Are you looking for quality web scrapers to help you collect data from CrunchBase? Here are the best web scrapers that will get the job done without hassles.
CrunchBase, a database for startups and established firms owned by TechCrunch, holds loads of innovative and tech companies' information and data. These data are publicly available and accessible, making it easy for researchers to access them without breaking any rules.
With over 50 million professionals, salespeople, entrepreneurs, and investors, CrunchBase is the destination for researchers.
It focuses on highlighting tech startups and funding campaigns, but it also analyses big enterprises. So, how do you scrape data from this data-rich platform? Well, while writing python codes may be efficient, there are other easy and automated methods to scrape data from CrunchBase.
This involves the use of scraping tools. Using scraping tools helps you not only bypass the hassles of having to write codes but also dodge restrictions by giving you access to websites. However, CrunchBase forbids certain actions, which we shall find out below.
CrunchBase Scraping—An Overview
CrunchBase scraping means collecting data from CrunchBase using automated or manual means. The platform is an attraction site for researchers due to its pool of information and data. And people use this information for drawing conclusions, decision-making, research purposes, or comparison.
Having access to their pool of data through API might do just fine, but scraping helps you retrieve difficult data or information. In other words, while CrunchBase makes the former accessible for all, the latter is frowned upon because it involves a manual or automated process. And so the stumbling block for scrapers is that CrunchBase holds one thing very seriously, which is its commitment to protecting the data of its users by its Terms of Service.
Clearly stated in its ToS that crawling, scraping, or spidering any page or portion relating to service or content using automated or manual means attracts restrictions. However, people still need to collect data for genuine reasons, regardless of these strict terms.
How can they achieve that? That is where they have to opt for quality web scrapers in the market because they can help you bypass CrunchBase's detecting mechanisms. They help you scrap any data you want, such as a company's profile or data, or even connect with individuals who are tech experts and enthusiasts.
Best CrunchBase Scrapers
Referring to them as the best CrunchBase Scrapers is trusting that they will help you scrape data and yet not get you detected or blocked. The best scrapers usually come with proxies to hide your Internet identity, thereby making you scrape data with no consequences. However, most of them are paid, so you might just want to prepare your mind to part with a few dollars to get them working for you.
Data Collector — Overall Best CrunchBase Scraper
- Pricing: Starts at $350 for 100K page loads
- Free Trials: Available
- Data Output Format: Excel
- Supported Platforms: web-based
Bright Data's Data Collector is usually regarded as the overall best CrunchBase Scraper because of its essential features. This scraper helps you collect data such as the company's ID, company size, employees, industries, location, logo, organization type, founded, followers, funding, investors, social media, website URLs, reviews, job postings, and so on.
Data Collector integrates with Bright Data's industry-leading proxy network. Thus, your Internet identity is well protected from detection and block. Its Exclusive Site Unlocking Technology allows you access to sites that have a strong restriction system in place. It adapts timely. When CrunchBase changes its data structure, Bright Data changes its code to prevent glitches during data scraping. It allows you to get as much data and information as you want quickly and comes with .
Apify — Best CrunchBase Scraping Platform for Coders
- Pricing: Starts at $49 per month for 100 Actor compute units
- Free Trials: Starter plan comes with 10 Actor compute units
- Data Output Format: JSON
- Supported OS: cloud-based – accessed via API
Apify is described as the best CrunchBase scraping platform for coders because it allows them to build their scrapers from scratch using codes and run them on Apify. Apify allows you to scrape organization details such as about, employees' size, technology, summary, investment details of an organization, and so on. Scraping data using Apify requires the use of a proxy to keep you anonymous and undetected. You can use proxies from other providers or Apify Proxy.
The actors are optimized and can extract as much data as possible. If actors do not block very often, it can scrape 100 items in 1 minute. Your data is stored in a dataset after extraction. And you can manage results using any programming language, such as Python, PHP, or Node.js).
ScrapeStorm — Best Visual Scraper for CrunchBase
- Pricing: Starts at $49.99 per month
- Free Trials: Starter plan is free – comes with limitations
- Data Output Format: TXT, CSV, Excel, JSON, MySQL, Google Sheets, etc.
- Supported Platforms: Desktop, Cloud
ScrapeStorm is a powered Artificial Intelligence scraping tool that automatically identifies links, lists, forms, links, images, prices, phone numbers, emails, and so on. Thus, it is regarded as the best visual scraper for CrunchBase.
All you have to do is enter the CrunchBase URL, and based on AI algorithms, ScrapeStorm will find out lists data, tabular data, and pagination buttons without you having to set manual rules. You don't need to have coding knowledge to use this tool, as its processes are fully automated. It has an easy interface that makes it easy to use. It can generate complex scraping in a few easy steps.
You can save your extracted data in local or cloud-based storage, so you do not have to worry about losing your data. It supports Excel, TXT, CSV, HTML, MySQL, MongoDB, WordPress, PostgreSQL, MySQL server, and Google Sheets. ScrapeStorm supports Windows, Mac, and Linux.
ParseHub — Free General Purpose Web scraper
- Pricing: Free with a paid plan
- Free Trials: Free – advance features come at an extra cost
- Data Output Format: Excel, JSON,
- Supported Platform: Cloud, Desktop
Scraping CrunchBase data using ParseHub is as easy as clicking on the data you need. ParseHub is a free and powerful tool, and it serves a limitless purpose for users. It can be used to collect information to create content and collect data for decision-making, market analysis, or research. It is suitable for anyone as it does not require any coding knowledge to use.
