing comparison

AlterLab uses a pure pay‑as‑you‑go model: you pay only for the API calls you make, with no subscription, no monthly minimum, and your balance never expires. As of 2026, the starting cost is $0.0002 per request for Tier 1 (curl‑level) scraping, scaling up to $0.002 for Tier 5 (JavaScript rendering + captcha solving). See current rates on our pricing page: /pricing.

Oxylabs offers bandwidth‑based proxy pricing. Their residential and data‑center plans are sold in monthly packages with a minimum purchase commitment; unused bandwidth does not roll over. Exact rates vary by plan and are published on Oxylabs’ public pricing page.

Feature comparison

Both platforms provide automatic proxy rotation, JavaScript rendering, and anti‑bot bypass. AlterLab’s five‑tier smart routing automatically selects the cheapest tier that can successfully scrape a target, escalating only when needed. Oxylabs offers a larger static proxy pool (especially residential IPs) and optional add‑ons such as real‑time crawler APIs and dedicated account managers.

Key feature highlights:

  • AlterLab

    • Simple REST API with official Python, Node.js, and curl examples.
    • Built‑in Cortex AI for LLM‑powered data extraction without CSS selectors.
    • Webhooks for instant result delivery.
    • Output formats: JSON, Markdown, plain text, or raw HTML.
    • Team workspaces with shared billing and role‑based access.

  • Oxylabs

    • Access to millions of residential and data‑center IPs worldwide.
    • Enterprise‑grade SLA, dedicated account management, and custom SLAs.
    • Advanced session control and sticky IP options.
    • Real‑time Crawler API for pre‑built parsers on popular sites (e‑commerce, search engines).

Both services support scheduling, monitoring, and format conversion, though AlterLab’s scheduling uses standard cron expressions directly in the API request, while Oxylabs relies on a separate dashboard interface.

When to choose Oxylabs

Oxylabs is a strong fit for:

  • Large enterprises that require guaranteed IP volume and dedicated support.
  • Projects needing geo‑targeted residential IPs at scale (e.g., ad verification, price aggregation across many regions).
  • Customers who prefer a managed service with a named point of contact and custom contract terms.
  • Use cases where you already consume Oxylabs’ other data products (e.g., Scraper APIs, Web Unlocker) and want a single vendor.

When to choose AlterLab

AlterLab excels for:

  • Solo developers, indie hackers, and early‑stage startups who want to start scraping immediately without talking to sales.
  • Teams that prefer predictable, request‑based pricing and the ability to grow spend organically.
  • Users who value a minimal learning curve: one API key, straightforward endpoints, and instant documentation.
  • Scenarios where you want to avoid monthly minimums and never worry about expiring credits.
  • Teams that benefit from built‑in AI extraction (Cortex) and flexible output formats without additional parsing steps.

Migration guide

Switching from Oxylabs to AlterLab is straightforward because both expose a REST/JSON API. Below is a minimal Python migration showing how to replace an Oxylabs call with AlterLab’s client. For more details, see our Getting started guide.

```python title="migrate_to_alterlab.py" {3-6}

Before: Oxylabs (pseudo‑code)

oxylabs_client = OxylabsAPI(token="OXYLABS_TOKEN")

response = oxylabs_client.get(url="https://example.com", parse=True)

After: AlterLab

client = alterlab.Client("YOUR_ALTERLAB_API_KEY")
response = client.scrape(
url="https://example.com",
formats=["json"], # get JSON output directly
# optional: min_tier=3 to skip lower tiers that won’t work
)
print(response.json())






```bash title="Terminal — Quick start"
curl -X POST https://api.alterlab.io/v1/scrape \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url":"https://example.com","formats":["json"]}'
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Key takeaways

  • AlterLab offers true pay‑as‑you‑go pricing with no subscriptions, no minimums, and balances that never expire—ideal for developers who want cost predictability and instant onboarding.
  • Oxylabs provides larger proxy pools and enterprise‑grade support, suited for organizations with committed bandwidth needs and dedicated account management.
  • Migration involves only changing the client initialization and endpoint; the request/response structure is broadly similar, allowing a switch in under ten lines of code.

Compare other alternatives

AlterLab // Web Data, Simplified.

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