Extracto vs Zyte

Honest Extracto vs Zyte comparison. Zyte owns Scrapy Cloud and big crawls. Extracto returns typed JSON validated against your own schema, no spider code.

How they differ

Zyte (zyte.com, formerly Scrapinghub) is a broad web data platform built around three pillars: Scrapy Cloud for hosting and scheduling Scrapy spiders, a Smart Proxy Manager that rotates datacenter and residential IPs automatically, and the Zyte API with AI automatic extraction for products, articles, job postings and more. It is a deep, mature ecosystem aimed at teams running large recurring crawls who are comfortable writing or hosting Scrapy code. Extracto solves a narrower problem on purpose. You send one URL plus a JSON schema you define, and you get back typed JSON validated against that schema, with any field it cannot find returned as null instead of a guessed value. There is no Scrapy project, no spider to deploy, no extraction template to pick from a fixed catalog. Every Extracto request runs through a real headless browser with a managed anti-bot layer that handles protected sites such as Cloudflare, DataDome and PerimeterX, with proxies managed for you. If you already live in Scrapy and need to crawl thousands of pages, Zyte is the stronger home. If you want exact-shape, validated output from individual pages with no crawler framework, Extracto fits better.

Feature comparison

Feature	Extracto	Zyte	Notes
Define the exact output schema	Yes, your JSON schema per request	Customizable on top of fixed data types	Zyte starts from built-in types (product, article, jobPosting) and lets you add or remove fields. Extracto has no base type, the shape is entirely yours.
Output validated against your schema	Yes, typed JSON validated per call	AI extraction, not strict schema validation	Zyte returns rich extracted objects but is model-driven. Extracto enforces your declared types and returns the contracted shape every time.
Missing field handling	Returns null, never guesses	Fields omitted or inferred by the model	Extracto guarantees an explicit null for absent data so downstream code can branch on it. Zyte may simply leave a field absent depending on the page.
Managed anti-bot and proxy layer	Included on every request, no setup	Smart Proxy Manager, mature and configurable	Both manage proxies for you. Zyte exposes far more proxy control and geolocation options, a genuine advantage for tuning hard targets at scale.
Large recurring crawls	Single URL per call, not a crawler	Scrapy Cloud, built for big crawls	This is squarely Zyte territory. Scrapy Cloud schedules, monitors and scales spiders across many pages, which Extracto does not attempt to do.
No-code or no-framework usage	No selectors, no spider code	AI extraction also needs no selectors	Both avoid CSS selectors. Zyte still benefits from Scrapy knowledge for crawling, while Extracto needs only a URL and a schema.
Platform breadth	Focused single-URL extraction API	Scrapy Cloud + Proxy Manager + API + tooling	Zyte is a far broader platform with hosting, monitoring, Spidermon and a long product history. Extracto is deliberately one focused capability.
JavaScript-rendered pages	Real headless browser on every call	Browser rendering available via extractFrom	Both can render JS. Zyte lets you choose httpResponseBody for cheaper, faster runs, a useful cost lever Extracto does not expose.
Custom attributes via natural language	Schema fields define what you want	LLM custom attributes supported	Zyte supports natural-language custom attributes priced separately. Extracto expresses intent through the schema you submit rather than prompts.
Login-gated content	Enterprise only	Possible via custom sessions and cookies	Session-gated sites like LinkedIn or private Instagram data are limited on both. Zyte offers more session controls for advanced authenticated flows.

Pricing

As of 2026, Zyte API uses pay-as-you-go pricing that charges only for successful responses, with websites sorted into five automatic tiers and add-ons such as data extraction (roughly $0.0004 to $0.0016 per type) and custom attributes priced on top. Standard plans start around a $100 monthly limit, new accounts get $5 in free credit, and committed volume earns discounts up to roughly 52 percent. Scrapy Cloud is separate, with one free unit and paid units from about $9 per unit per month. Extracto prices in credits at one flat rate: a scrape is 1 credit and an AI extraction is 5 credits, while anti-bot, residential proxies, and JavaScript rendering are all included at the same price with no multiplier. Like Zyte, Extracto only charges when a request works: failed requests and cache hits are free. Compare on your real page mix and success rate, not headline rates.

