Ongoing free tiers (no expiry stated)
| Tool | Free tier | Credit card required? |
|---|---|---|
| Scrapfly | Free API key, 1,000 credits, vendor states "no time limit — use it forever for prototypes and smoke tests" | No |
| ScrapingDog | $0 plan "forever," 200 request credits, 1 concurrency | No |
| Bright Data (Web Scraper API) | 5,000 records/month, listed as its own permanent pricing tier alongside the paid plans | No |
| Apify | $0/mo Free plan, $5/mo platform credit at $0.20/compute unit | No |
Time-limited free trials
| Tool | Trial terms | Credit card required? |
|---|---|---|
| ScraperAPI | 7 days, 5,000 API credits | No |
| Zyte API | $5 free credit, 30 days, "no commitment or subscription" | Not stated as required on the pricing page |
| ScrapingBee | 1,000 free API credits, one-time (not renewing monthly) | No |
| Oxylabs (Web Scraper API) | "Free trial available" / "Start free trial" — exact duration and credit cap not published on the pricing page | Not stated on the pricing page |
Sources (verified 25 Jul 2026): ScraperAPI · Bright Data · Oxylabs · Zyte · ScrapingBee · Apify · Scrapfly.
Which kind of "free" fits your situation
- Learning the API, evaluating fit, no deadline pressure: pick an ongoing free tier (Scrapfly, ScrapingDog, Bright Data, or Apify) so you're not forced into a purchase decision by a countdown.
- Need to test a specific, larger workload before committing budget: a trial with a bigger one-time allowance (ScraperAPI's 5,000 credits over 7 days, or Zyte's $5/30-day credit) may cover a more realistic test run than a small permanent free tier, as long as you can finish evaluating inside the window.
- Building something you intend to run indefinitely at very low volume, not just a prototype: check whether the ongoing free tier's cap (200 credits/ScrapingDog, 5,000 records-month/Bright Data) actually covers your real traffic — if not, you'll need a paid plan regardless of which vendor you pick.
Facts only, no invented numbers. Every trial/tier term above is taken directly from the vendor's own pricing page and verified on the date shown. Where a vendor's page doesn't state a detail (Oxylabs' trial length, whether a card is required for Zyte or Oxylabs), we say so rather than guessing — confirm directly with the vendor before relying on it. Pricing and trial terms change; recheck before signing up.