Skip to main content
Zenrows’ web data infrastructure is built from a small set of primitives, each covering a different part of getting data off the live web, including the protected web.

​
Primitives

​
Fetch (formerly, Universal Scraper API)

Zenrows’ Fetch is a powerful tool for easily extracting data from websites. It handles everything from dynamic content and JavaScript rendering to IP rotation and fingerprint management, offering a hassle-free solution for web scraping. Its extensive customization options, residential proxy support, and protected access capabilities make it perfect for handling complex scraping tasks efficiently. Key Benefits:
  • Handles dynamic content and JavaScript rendering
  • Extensive customization options
  • Protected access to anti-bot-defended sites
Check our MCP Integration for AI-powered assistance in your code editor.

​
Extract

Zenrows’ Extract turns a web page into structured JSON in a single request. Add extract=auto to your Fetch call, and it builds a tailored extraction for each website, keeping it working automatically when the site’s layout changes, no selectors or schema to maintain. Key Benefits:
  • Tailored, per-website structured JSON
  • No selectors or schema to maintain
  • Adapts automatically when a site’s layout changes
Extract works on any prepared domain, and you can prepare a new one yourself. See the Extract docs for coverage and details.

​
Crawl

Zenrows’ Crawl takes one start URL, such as a homepage, a category or a search page, and returns the pages it finds from there. It follows the links for you, keeps the ones that match your filters and removes duplicates. You get each page’s URL, and its HTML if you want it. Each page Crawl opens is a Fetch request, so it gets past the same anti-bot defenses. Key Benefits:
  • One start URL instead of a link loop you write and maintain
  • Include and exclude patterns, depth, max_pages and max_items to control scope and cost
  • Runs as a background job: read results while it runs, or download them all
Crawl is available over the API, the CLI (zenrows crawl), MCP, and the SDKs. See the Crawl docs for details.

​
Batch

Batch runs large lists of URLs as a single managed job. You submit the URLs and scraping options, and Zenrows handles concurrency, automatic retries, result storage, and progress tracking, so you don’t have to build the orchestration yourself. It uses the same scraping engine and options as Fetch. Key Benefits:
  • Submit up to 100,000 URLs in a single job
  • Automatic retries and per-URL result tracking
  • Scheduling, webhooks, and CSV upload

​
Browser Sessions (formerly, Scraping Browser)

Browser Sessions gives you a cloud-hosted, remote browser for tasks that need real interaction: clicking, scrolling, filling forms, navigating multi-step flows, or maintaining a logged-in session. It works with Puppeteer, Playwright, or any CDP-compatible tool, not just those two, so it drops into almost any existing browser automation setup. Zenrows’ residential proxy network and anti-bot handling run underneath it, so you get real browser behavior without managing proxies or fingerprinting yourself. Key Benefits:
  • Works with Puppeteer, Playwright, or any CDP-compatible tool
  • Full browser interaction: clicking, scrolling, forms, multi-step navigation
  • Backed by Zenrows’ residential proxy network and anti-bot handling

​
Choosing a Primitive

Still not sure? How to Use Zenrows walks through the same decision as a step-by-step guide.

​
Evaluate Cost and Scale

When selecting the right primitive, evaluating cost and scalability is critical to ensure your solution meets your budget and growth requirements. Understand your usage patterns by estimating your monthly data needs and consider how many requests or pages you need to scrape and the complexity of those requests. For instance, scraping heavily protected sites or performing complex browser interactions may require more resources, impacting costs.
You can find detailed information about pricing for each primitive in our Pricing Documentation

​
Residential Proxies (Legacy)

Zenrows’ Residential Proxies provide access to a global network of over 55 million IPs across 190+ countries, ensuring reliable and anonymous connections. With features like IP auto-rotation and geo-targeting, they are perfect for scraping geo-restricted content and maintaining high performance while staying undetected. Key Benefits:
  • Access to a global network of residential IPs
  • IP auto-rotation and geo-targeting
  • Reliable and anonymous connections
For general product FAQs, see the FAQ page.