Pricing for Zyte reflects their public plans at the time of writing. Check their site for current numbers.

Migrating to Extracto

1

Translate your Scrapy item into a JSON schema

Take the fields your existing Scrapy spider or Zyte extraction returns and write them as a JSON schema. Mark types explicitly and decide which fields are required. This becomes the exact contract Extracto validates each response against, replacing your parse logic.
2

Swap the spider loop for per-URL calls

Where Scrapy Cloud crawled and followed links, Extracto works one URL at a time. Keep your own URL list or discovery step, then call Extracto for each page. You drop the spider, middlewares and item pipelines and keep only the URLs you actually want extracted.
3

Replace null handling and proxy config

Remove your Smart Proxy Manager setup since anti-bot handling and proxies are managed on every Extracto request. Update downstream code to branch on explicit null values rather than missing keys or model-inferred guesses, then run both systems side by side on a sample before cutting over.

When to choose which

Choose Zyte when crawling is the core of the job. If you need to traverse thousands of pages, follow pagination and links, schedule recurring jobs, and monitor spiders over time, Scrapy Cloud and the Smart Proxy Manager are purpose-built for that scale and give you fine proxy and geolocation control. Zyte is also the better fit if your team already writes Scrapy, wants the cheaper httpResponseBody extraction path for simple pages, or needs the breadth of a long-standing platform with mature tooling. Choose Extracto when you have specific URLs and want exact-shape, typed JSON validated against a schema you define, with missing fields returned as null rather than guessed, and no Scrapy project or spider code to maintain. Extracto suits per-page extraction inside an app or workflow where the output contract matters more than crawl orchestration. Many teams reasonably use both: Zyte for the large crawl, Extracto for the high-fidelity per-page extraction.

Extracto vs Zyte: FAQ

Do I need to write Scrapy or spider code to use Extracto?

No. Extracto has no spider framework, no project to deploy and no extraction template to choose. You send a single URL and a JSON schema you define, and you get back typed JSON validated against that schema. Zyte's strength is the Scrapy ecosystem and Scrapy Cloud hosting, so if crawling many linked pages is your goal, Zyte fits better. Extracto is for extracting one page at a time into an exact shape.

Can Extracto handle Cloudflare or DataDome protected pages like Zyte?

Yes. Every Extracto request runs through a real headless browser with a managed anti-bot layer that handles protected sites such as Cloudflare, DataDome and PerimeterX, with proxies managed for you and no setup. Zyte's Smart Proxy Manager is more mature and configurable, exposing more proxy and geolocation control for tuning difficult targets at large volume. For straightforward per-page extraction, Extracto handles protected pages without any proxy configuration on your side.

How is Extracto's output different from Zyte's automatic extraction?

Zyte uses AI and machine learning to extract built-in data types like product, article and jobPosting, which you can customize. That is model-driven and very capable across many page layouts. Extracto instead validates every response against the JSON schema you submit, returns typed values, and sets any field it cannot find to null rather than inferring a value. The difference is a strict, declared output contract versus a flexible model that infers structure.

Is a credit the same as a page in Extracto pricing?

No, and this matters when comparing costs. As of 2026 Extracto prices in credits at one flat rate: a scrape is 1 credit and an AI extraction is 5 credits. Anti-bot, residential proxies, and JavaScript rendering are all included at the same price, with no multiplier for protected pages, and you only pay when a request works since failed requests and cache hits are free. Zyte by contrast charges per successful response across five website tiers with separate add-ons for extraction and custom attributes. To compare fairly, model your real mix of scrape versus extraction calls and your expected success rate rather than comparing headline per-request numbers.

Can Extracto crawl a whole site the way Scrapy Cloud does?

No. Extracto takes one URL per call and is not a crawler. It does not follow links, paginate or schedule recurring jobs. That is exactly where Zyte's Scrapy Cloud shines, with isolated containers, scheduling, monitoring and scaling for large recurring crawls. If you need site-wide traversal, keep that orchestration in Scrapy or your own code and optionally call Extracto for the high-fidelity per-page extraction step.

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