I’m building a Java app that extracts product data from online stores. Right now I’m using basic libraries but running into problems with sites that load content with JavaScript. Also dealing with getting blocked and those annoying robot checks.
I found out about ScrapingBee which is an API service that handles proxy switching and can run a real browser in the background. They say it can get past those robot tests automatically and give you clean JSON data back.
Should I stick with building my own scraper using tools like WebDriver and managing my own proxies? Or would it be smarter to just pay for a service that does all the hard work?
Anyone here tried both approaches? I’m mostly worried about whether these paid services actually work well and if they’re worth the cost. My app needs to scrape sites with lots of JavaScript so that’s the main challenge I’m facing.
Been there. It really comes down to your scale and budget. I started with Selenium WebDriver on a smaller project - worked fine at first, but maintaining it became a nightmare once I hit multiple sites. Every site update broke selectors and triggered new anti-bot stuff I had to work around. What killed it for me was infrastructure costs. Headless browsers eat server resources like crazy, especially with multiple sessions running. Just managing proxies took forever - time I could’ve spent building actual features. Here’s what I’d do: prototype both approaches with a few target sites first. Most services have trials or pay-per-request options so you can test without committing big money upfront. Ask yourself this - does your business value come from the scraping tech itself, or what you do with the data once you have it?
I switched from custom scraping to a paid service after struggling for months with JavaScript rendering and proxy issues. The time I saved was substantial—no more tweaking selectors or managing proxy rotations. I could concentrate more on developing my app instead.
Reliability is critical; anti-bot measures are constantly evolving, and managing your own scrapers can turn into a full-time job. These services often have teams dedicated to adapting to new techniques.
Consider your development time cost. If you find yourself spending over 20 hours each month babysitting scrapers, the cost of the service typically justifies itself. Make sure to thoroughly test their free tier on your target sites first before deciding to pay.
depends on ur budget and how much hassle u want. I did custom scraping for ages, it’s non-stop upkeep. sites change, captcha pop up, proxies go down. fees can add up quick tho. def try scrapingbee’s free tier on your sites b4 spending cash.