The open-source Scrapfly alternative
Scrapfly is a hosted scraping platform: one API key for fetching, extraction, crawling, screenshots and a cloud browser that runs its own closed Chromium fork. Clearcote is the browser itself, an engine-level Chromium that runs on your machines with the Playwright or Puppeteer code you already have, or on ours at €1 per GB.
What is Scrapfly?
Scrapfly is a hosted web-scraping platform. One API key covers a Web Scraping API with an unblocker option for protected sites, Curlium (its HTTP engine with browser-like network behaviour), an Extraction API that turns HTML into structured data from a prompt or a schema, a Crawler API, a Screenshot API, an MCP server and an AI browser agent. Its Cloud Browser gives you a Chromium over CDP for Playwright, Puppeteer or Selenium, on datacenter or residential proxies; a session runs for 15 minutes by default and 30 at most. SDKs cover Python, TypeScript, Go, Rust and Scrapy.
The browser behind it is Scrapium, which Scrapfly describes as its custom Chromium fork, with "550+ patched source files" and fingerprints drawn from real device profiles. It is offered as a managed service: Scrapfly's site describes no way to download or self-host it, and the source is closed. Everything is billed in shared credits. Plans run from a free tier with 1,000 credits to $500 a month for 5,500,000 credits and 100 concurrent requests, with custom contracts above that. The Cloud Browser costs 1 credit per 30 seconds, plus 7 credits per MB on datacenter proxies or 52 per MB on residential ones; at the $100 plan's rate, residential traffic comes to about $5.30 a GB.
Sources, checked on 20 October 2026: the products and SDKs from Scrapfly's homepage; Scrapium and how it is offered from the Cloud Browser page; the connection, session limits and credit rates from the Cloud Browser docs; and the plans, concurrency and compliance from the pricing page.
Clearcote vs Scrapfly
| Feature | Clearcote | Scrapfly |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | The browser: a patched Chromium and SDKs; you write the scraper | A hosted platform: scraping API, extraction, crawler, screenshots and a cloud browser |
| Where it runs | Your machines (Windows, Linux, Docker, or a macOS arm64 preview), or our hosted browsers | Scrapfly's cloud only |
| Browser engine | Chromium 155, patched in C++; the open build's patches are public, the Pro build adds private ones | Scrapium, a closed Chromium fork; Scrapfly cites 550+ patched source files |
| Source | Open build readable and reproducible (BSD-3) | Closed |
| Hosted browser price | €1 per GB, residential proxy included, no plan | 1 credit per 30 s plus 52 credits per MB residential (about $5.30 a GB at the $100 plan's rate), or 7 per MB datacenter |
| Running it yourself | Open build free; Pro build free with GitHub for one browser at a time; Pro $49/mo for up to 250 browsers at once | Not offered |
| Session length | No cap when you run it yourself | 15 minutes by default, 30 at most |
| Without a browser | Not offered: every page loads in a real browser | Curlium HTTP engine, Extraction and Crawler APIs, scheduling, webhooks |
| Code | Python, Node and .NET SDKs returning Playwright objects, or a CDP endpoint | SDKs for Python, TypeScript, Go, Rust and Scrapy; the cloud browser over CDP for Playwright, Puppeteer or Selenium |
| Data and compliance | Self-hosted, pages and data stay on your machines | Runs in Scrapfly's cloud; SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001, a DPA on paid plans, a HIPAA BAA on custom plans |
Comparison compiled October 2026. Scrapfly is closed source / hosted service; details change — check its project for the latest.
Why teams pick Clearcote
Run it where your code runs
Clearcote runs on your own Windows or Linux machines, in Docker or on a macOS arm64 preview, with your proxies and no session limit. What Pro pays for is how many browsers run at once, not how many requests or minutes they use.
Keep your scripts
launch() returns a normal Playwright browser in Python, Node or .NET, and serve() gives the same engine as a CDP endpoint. Existing Playwright or Puppeteer code keeps working, with no API to rebuild it around.
A browser you can read and test
Clearcote's open build ships every patch as readable source with reproducible builds, and the free 346-check fingerprint test is public, so you can check the engine instead of taking it on trust.
Hosted at a published price
When you'd rather not run browsers, Clearcote's hosted browsers cost €1 per GB with a residential proxy included, no plan and no credit estimator.
When Scrapfly might be the better pick
- You don't want to write or run browser code: you send a URL and get HTML, markdown or JSON back.
- Most of your pages don't need a real browser, so a fast HTTP engine is cheaper per page, and you want extraction, crawling, screenshots and scheduling on the same key.
- You need SOC 2, ISO 27001, a DPA or a HIPAA BAA from your scraping vendor.
- Scrapfly is a mature, widely used platform. If you'd rather rent results than run browsers, it's a sensible choice.
FAQ
Is Scrapfly's Cloud Browser the same kind of thing as Clearcote?
It's the closest part: a patched Chromium you drive over CDP with Playwright or Puppeteer. The difference is where it lives. Scrapium runs only in Scrapfly's cloud and its source is closed; Clearcote runs on your own machines or on ours, and its open build is public.
Can I run Scrapfly's browser myself?
Scrapfly's site describes Scrapium only as part of its managed Cloud Browser and scraping API, and we found no self-hosted option. Clearcote's builds run on your own Windows or Linux machines, in Docker or on a macOS arm64 preview; see Deployment.
How do the prices compare?
Scrapfly bills shared credits: plans from $30 a month for 200,000 credits to $500 for 5,500,000, and the Cloud Browser at 1 credit per 30 seconds plus 52 credits per MB of residential traffic (7 per MB on datacenter proxies). Clearcote's hosted browsers are €1 per GB with a residential proxy included. Run it yourself and the open build is free, the Pro build is free with GitHub for one browser at a time, and Pro is $49 a month for up to 250 browsers at once.
Do I have to rewrite my scraper to move?
Not if it already uses Playwright or Puppeteer. Swap the line that launches or connects to the browser for Clearcote's launch() or a connect URL to a hosted browser, and the page code stays the same. If you call Scrapfly's scraping API instead of driving a browser, you'd move that logic into your own code.
More than twice the patches of any open fork.
Patches compiled into Chromium, by approach. Script-based tools don't change the engine at all.
Stealth plugins
e.g. puppeteer-extra-plugin-stealth
Patched drivers
e.g. undetected-chromedriver, nodriver
Other open Chromium forks
free and paid builds
Clearcote Pro
r46, Chromium 155
Published patch counts, October 2026. The range covers the open forks' free and paid builds; Clearcote's is the Pro build.
346 checks, free, on your own browser
The fingerprint test every Clearcote build is held to. Run it on whatever you use today and compare.
Run the testThe open build's patches are public
The free open build is BSD-3, reproducible from source and needs no account. The Pro build adds private patches on top.
Open on GitHub46 engine releases, 6 Chromium majors
Every patch is carried to each new Chromium. The latest build gets new majors the day they ship.
See the releasesRelated reading
Try the open-source Chromium alternative
Free and open source, a drop-in for Playwright & Puppeteer, coherent down to the TLS handshake.
Free for one browser with GitHub. No card.