# Grabber vs ZenRows

> Grabber vs ZenRows: price per page, plans, free tiers, failed requests, formats and MCP, side by side. Checked October 2026.

ZenRows Fetch, formerly the Universal Scraper API, reads pages behind anti-bot systems, on monthly plans from $19. Grabber charges $0.001 per page, with no plan.

[Get API key](https://dashboard.grabber.sh/signup) · [All comparisons](https://grabber.sh/alternatives)

## At a glance

|  | Grabber | ZenRows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| How you pay | Prepaid credit, from $5. No plans | Monthly plans: Build from $19 for 45,000 credits |
| Pay without a subscription | Yes: it is the only way to pay | No, except for AI agents buying through its agent storefront |
| A static page | $0.001 | 1 credit: about $0.00042 on Build |
| A JavaScript page | $0.005 with js_render=true | 5 credits with js_render=true: about $0.0021 on Build |
| Failed requests | Never charged. A page that loads with a 404 or 500 status is charged | Not charged. A page with a 404 or 410 status is charged |
| Unused credit | Valid for 365 days | Plan credits expire at each renewal |
| Free tier | $1 at signup, about 1,000 pages, no card | 5,000 credits a month, no card |
| Formats | Markdown, HTML, text, links, raw body, page metadata | HTML, Markdown, text, PDF, screenshots, structured extraction |
| MCP server | Yes, remote | Yes, remote and local |
| Rate limit | 60 requests a minute per key | 20 concurrent requests on Build |

Checked on October 27, 2026 against ZenRows's own pricing page and docs. Prices change, so check the sources below before you decide.

## What it costs

| Example | Grabber | ZenRows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1,000 pages a month | $1 | $0 on the free plan |
| 10,000 pages a month | $10 | $19: Build |
| 100,000 pages a month | $100 | $39: Build with 120,000 credits |

Monthly billing, static pages. Rendering uses 5 credits, premium proxies 10.

## When ZenRows is the better choice

- Sites you need block automated requests: premium proxies, an adaptive stealth mode and 190+ countries.
- You fetch more than about 19,000 pages every month: a Build plan then costs less per page.
- You read up to 5,000 pages a month: the free plan covers that every month.
- You need page interactions, sticky sessions, screenshots or PDFs of pages.

## When Grabber is the better choice

- You fetch fewer than about 19,000 pages a month, or your volume varies: no plan, and credit lasts 365 days instead of expiring at renewal.
- You want a short price list: two prices, and no credit multipliers to work out.
- You want page metadata as fields: title, Open Graph tags, JSON-LD, emails and phone numbers, with includeMetadata=true.

## Switching from ZenRows

Both are GET APIs, and js_render even has the same name. Grabber reads the key from a header.

| ZenRows | Grabber |
| --- | --- |
| `apikey=` in the query | `Authorization: Bearer gsh_…` header |
| `js_render=true` | `js_render=true` |
| `response_type=markdown` | `formats=markdown&unwrap=true` |
| `premium_proxy=true` | No equivalent: Grabber has no premium proxies |

## Questions

### Is Grabber cheaper than ZenRows?

Below about 19,000 pages a month, yes: ZenRows' paid plans start at $19 a month. Above that, a ZenRows plan you use in full costs less per page, and up to 5,000 pages a month are free.

### Does Grabber get past anti-bot systems?

No. Grabber loads public pages directly, without proxies or CAPTCHA solving. For sites that block automated requests, ZenRows is the better tool.

### Do both have an MCP server?

Yes. ZenRows has remote and local servers. Grabber has a remote server at mcp.grabber.sh.

## Sources

- [ZenRows pricing docs](https://docs.zenrows.com/first-steps/pricing)
- [ZenRows pricing](https://www.zenrows.com/pricing)
- [ZenRows Fetch reference](https://docs.zenrows.com/fetch/api-reference)
- [ZenRows MCP server](https://docs.zenrows.com/mcp/overview)

Grabber's prices are on the [pricing page](https://grabber.sh/pricing) and in the [docs](https://grabber.sh/docs/pricing-and-limits).

## Other comparisons

- [Grabber vs Firecrawl](https://grabber.sh/alternatives/firecrawl): Monthly plans
- [Grabber vs Jina Reader](https://grabber.sh/alternatives/jina-reader): Prepaid tokens
- [Grabber vs Tavily Extract](https://grabber.sh/alternatives/tavily-extract): Credits
- [Grabber vs ScrapingBee](https://grabber.sh/alternatives/scrapingbee): Monthly plans
- [Grabber vs Scrape.do](https://grabber.sh/alternatives/scrape-do): Monthly plans
- [Grabber vs Apify](https://grabber.sh/alternatives/apify): Compute time

## Give your agents the web

Sign up in a minute and fetch your first 1,000 pages for free.

[Get API key](https://dashboard.grabber.sh/signup) · [Read the docs](https://grabber.sh/docs)