Decodo Alternative with 98% Success Rate on Protected Sites
Looking for a Decodo alternative focused on web scraping? Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) is primarily a proxy infrastructure provider. Web scraping is not their core business. Scrapfly is built from the ground up for web scraping, delivering 98% success on protected sites.
Where Scrapfly Succeeds on Protected Sites
Scrapeway benchmarks test web scraping APIs using default configurations. Scrapfly achieves 98% success across protected sites where most APIs struggle.
E-commerce
Professional & Jobs
Real Estate
Social Media
Why Bypass Reliability Matters
Anti-bot systems like Cloudflare, DataDome, and PerimeterX constantly update their defenses. When bypasses break, how quickly they're restored determines your scraping reliability. Scrapfly owns the full technology stack (proxies, browsers, fingerprinting, and challenge solving), enabling us to restore bypasses in days, not weeks.
Full Stack Ownership
- Active anti-bot monitoring 24/7
- Bypass restoration in days, not weeks
- No third-party proxy dependencies
- Real browser TLS fingerprint matching
Protected Sites We Handle
- Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX
- Akamai Bot Manager
- Custom enterprise solutions
- CAPTCHA challenges
Quick Comparison: Scrapfly vs Decodo
What matters most for production web scraping: success rate on protected sites, cost efficiency, and reliability with JavaScript rendering.
| Metric | Scrapfly | Decodo |
|---|---|---|
| Success Rate (Protected Sites) | 98% | N/A |
| Independent Benchmark Coverage | Scrapeway tracked | Not tracked |
| Free Trial | 1,000 API credits | Limited |
| JavaScript Rendering (Entry Plan) | Included | Advanced only |
| Geo-targeting (Entry Plan) | 50+ countries | 8 countries (Core) |
| Bandwidth Optimization | Proxy Saver (50% savings) | |
| Extraction API | AI-powered extraction | AI Parser |
Success rate data from Scrapeway benchmark (at time of writing)
How Scrapfly's ASP Works
Scrapfly's Anti-Scraping Protection (ASP) achieves 98% success using stealth browser technology that mimics genuine browser behavior. Enable asp=True and the system handles everything automatically.
Real Browser Fingerprints
Matches authentic Chrome and Firefox signatures including TLS/JA3 fingerprints, HTTP/2 fingerprints, WebGL properties, and canvas rendering.
Adaptive Challenge Solving
Automatically solves Cloudflare, DataDome, and PerimeterX challenges. Recognizes challenge types and submits valid solutions.
Session Intelligence
Reuses unblocked stealth browser sessions when possible, reducing costs while maintaining high success rates.
ASP runs in dedicated cloud browser instances with full JavaScript execution and persistent sessions. Test your fingerprint with our free fingerprinting tools.
Transparent Pricing for Protected Sites
Scrapfly's ASP costs 30+ credits per request, varying by target complexity. You pay for what's actually needed, not a flat premium rate. View full pricing details.
| Configuration | Scrapfly | Decodo |
|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | 1,000 API credits | Limited |
| JavaScript Rendering (Entry) | Included | Advanced only |
| Geo-targeting Coverage (Entry) | 50+ countries | 8 countries |
| Protected Site Cost | 30+ credits (varies by target) | $0.88-1.25/1K req (Advanced) |
Why Developers Choose a Dedicated Scraping API
Decodo is a proxy infrastructure provider that also offers scraping APIs. Scrapfly is built specifically for web scraping. Here's the difference.
Full Technology Ownership
Unlike providers relying on third-party proxy networks, Scrapfly owns the entire technology chain: proxies, browsers, fingerprinting, and challenge solving.
When anti-bot systems update, we restore bypasses in days, not weeks.
24/7 anti-bot monitoringIndependent Benchmark Verified
Scrapfly's performance is independently tracked by Scrapeway benchmarks, the industry's most comprehensive web scraping API comparison.
Decodo is not tracked, making it difficult to verify their "99.99% success rate" claims.
Transparent, verifiable resultsBandwidth Optimization with Proxy Saver
Residential proxies charge $6-15 per GB. At 1 million requests averaging 500KB, you're transferring ~500GB monthly.
Proxy Saver blocks junk traffic, stubs images/CSS, and caches responses, cutting bandwidth significantly.
Significant cost savings per million requestsExtraction API
Transform raw HTML into structured data automatically. Scrapfly's AI-powered Extraction API handles:
- Auto-extraction: Automatically detect and extract data
- LLM extraction: Natural language prompts for complex data
- Template extraction: Reusable extraction rules
Developers Who Switched from Decodo
Capterra Rating: 4.9/5 (183 reviews)
"The price, success rate and uptime. It was trivial changing over from another provider."
"Switching to Scrapfly took us less than 15 minutes to integrate with our existing project."
"I could scrape multiple pages of reviews for companies on Glassdoor. I used the discovery and I had more than enough for my research."
