What is PayPerScrape?
A single API endpoint that handles all the complexity of web scraping—proxies, JavaScript rendering, anti-bot bypass, and strategy optimization.
What PayPerScrape Is
PayPerScrape is a per-request web scraping API that eliminates the need to manage proxies, handle JavaScript rendering, or deal with anti-bot protection yourself.
Instead of building and maintaining a scraping infrastructure, you send a URL to our endpoint and receive clean HTML content. We handle:
- Domain-specific strategy optimization (cached per domain)
- Automatic escalation (static → JS rendering → premium proxies)
- Content completeness evaluation
- Anti-bot bypass for protected sites
- Geographic routing when needed
No Platform, Just an Endpoint: Unlike traditional scraping platforms that require accounts, API keys, dashboards, and complex setup, PayPerScrape is a single HTTP endpoint. No sign-ups, no configuration—just send a request with x402 payment and get your content.
What is x402 Scraping?
x402 is Coinbase's payment protocol that enables per-request micropayments using cryptocurrency. Instead of monthly subscriptions or prepaid credits, you pay for each scrape as it happens.
Pay Per Request
Each successful scrape costs $0.05 per request. No subscriptions, no unused credits.
No Accounts
Pay directly from your crypto wallet. No API keys, no account management, no platform lock-in.
When you make a request, you'll receive a 402 Payment Required response with payment instructions. Once you submit the x402 payment, your request is processed and you receive the scraped content.
How It Works: The Complete Flow
PayPerScrape follows a simple, transparent flow:
Your Code → PayPerScrape
Send a POST request with the URL you want to scrape and x402 payment token.
PayPerScrape → Scrape Website
We intelligently scrape the target website using the optimal strategy (static, JS rendering, or premium proxies).
Scraped Data Returns
You receive clean HTML content with metadata about the scraping process (attempts, escalations, completeness).
Payment Settled
x402 payment is processed per request. You only pay $0.05 for each successful scrape.
What the API Endpoint Does
The POST /api/scrape endpoint is a complete scraping solution in a single API call:
URL Normalization & Validation
Validates and normalizes the URL, blocks private networks and localhost.
Domain Strategy Lookup
Checks cached strategy for the domain (static/js/premium) to optimize cost and success rate.
Intelligent Scraping
Attempts scraping with the optimal strategy, automatically escalating if needed (up to 4 attempts).
Content Evaluation
Evaluates HTML for completeness, detects hydration skeletons, anti-bot challenges, and geoblocks.
Strategy Caching
Caches the successful strategy for future requests to the same domain, reducing cost and latency.
What Problem Does It Solve?
vs. Traditional Scraping Platforms
Traditional Platforms Require:
- Account creation and API key management
- Dashboard for monitoring and configuration
- Prepaid credits or monthly subscriptions
- Manual strategy selection per domain
- Complex retry logic and error handling
- Platform lock-in and vendor dependency
PayPerScrape Provides:
- Single API endpoint—no accounts or API keys
- Per-request payment via x402—pay only for what you use
- Automatic strategy optimization—we figure out what works
- Intelligent escalation—handles JS, anti-bot, geoblocks automatically
- Domain strategy caching—learns and optimizes over time
- No platform lock-in—just an endpoint you can call
vs. Building Your Own Scraper
Building your own scraping infrastructure means managing:
- Proxy Management: Rotating IPs, handling bans, residential vs datacenter proxies
- JavaScript Rendering: Headless browsers, Puppeteer/Playwright setup, resource management
- Anti-Bot Bypass: Cloudflare challenges, CAPTCHA solving, fingerprint management
- Strategy Optimization: Learning which domains need what approach, A/B testing
- Error Handling: Retries, fallbacks, partial content detection
- Cost Management: Balancing success rate vs cost, monitoring usage
PayPerScrape handles all of this automatically. You focus on using the data, not managing the infrastructure.
The "No Platform, Just an Endpoint" Philosophy
PayPerScrape is built on a simple principle: scraping should be as easy as making an HTTP request.
No Accounts
No sign-up forms, no email verification, no password management. Just make a request.
No API Keys
No key generation, no key rotation, no key management. Payment via x402 is your authentication.
No Configuration
No dashboards, no settings, no domain rules to configure. We figure it out automatically.
Pay Per Use
No subscriptions, no prepaid credits, no unused capacity. Pay only for successful scrapes.
Result: You integrate PayPerScrape like any other API endpoint. No special SDKs, no platform-specific code, no vendor lock-in. It's just an endpoint that returns HTML when you send it a URL and payment.