Proxycurl shut down. Here are the LinkedIn data API alternatives I actually tested in 2026

#python #webdev #api #productivity

Proxycurl quietly shut down in July 2025.

If your codebase had proxycurl in it,
you had a problem. A lot of teams
scrambled.

I've been evaluating replacements since
and here's the honest breakdown.

What you actually need from a LinkedIn API

Before comparing providers, clarify your
use case — the market splits cleanly:

Live scraping (fresh data on demand):
Apify, ScrapingDog, Serpent API, Piloterr

Bulk enrichment (enrich a CSV of
companies or people):
Coresignal, People Data Labs

Job postings at scale:
Coresignal, Bright Data

The code comparison

# Old Proxycurl call
import requests

headers = {"Authorization": "Token YOUR_KEY"}
resp = requests.get(
    "https://nubela.co/proxycurl/api/v2/linkedin",
    params={"url": "https://linkedin.com/in/username"},
    headers=headers
)

# Serpent API replacement — same result shape
resp = requests.get(
    "https://apiserpent.com/api/social/linkedin/profile",
    params={"url": "https://linkedin.com/in/username"},
    headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_KEY"}
)

profile = resp.json()
print(profile["name"])         # "Jane Smith"
print(profile["headline"])     # "Senior Engineer at..."
print(profile["company"])      # "Acme Corp"
print(profile["connections"])  # 2847

Honest pricing comparison

Provider	Per 1K profiles	Free tier	Notes
Bright Data	~$1.50+	Trial only	Enterprise grade
ScrapingDog	~$1.00	200 credits	Monthly reset
Serpent API	Pay-as-you-go	10 free	Never expire
Coresignal	Dataset pricing	None	Best for bulk