07Web scraping API
Web scraping APIs, without the parser
Most "web scraping API" searches end at the same wall: you get raw HTML back and still have to write — and keep fixing — the parser that turns it into fields. RankFabrik takes the other route. Three data-collection APIs return the fields directly, already typed, from one HTTP call: local businesses, job listings, and YouTube transcripts. No proxies to rent, no browser to render, no scraper to babysit.
Listings by title and place, past the 1,000-result cap, salary fill rate on every row.
Jobs API →Two kinds of web scraping API
They get lumped under one name, but they solve different halves of the problem:
- Generic fetchers — you hand them a URL, they return the rendered HTML with proxies and CAPTCHA handling attached. Flexible: any page. But the field you actually wanted is still buried in that HTML, and the parser that digs it out is yours to write and yours to fix every time the markup shifts.
- Structured data-collection APIs — you hand them a query, they return the fields. No HTML, no parser, no rendering. You trade "any URL" for clean, typed rows and a stated fill rate on every field. This is what RankFabrik builds.
If you need to scrape one specific page shape you control, a generic fetcher fits. If you need thousands of clean records about businesses, jobs or videos — and you'd rather not own a parser — the structured route is faster to ship and cheaper to keep running.
What every RankFabrik API shares
- One call, structured JSON. A query in, typed records out — no HTML, no headless browser, no proxy pool on your side.
- A fill rate you read before you pay. Every response carries a
completenessblock scoring how often each field was actually present in the batch, so an empty field is a fact you see up front, not a surprise after billing. - Nulls, never inventions. A missing phone or salary comes back as
null. Nothing is fabricated to fill a gap. - Pay per record on Apify. One event per record returned, billed by Apify — never for an empty run, and no monthly subscription to carry.
- Public data only. Each API reads the logged-out channel of its source — no account, no session, no protection bypassed.
Pay per record — one actor per product
No subscription and no shared plan: each API is its own Apify actor, billed per record it returns. The lower figure is a plain record, the higher an enriched one.
Places
place · place-contact
Jobs
job · job-complete
Captions
transcript-auto · transcript-human
Metered and billed by Apify — you pay only for events the actor returns, never for an empty run, and there is no separate RankFabrik account to open.
Which API do you need?
| You want to collect… | Use | Key fields |
|---|---|---|
| Local businesses, POIs, company contact data | Places API | Address, phone, website, rating |
| Job listings from Indeed & LinkedIn channels | Jobs API | Title, company, location, salary |
| YouTube video transcripts & subtitles | Captions API | Transcript text, language, auto-vs-human |
Just need one transcript by hand? The free web tool returns it in a paste-and-copy box, no key required.
Questions
What is a web scraping API?
A web scraping API is an HTTP service that collects data from public web pages and returns it to your code, so you don't run browsers, rotate proxies or maintain scrapers yourself. There are two families: generic fetchers that hand back raw HTML for a URL and leave the parsing to you, and structured data-collection APIs that return clean, typed records for a specific domain — businesses, job listings, video transcripts. RankFabrik is the second kind.
Do I need my own proxies or a headless browser?
No. Each RankFabrik API reads the public, logged-out channel of its source and hands back finished records — you send a query over plain HTTP and store the JSON. There is nothing to render, no proxy pool to rent, and no parser to keep fixing every time the page markup changes.
How is this different from a generic scraping API like ScraperAPI or ScrapingBee?
Generic scraping APIs fetch a URL and return the page — rendered HTML plus proxy and CAPTCHA handling — and you still write and maintain the parser that turns that HTML into fields. RankFabrik's APIs skip that step: they return the fields directly, already parsed into name, address, phone, salary, transcript text, and score how completely each field was filled. You trade 'any URL' flexibility for clean rows and a fill rate you can read before you pay.
Is web scraping with these APIs allowed?
Each API reads the public, logged-out channel of its source — no account, no session, no protection bypassed — and returns the same fields a visitor sees on the page. It collects public data only, at a measured rate. You remain responsible for how you use the data under the terms and laws that apply to you; the API does not access anything gated behind a login.
What does it cost, and is there a free tier?
Every RankFabrik API runs on Apify and bills per record returned — never for an empty run, no monthly subscription. Places is $1.00–$2.00 per 1,000, Jobs $2.50–$4.00 per 1,000, and Captions $2.00–$4.00 per 1,000 — the lower figure for a plain record, the higher for an enriched one. Metered and billed by Apify; there is no separate RankFabrik account to open.