Irmu vs ScrapingDog
Budget scraping endpoint versus a full web data platform.
ScrapingDog is a straightforward scraping endpoint with attractive entry pricing and a set of prebuilt scrapers for popular targets. If all you need is HTML from moderately protected pages at low volume, it does the job.
Irmu covers the same ground but adds the parts teams reach for next: a real browser API, screenshots, schema-validated AI extraction and a proxy endpoint you can point existing crawlers at — all behind one key and one quota.
Side by side
| Capability | Irmu | ScrapingDog |
|---|---|---|
| Unified API surface | Scrape, browser, screenshot, extract, proxy | Scraping + prebuilt endpoints |
| AI structured extraction | Built in, schema-validated | Not offered |
| Headless browser control | REST actions + remote CDP | Rendering flag only |
| Screenshot & PDF | Included | Basic |
| Residential proxy pool | Residential, ISP and datacenter, city targeting | Country targeting |
| Billing model | Successful requests only | Counts some failures |
| Free tier | 200 credits/month, forever | Trial credits |
| Support | Email, on every plan | Paid tiers only |
What ScrapingDog does well
- Low entry price
- Simple prebuilt endpoints
- Straightforward docs
Which to choose
Choose ScrapingDog for cheap, simple HTML fetching at modest volume. Choose Irmu when you need rendering, browser control and structured extraction to live behind the same API as your fetching.
Switching questions
Other comparisons
Irmu vs ScrapingBee
A well-liked rendering API versus a broader infrastructure layer.
Irmu vs ZenRows
Anti-bot specialists versus an end-to-end data pipeline.
Irmu vs Bright Data
Enterprise proxy giant versus a developer-first platform.
Irmu vs Apify
Actor marketplace versus a first-party API platform.
Irmu vs Oxylabs
Proxy-first enterprise vendor versus a unified data API.
Try Irmu alongside ScrapingDog
1,000 free credits a month — benchmark on your own targets.