Migration Takes 2 Hours
Most teams migrate from Decodo to Scrapfly in under 2 hours with zero downtime and no data loss.
Migration Process
- Sign up for free 1,000 API credits
- Install the SDK (Python, TypeScript, Go, or Scrapy)
- Update client initialization and request parameters
- Test on your critical targets
Run both services in parallel during testing. Test Scrapfly on your targets while Decodo handles production traffic.
# Decodo → Scrapfly: Similar parameter structure
from scrapfly import ScrapflyClient, ScrapeConfig
client = ScrapflyClient(key='YOUR_API_KEY')
result = client.scrape(ScrapeConfig(
url='https://example.com',
render_js=True, # Replaces headless=html
asp=True, # Anti-bot bypass
country='us', # Replaces geo parameter
proxy_pool='public_residential_pool'
))
print(result.content)Full parameter mapping, multiple language examples, and AI-assisted migration tool:
View Full Migration GuideFrequently Asked Questions
Does Scrapfly really achieve 98% success on protected sites?
Yes. Scrapeway benchmarks all major web scraping APIs on identical protected targets, consistently showing Scrapfly achieving 98% success. This includes sites like LinkedIn, Walmart, Zillow, and Glassdoor where anti-bot protection is most aggressive.
Can I test Scrapfly on my specific targets before committing?
Yes. The free plan includes 1,000 API credits with no credit card required. Test your exact targets before upgrading.
Why isn't Decodo on Scrapeway benchmarks?
Scrapeway benchmarks the top web scraping APIs weekly. Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) is primarily a proxy provider. Their web scraping API is a secondary offering built on top of their proxy infrastructure.
Without independent benchmark data, it's difficult to verify Decodo's "99.99% success rate" claims. Scrapfly's 98% success rate is independently verified on challenging targets like LinkedIn, Walmart, and Zillow.
Does Decodo include JavaScript rendering on all plans?
No. Decodo's Core plan only outputs raw HTML. JavaScript rendering requires the Advanced plan. This means you can't scrape JavaScript-heavy sites (React, Vue, Angular) on the entry-level plan.
Scrapfly includes JavaScript rendering on all plans. Enable render_js=true to capture content from dynamic websites with full headless browser support.
What's the difference between Decodo and a dedicated scraping API?
Decodo is a proxy infrastructure company that added web scraping APIs as an additional product line. Their core business is selling proxy bandwidth.
Scrapfly is built from the ground up specifically for web scraping. We own the full technology stack (proxies, browsers, fingerprinting, and anti-bot bypass), which allows us to:
- Restore bypasses faster when anti-bot systems update
- Optimize specifically for scraping use cases
- Provide scraping-focused features like Extraction API, JS Scenarios, and Crawler API
Does Scrapfly support screenshots like Decodo?
Yes. Scrapfly's Screenshot API captures full-page screenshots, specific element screenshots, and supports multiple image formats (PNG, WebP, GIF, JPG). You can also capture screenshots with custom viewport sizes and wait conditions.
How does Scrapfly handle heavily protected sites?
Our ASP (Anti-Scraping Protection) automatically adapts to Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, and custom anti-bot systems by matching real browser TLS handshakes, fingerprints, and HTTP headers. No manual configuration required.
Why is Decodo not working on my target site?
If Decodo is returning errors on protected sites, it may be due to their anti-bot bypass capabilities. As a proxy-first provider, their scraping API may not have the same level of anti-bot specialization as dedicated scraping services.
Scrapfly's ASP achieves 98% success with default settings on challenging targets like LinkedIn, Walmart, and Zillow. Our full technology ownership means we can quickly adapt when anti-bot systems update their defenses.
What happens when a request fails?
Scrapfly provides detailed error diagnostics showing why requests fail (blocks, timeouts, site issues). Automatic retries handle transient failures, and you're not charged for unsuccessful requests.
Does Scrapfly support JavaScript rendering?
Yes. Scrapfly uses dedicated cloud browser instances with headless browser JavaScript rendering for dynamic content. Enable the render_js parameter to capture content from React, Vue.js, Angular apps and SPAs.
What proxies does Scrapfly include?
Scrapfly includes residential and datacenter proxies in all plans. Both rotate across 50+ countries. All proxies are included in API credits with no separate fees.
Does Scrapfly have an Extraction API?
Yes. Scrapfly's Extraction API transforms raw HTML into structured JSON data automatically. Choose from auto-extraction for common data types, LLM-powered extraction using natural language prompts, or template-based extraction with reusable rules.
See How Scrapfly Compares to Other APIs
Explore more comparisons to find the best web scraping solution for your needs.
Start For Free Today
Test Scrapfly on your targets before committing.
- 1,000 free API credits
- No credit card required
- Full API access
- Migration support
Methodology Note: Scrapeway benchmarks test web scraping APIs using default, out-of-the-box configurations, representing the real-world experience developers encounter when first integrating an API.