10 Best Scraping APIs to Bypass Cloudflare in 2026

Struggling to scrape websites protected by Cloudflare? You're not alone. Cloudflare is one of the toughest anti-bot systems out there, and getting past it requires more than basic web scraping knowledge. The good news? Specialized scraping APIs can handle this challenge for you, managing everything from proxies to CAPTCHA solving while you focus on collecting the data you need.

Why Cloudflare Makes Web Scraping So Difficult

Cloudflare protects millions of websites from malicious bots and DDoS attacks. When a site enables Cloudflare protection, it can block up to 60% of automated requests. For legitimate data collection needs, this creates a significant obstacle.

The system works by analyzing browser fingerprints, JavaScript challenges, and request patterns to identify automated traffic. Traditional scraping methods simply can't keep up with these sophisticated detection mechanisms. That's where professional scraping APIs come in—they're built specifically to navigate these protections while maintaining fast, reliable data access.

When you're dealing with anti-bot systems like Cloudflare, Akamai, or PerimeterX, the right tools make all the difference. Modern scraping APIs handle proxy rotation, browser emulation, and CAPTCHA challenges automatically. If you're looking for a reliable solution to bypass Cloudflare with advanced anti-detection features, specialized APIs offer the most efficient path forward.

Top Scraping APIs for Bypassing Cloudflare

1. Bright Data Collector—Overall Best Tool for Cloudflare Bypass

Pricing: Starting at $350 for 100K page loads
Free Trial: Available
Output Format: Excel, CSV

Bright Data's Collector stands out for its no-code approach. You don't need programming skills to use it—just select a scraping template, customize it, and run. The platform handles proxies, Cloudflare protection, and even data cleaning automatically.

The service offers a web interface with pre-built templates for popular websites. It adapts automatically to site changes, making your scrapers more resilient over time. For developers, there's also an API option with pay-as-you-go pricing based on successful requests.

2. Apify—Best for NodeJS and Python Developers

Pricing: Starting at $49/month for 100 Actor compute units
Free Trial: 10 Actor compute units on starter plan
Output Format: JSON

Apify takes a different approach with its marketplace of specialized scraping tools called "Actors." Each Actor targets specific sites or data types—like the Amazon Product Scraper for e-commerce data.

The platform provides SDKs for Python and NodeJS, making integration smooth for developers familiar with these languages. Unlike some competitors, Apify requires you to provide your own proxies, but the Actors themselves are built with anti-blocking systems that help evade Cloudflare detection.

3. ScraperAPI—Most Effective Anti-Blocking Support

Pricing: Starting at $49 for 100K credits
Free Trial: 5K free credits
Output Format: HTML and JSON

In head-to-head testing against other major scraping APIs, ScraperAPI consistently proves most effective against anti-bot systems. It successfully handles Cloudflare, PerimeterX, Datadome, and Akamai protection.

The service returns raw HTML rather than parsed data, leaving extraction to you. Behind the scenes, it leverages a pool of over 40 million IPs spanning datacenter, residential, and mobile networks. Geographic coverage includes roughly 20 countries.

Pricing is credit-based, with each request consuming 1 to 70 credits depending on your JavaScript rendering and proxy choices.

4. Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) Scraping API—Best for Geo-Targeted Content

Pricing: Starting at $50 for 25K requests
Free Trial: 3K free requests
Output Format: HTML, JSON

Decodo's scraping API excels in geographic coverage, offering IPs from 195 countries. This makes it ideal when you need to scrape location-specific content or verify how sites appear in different regions.

Like ScraperAPI, it returns raw HTML without parsing. The service supports headless scraping for JavaScript-heavy pages and handles CAPTCHA challenges automatically. Among the options on this list, it's one of the most affordable choices for large-scale projects.

5. ScrapingBee—Best for Parsing and Data Extraction

Pricing: Starting at $49 for 100K credits
Free Trial: 1K free credits
Output Format: HTML, JSON

ScrapingBee goes beyond basic HTML retrieval with its extraction rules feature. Using CSS selectors, you can specify exactly what data to extract, receiving clean, structured results instead of raw HTML.

The service also supports lightweight automation like button clicks and page scrolling, making it more versatile for complex scraping scenarios. While ScraperAPI edges ahead in raw anti-blocking power and speed, ScrapingBee wins for user-friendly data extraction.

