Top 10 Data Collection Tools of 2024: Extract Data From Any Website

Do you want to collect web data in real-time without the use of a web collector? This article is here to help. This article provides you with the top best data collection tools to aid your web data collection in real-time.

Data on the World Wide Web can be “scraped” in an automated fashion by using a program called a “web scraper.” In comparison to the repetitive, error-prone, time-consuming, and labor-intensive process of manually extracting the same information from several web pages, this method is far more efficient and effective.

One of the most popular activities on the Internet today is the collecting of information that is freely available to the public, and the Internet has already established itself as a major contributor to user-generated content. However, although being performed on a massive scale, data collecting is not as simple as it may seem.

Web hosts do not like or condone scraping (also known as automated access) or theft (of content); thus, they use various measures to prevent it. A number of data collectors have been built; nevertheless, they can get over the anti-bot protections of websites in order to scrape any information you want.

Some of these programs include a visual interface for picking out relevant data, making them accessible to those who don’t know how to code. In this article, I will discuss some of the most effective data collection tools currently available.

Top 10 Best Data Collection Tools & Software

1. Bright Data (Bright Data Collector) — Number One Data Collection Tool for Coders

The Luminati Network changed its name to Bright Data in part because of its role as a data collector. With innovative products like the Data Collector, this firm has established itself as a frontrunner in the data gathering industry in addition to the proxy market.

You can use this tool to gather any information that is freely accessible on the web. If a collector has not been developed for your intended site, you can make one using this tool. Using this instrument, you won’t have to worry about adapting to ever-shifting page layouts, blocking difficulties, or scalability limitations.

2. Apify (Apify’s Web Scraper) — The Finest Data Collection Tool for Easy Scraping of Web Data

As its name implies, Apify is a service dedicated to automating your online responsibilities. The platform’s “actors,” which are essentially just automation bots, allow users to automate any repetitive manual activities performed inside a web browser. This is a top-tier data collection platform designed specifically for Node.JS programmers.

You can get started quickly by including their actor library into your code. They have a cast that includes, among others, scrapers for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, an Amazon scraper, a scraper for Google Maps, a scraper for Google Search Engine Results Pages, and a generic web scraper. If you want to maximize the efficiency of your Apify activities, you should install your own proxies even if Apify provides shared proxies for free.

3. ScrapingBee — Best Data Collection Tool for Circumventing Restriction when Scraping Data from Websites

If you’re trying to avoid being blocked when scraping data from the web, ScrapingBee is an API that can help you do just that. You can manage headless browsers, switch proxies, and answer Captchas with the assistance of this program. You can use it in the same way you would use any other API; just submit a request to its server that includes the page’s URL, and you’ll get the HTML for that page in return.

You’ll only be charged for fulfilled requests, which is an interesting twist. Also, this service comes with a data extraction tool, which is useful for gleaning information from other web pages. Google Search is only one of the many websites that can be scraped using this tool.

4. ScraperAPI — Best and Reliable Data Collection Tool

If you’re looking for a reliable data collector, go no further than the ScraperAPI, a proxy API tailored specifically for web scrapers. In the same vein as ScrapingBee, all you need to do to access the content of any website is submit a simple API. With ScraperAPI, you won’t have to worry about Captchas, proxies, or headless browsers. JavaScript is rendered in a headless browser using this technology.

It allows you to scrape geo-targeted material since its proxy pool has over Forty million IPs from 50plus countries. Among reliable data-gathering solutions, ScraperAPI is very inexpensive and offers a fantastic free trial to new users. This service charges you solely on fulfilled requests. The software is compatible with several languages used by developers today.

5. Proxycrawl — Best Data Collection Tool with User-Friendly Interface

Proxycrawl has a wide variety of useful features for web scraping and crawling, and it really is a comprehensive suite for these purposes. Here, my focus is on their Scraper API for extracting structured data from websites. Because of this, data extraction from websites is simplified.

