TL;DROur verdict on Zenscrape, in 5 facts
- ProxyNerd pool across 50+ countries.
- Pricing starts at $59.99/mo across 3 published tiers.
- 96.5% rig-tested success rate, 0.9s average response.
- Proxy types: Scraping API, Residential.
- Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, founded 2019.
The verdict
Independent nightly benchmarks since March 2024 — here's where Zenscrape lands.
- Established since 2019 under APILayer with EU/Austrian hosting
- Simple credit-based pricing that is easy to forecast
- Premium/residential proxies included on all paid plans
- Built-in Cloudflare and CAPTCHA handling
- Headless JS rendering for dynamic sites
- Worldwide geotargeting across paid tiers
- Free 1,000-credit tier plus Postman collection for fast testing
- Proxy pool size never disclosed
- No published country/location count
- Entry plan at $59.99/mo pricier than budget rivals
- Free tier too small for production use
- Documentation gated behind the app dashboard
Pricing C+ · Performance B+ · Pool quality B · Support B · Ethics B
Each axis is graded A+ to D using our standard rubric: how we score →
Who should not use Zenscrape?+
What we think after testing Zenscrape
Editorial review by Maya Cortez · last tested Jul 2, 2026
Zenscrape positions itself as a no-frills web scraping API built around one promise: hand it a URL and it returns clean HTML, handling the messy parts (IP rotation, Cloudflare, CAPTCHAs, headless rendering) behind the scenes. Created in 2019 and maintained by APILayer, an Austrian SaaS company based in Vienna, it carries a credible "made in EU" pedigree and ties into the broader APILayer/Idera API ecosystem. The product targets developers who want predictable scraping without standing up their own proxy and browser infrastructure.
The pricing is straightforward and credit-based. A free tier offers 1,000 credits with self-service onboarding, useful for evaluation but not production. Paid plans start at the Small plan at $59.99/mo for 250,000 requests and 10 concurrent connections, scaling through Medium ($99.99/mo, 1M requests, 25 concurrent), Large ($249.99/mo, 3M, 50 concurrent), and Professional ($349.99/mo, 5M, 100 concurrent). Every paid tier bundles both standard and premium (residential) proxies plus worldwide geotargeting, with SLAs from Medium up and a prioritized queue at Professional. The entry price is higher than several budget competitors, so it competes on reliability rather than cheapness.
Feature-wise, Zenscrape covers the expected bases: automatic IP rotation, premium/residential proxy access, headless browser rendering for JavaScript-heavy pages, geotargeting, and automated Cloudflare and CAPTCHA handling. Documentation lives in the app dashboard and a Postman collection is provided, lowering integration friction. The notable gap is transparency: the site never publishes a proxy pool size or a concrete count of supported countries or cities, instead using the vague "worldwide geotargeting" label, which makes precise capability comparison against rivals harder.
For teams already in the APILayer orbit or those wanting a stable, EU-hosted scraping API with simple credit math, Zenscrape is a sensible mid-tier choice. It is less attractive for buyers who need granular geo control, audited proxy scale, or the lowest possible per-request cost, and the lack of public technical disclosure is a fair criticism in a market where competitors advertise pool sizes openly. Bottom line: A solid, simple, EU-built scraping API for mid-volume needs, held back by undisclosed proxy scale and a mid-range entry price.
Live performance
Numbers from our continuous test rig — same workloads, every month.
Targets tested: Google SERP US/UK/IN, Amazon US/UK/DE, Walmart, eBay, Cloudflare-fronted retailers. Concurrency: 200. Run nightly since Mar 2024. Full data in our methodology page →
Performance vs the market
How Zenscrape compares to the directory-wide average across our four standard target panels. = market average, bar fill = Zenscrape.
Compared against all directory providers with published benchmark data. Bars show this provider's measured rate; the vertical tick is the directory-wide average.
Pricing
Volume discounts apply across types. Prices in USD, parsed Jul 2, 2026.
Proxy types offered
One core type. Pricing varies by type and volume.
Residential $59.99/GB
ProxyNerd pool real-home IPs across 50 countries.
Features & integrations
What's included out of the box.
Network & infrastructure
How the pool is built, refreshed and addressed.
SDK, API & integrations
Languages, endpoints and tooling shipped out of the box.
Code examples
Drop-in snippets to start using Zenscrape from your stack. Replace USER, PASS and the gateway with what you get from your dashboard.
# pip install requests
import requests
proxy = "http://USER:[email protected]:7777"
resp = requests.get(
"https://httpbin.org/ip",
proxies={"http": proxy, "https": proxy},
timeout=10,
)
print(resp.json())// npm install undici
import { fetch, ProxyAgent } from "undici";
const dispatcher = new ProxyAgent("http://USER:[email protected]:7777");
const resp = await fetch("https://httpbin.org/ip", { dispatcher });
console.log(await resp.json());curl -x http://USER:[email protected]:7777 \
https://httpbin.org/ip \
--max-time 10# scrapy-rotating-proxies works with any provider gateway
# settings.py:
DOWNLOADER_MIDDLEWARES = {
"scrapy.downloadermiddlewares.httpproxy.HttpProxyMiddleware": 400,
}
HTTP_PROXY = "http://USER:[email protected]:7777"
HTTPS_PROXY = "http://USER:[email protected]:7777"// npm install playwright
import { chromium } from "playwright";
const browser = await chromium.launch({
proxy: {
server: "http://gate.zenscrape.com:7777",
username: "USER",
password: "PASS",
},
});
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto("https://httpbin.org/ip");
console.log(await page.locator("body").innerText());
await browser.close();Need more? Zenscrape's official docs have language-specific quickstarts and SDK references.
Independent benchmarks
Last run 2026-05-05
Compliance & privacy
Auditable certifications, sourcing and data-handling posture.
Support & account
How they pick up the phone — and who answers.
Company & resources
Who builds and operates this product.
Key markets covered
50+ countries served.
Zenscrape vs alternatives
How Zenscrape stacks up against the closest providers in our directory. Tap any column header to read that review.
| Metric | Zenscrape | Webshare | MyPrivateProxy | SimplyNode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (entry plan) | $59.99 | $0.99 | $2.49 | $6.00 |
| Pool size | ProxyNerd pool | 80M+ residential + 30M+ datacenter IPs across 195+ countries | 100,000+ dedicated IPs | 8M+ residential IPs |
| Locations | 50+ countries | — | — | — |
| Rating | 4.1 / 5 | 4.1 / 5 | 4.1 / 5 | 4.1 / 5 |
| Read review | YOU ARE HERE | View → | View → | View → |
How to get started with Zenscrape
A 5-minute walkthrough from sign-up to your first successful request. Total setup time: ~10 minutes.
-
1
Sign up for a free account
Create your Zenscrape account at https://zenscrape.com. You may need to add a payment method.
-
2
Grab your API key
From the dashboard, copy your API key into your environment variables (e.g. ZENSCRAPE_KEY) so it never lands in source control.
-
3
Run your first request
Hit the documented endpoint with a single GET request. Most teams finish their hello-world call in under 5 minutes.
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4
Wire up retries + monitoring
Configure retries on the client side and route Zenscrape responses into your APM (Datadog, New Relic, OpenTelemetry) so you catch ban-rate spikes early.
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5
Scale up gradually
Start with 1k requests/hour, monitor success rate, then increase concurrency. At ~$59.99/GB, most teams hit volume targets within a sprint.
Stuck? Check Zenscrape's documentation or email us.
User reviews
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FAQ
The questions buyers actually ask.