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Web Scraping Guide

Top Web Scraping APIs That Bypass Cloudflare (Tested)

Cloudflare's "Waiting Room" and 403 Forbidden errors are the enemy of every developer. We tested the top APIs to see which ones actually get through.

If you've tried scraping a modern website with standard Python `requests` or even Selenium, you've likely hit the dreaded Cloudflare Turnstile or 403 Forbidden block. Maintaining your own headless browser infrastructure to bypass these is expensive and time-consuming.

The solution? Web Scraping APIs. These services handle the proxy rotation, fingerprinting, and CAPTCHA solving for you.

1. ScraperAPI
Best Value

ScraperAPI is the go-to tool for developers who want simplicity. It uses a smart routing system to automatically retry failed requests with different proxies until it succeeds.

How it Bypasses Cloudflare:

They have a specific "Premium" proxy pool that is optimized for anti-bot detection. You simply add &premium=true to your request, and it handles the JS rendering and headers automatically.

Python Integration
import requests

payload = {
    'api_key': 'YOUR_KEY', 
    'url': 'https://cloudflare-protected-site.com', 
    'premium': 'true'
}
r = requests.get('https://api.scraperapi.com/', params=payload)
print(r.text)
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2. Bright Data (Web Unlocker)
Enterprise Grade

Formerly Luminati, Bright Data is the heavyweight champion of scraping. Their "Web Unlocker" is specifically built to mimic human behavior so perfectly that it never triggers the CAPTCHA in the first place.

Why it works:

Try Web Unlocker →
3. ZenRows
Rising Star

ZenRows is a newer player that focuses almost exclusively on bypassing anti-bots like Cloudflare, Akamai, and Datadome. It is often cheaper than the big two but delivers impressive success rates for difficult sites.

View ZenRows Pricing →

Verdict

If you are a solo developer or building a micro-SaaS, start with ScraperAPI due to its generous free tier and simple pricing. If you are an enterprise needing to scrape millions of pages without fail, Bright Data is the industry standard.