Scraper APIs are available for a wide variety of popular services within the service’s sphere of operation. This is also accessible as an API tool, so you can forget about repairing scrapers altogether, which is just one of the many ways in which you will grow to appreciate it. Because it is based on proxycrawl, it is also rather inexpensive.

6. Mozenda — Best for Easy Extraction of Data

When it comes to data collecting services, Mozenda is among the best available. Since Mozenda is widely considered to have one of the greatest services available, it won’t be last on the list. Besides collecting information, Mozenda has several more uses. It’s not just useful for scraping information off of websites but also for analyzing and displaying that information in a variety of ways.

There are a lot of large companies that use the Mozenda web scraping service since it can manage data scraping on any scale. Though Mozenda is a premium service, the first 30 days are free for new customers.

7. Agenty (Agenty Scraping Agent) — Best Non-Coder Data Collection Tool

To do tasks such as sentimental analysis, text extraction and recognition, change detection, data scraping, and many others, you can use the Agenty service, which is hosted in the cloud. We’re particularly interested in their support for data scraping since that’s how you can get information from websites without having to create any code at all.

You can get Agenty as a Chrome add-on. You can use their scraping agent to get information that is either freely accessible online or that is protected by another authentication method, so long as you have access to the necessary credentials. Despite being a commercial service, you can use the tool risk-free for fourteen days.

8. Helium Scraper — Simple, Reliable, and Authentic Data Collection Tool

If you’re looking for a simple web scraper, go no further than Helium Scraper. You can get this data gatherer as a Windows program that’s free to try out and has a simple UI.

This tool guarantees quick collection of even complicated data through a straightforward procedure. Similar element identification, JavaScript rendering, text manipulation, API calls, database and SQL creation support, and numerous data format compatibility are just some of the extensive capabilities included in this application. It’s free for ten days, and you can try out all of its functionality.

9. ParseHub — Best Budget-friendly Data Collection Tool for Non-Coders

When you sign up with ParseHub, you get access to the free tier permanently, whereas Octoparse only gives you access for 14 days. In order to scrape JavaScript-heavy webpages, ParseHub has been updated to enable new web features, including rendering and running JavaScript. Even any outdated website can have its data scraped using this tool.

When it comes to web scraping, ParseHub has you covered with everything you could possibly want or need. They provide a hosted service to their paying customers, enable scheduled scraping, and include anti-bot security bypass methods.

10. Octoparse — Best Data Collection for Beginners without Coding and Programming Experience

When it comes to data collection tools that don’t need knowledge of programming languages, Octoparse is a prominent contender. In order to narrow down your search results, the program offers a simple point-and-click interface. You can create structured data from any website with Octoparse. This data collector’s simplicity will quickly become one of your favorite features.

In addition to being compatible with any website, Octoparse also provides flexible export options for the data it scrapes. You’ll learn to enjoy this tool’s many useful features, including the fact that you can try it risk-free for fourteen days.

FAQs

Q. Is it necessary to use proxies for data collection?

Web scraping relies heavily on proxies; without them, a scraper’s efforts to access a website would be stopped within a short while. Data proxies are needed for all of the aforementioned data collectors, although who provides them varies by program.

You won’t need to include proxies if you use data collectors for programmers like ScraperAPI, ScrapingBee, or Bright Data, since these tools already take care of proxies for you. You will need to set up proxies if you plan on using a scraping tool like Octoparse, ParseHub, or Helium Scraper.

Q. Is it illegal to scrape data from websites?

It may seem at first that online scraping is prohibited; however, repeated judgments between major web services and web scrapers in US courts have dispelled this myth. Nonetheless, depending on the context, it can be against the law.

Although online scraping is perfectly legal, many websites take precautions against scraping by using anti-bot systems. In order to scrape these sites, you will need to find a way to fool the anti-bot protections.

Conclusion

I think you’ll agree after reading the above that you have no more excuses for not scraping the data you’re interested in, regardless of your level of coding expertise. Additionally, there are free options available, so there’s no longer any excuse for not having a web scraper.