6. Shifter Web Scraping API—Header Customization Support

Pricing: Starting at $45 for 100K credits
Free Trial: Free credits available
Output Format: HTML, JSON

Shifter brings powerful customization options to the table. You can customize IP geolocation, cookies, and request headers, giving you fine-grained control over how your requests appear to target websites.

The API supports multi-threading for concurrent requests and scales automatically as your needs grow. It provides SDKs for Python, Go, NodeJS, and Scrapy, making integration straightforward regardless of your development environment.

7. WebScrapingAPI—Fastest API for Cloudflare Bypass

Pricing: Starting at $49 for 100K credits
Free Trial: 5K free credits
Output Format: HTML, JSON

Don't let the generic name fool you—WebScrapingAPI delivers impressive performance, particularly in speed tests. It consistently outperforms competitors when it comes to response times.

Like ScrapingBee, it supports data parsing using CSS selectors, so you can extract specific information without writing your own parsers. The service offers extensive library and SDK support for multiple programming languages, making it easy to integrate into existing projects.

8. Crawlbase—Best for Scraping Specific Sites as JSON

Pricing: Starting at $29 for 50K credits
Free Trial: 1K free credits
Output Format: HTML, JSON

Crawlbase (formerly Proxycrawl) shines when you need structured JSON responses from specific websites. Instead of raw HTML that requires parsing, it automatically returns organized data for supported sites. For tasks like extracting structured data from protected websites, having this built-in parsing saves significant development time.

Currently supported sites include Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Bing, and Quora. The service runs on its own proxy network with millions of IPs and offers excellent SDK support for popular programming languages.

9. Zenscrape—Most Affordable API for Cloudflare Bypass

Pricing: Starting at $30 for 250K credits
Free Trial: 5K free credits
Output Format: HTML

Working with a tight budget? Zenscrape delivers solid performance at the lowest price point on this list. For $30, you get 250K API credits—significantly more than most competitors offer at similar price levels.

The API handles proxies, CAPTCHAs, and anti-spam systems including Cloudflare and Akamai. Speed tests show it's one of the fastest options available. Credit costs vary based on proxy type and JavaScript rendering options, but standard proxies work well for most popular websites.

10. ZenRows—Reliable Anti-Bot API

ZenRows is among the newer entries in the scraping API space, but it's already proven effective against major anti-bot systems like Cloudflare, Akamai, and PerimeterX.

As a modern solution, it fully supports JavaScript rendering—increasingly important as more sites rely heavily on client-side JavaScript. While pricing starts at the same level as ScraperAPI and ScrapingBee, ZenRows offers more API credits at that entry point, potentially providing better value for high-volume projects.

Choosing the Right Scraping API

The best API for your needs depends on several factors:

For beginners or non-coders: Bright Data Collector offers the easiest learning curve with its template-based approach and automatic handling of technical details.

For developers: Apify, ScrapingBee, or WebScrapingAPI provide robust SDKs and flexible integration options.

For budget-conscious projects: Zenscrape delivers strong performance at the lowest cost per credit.

For specific site scraping: Crawlbase's automatic JSON parsing saves development time if you're targeting supported platforms.

For maximum anti-blocking power: ScraperAPI consistently proves most effective against sophisticated protection systems.

All of these services handle the core challenges of bypassing Cloudflare: proxy management, browser fingerprinting, CAPTCHA solving, and JavaScript rendering. The differences come down to pricing, ease of use, and specialized features like parsing or geographic coverage.

Is Bypassing Cloudflare Legal?

Cloudflare primarily protects websites from DDoS attacks and spam. Bypassing Cloudflare itself isn't illegal—what matters is what you do after bypassing it and whether you're respecting the site's terms of service.

Legitimate use cases include market research, price monitoring, academic research, and business intelligence. However, you should avoid scraping in ways that harm server performance or violate applicable laws. When in doubt, consult with legal professionals familiar with data collection regulations in your jurisdiction.

Getting Started with Scraping APIs

Most providers on this list offer free trials, letting you test their effectiveness against your target websites before committing to a paid plan. Start with a small-scale test to verify the API works for your specific use case.

Remember that while these APIs handle Cloudflare bypass automatically, you'll still need to respect rate limits and implement proper error handling in your scraping code. The goal is efficient, respectful data collection that doesn't overload target servers.

Whether you're building a price comparison tool, conducting market research, or gathering data for machine learning, these specialized scraping APIs make it possible to collect information from Cloudflare-protected sites reliably and at scale.