ParseHub is built to crawl both single and multiple websites while supporting Javascript, AJAX sessions, cookies, and redirects. It uses machine learning to highlight even the most complicated data on any website and extract them in the format that you prefer in seconds. It exports data in JSON, Excel, and API format. It supports IP rotation, scrolled collection of data, and helps clean texts and HTML before downloading data
ScraperAPI — Best scraping API for CrunchBase scraping
- Pricing: Starts from $49 for 100K Credits
- Free Trials: 5K Free Credits
- Data Output Format: HTML, JSON
- Supported Platform: API
Given CrunchBase's strict Terms of Service prohibiting crawlers, spiders, or any other automated tool, ScraperAPI is the best option available. Asides from that, it free to use. This web scraper comes with proxies to properly keep you undetected. With just a simple API call, you can scrape the HTML from any web page.
You do not have to bother about manually rotating your proxies to avoid blocking; this tool will handle that on your behalf. It also has anti-bot detection and bypassing built into the API to prevent you from blocking. They have unlimited bandwidth with a speed of up to 100Mb/s, which is an ideal speed for wey crawlers. Its scalability allows you to scrape as many pages as you want, whether 100 pages or 100 million pages per month.
ScrapingBee — Best ScraperAPI Alternative
- Pricing: Starts from $49 for 100K Credits
- Free Trials: 5K Free Credits
- Data Output Format: HTML, JSON
- Supported Platform: API
ScrapingBee, just like ScraperAPI, helps you scrape any web page while rotating proxies, thanks to its large proxy pool. This is so to help you evade blocks by websites that use sophisticated detective mechanisms for unwanted activities. Perfect for CrunchBase, which does not allow you to scrape data using automated means.
With no coding required, scrape any data you want on CrunchBase to connect as much data as you desire and leave ScrapingBee to deal with headless browsers. You can export your collected data in HTML or JSON. Their screenshot feature lets you take a grab of what you have on your screen. That is if you do not want an HTML report. They let you screenshot both full and partial web pages. With ScrapingBee, you can scrape search engine results easily without rate limits, thanks to their Google search API.
SimpleScraper — Easy to Use CrunchBase scraper
- Pricing: Starts from $35 for 6K Credits
- Free Trials: Freemium — 100 Credits
- Data Output Format: CSV, XLSX, and JSON
- Supported Platform: Browser extension
When it comes to simplicity and easy usage experience, SimpleScraper tops the chart. This chrome extension scraping tool helps scrape website and table data in seconds. It is free and easy to use, with lots of amazing features. There is no coding required, so you do not have to worry about writing long, boring codes.
You can scrape locally or create an automated scraping recipe that can scrape thousands of pages and turn them into an API that you can call for fresh data. You can scrape data into Google Sheets, Zapier, Airtable, Integromat, and more. And you can download your collected data in CSV and JSON format. SimpleScraper allows you to take screenshots of all the previously downloaded data.
Webscraper.io — Best Browser Extension for Scraping CrunchBase
- Pricing: Freemium
- Free Trials: Freemium
- Data Output Format: CSV, XLSX, and JSON
- Supported Platform: Browser extension (Chrome and Firefox)
Webscraper is a browser-based extension that offers scraping services. It is considered the best browser extension scraping tool because it has a simple and easy-to-use interface which is ideal for collecting data on CrunchBase.
You can use Webscraper to get data on any website with no coding required. With Webscraper, you can extract data from pages with multiple levels of navigation. It solves the problem of difficulty for scrapers to access modern websites due to their Javascript foundation.
It achieves this full Javascript execution, waiting for AJAX requests, pagination handling, and page scroll down. You can export your extracted data in CSV, XLSX, or JSON format directly from your browser.
WebHarvy — Reliable CrunchBase scraper
- Pricing: Starts at $139 for a single user license
- Free Trials: Not available
- Data Output Format: TXT, CSV, Excel, JSON, XML. TSV, etc.
- Supported Platforms: Desktop
This scraping tool is easy to use with its point-and-click interface that makes navigation easy. And too you do not need to write codes of scripts to scrape data. It is a reliable scraper, ideal for collecting data from CrunchBase due to its efficiency in concealing your identity through the aid of its proxies or VPN. It has intelligent pattern detection, which helps you scrape data such as names, addresses, emails, prices, and so on without extra configuration needed. It scrapes data automatically, provided that they repeat in the same pattern.
You can export extracted data in Excel, CSV, XML, JSON, or TSV format, or better still, to an SQL database. It supports schedule scraping, letting you scrape data from CrunchBase or any website at an appointed time with or without your presence.
Helium Scraper — one-time subscription
- Pricing: Starts at a $99 one-time purchase
- Free Trials: 10 days free
- Data Output Format: CSV, Excel, JSON, SQLite, etc.
- Supported Platforms: Desktop
Helium Scraper is popular for its one-time subscription plan of $99 and comes with a 10-day free trial. This scraper has an easy-to-navigate interface that lets you focus on the data you want to collect. The interface aids an easy workflow, letting you select actions from a predefined list.
This scraper supports scheduling and automatically delegates extraction tasks to separate browsers for faster extraction. Its SQL database can hold up to 140 terabytes of extracted data. It also Integrates web scraping and API calling into a single project. It rotates proxies at intervals from a list of entered proxies. And it detects lists and tables on any website. You can export extracted data in CSV, Excel, XML, JSON, and SQLite.
ScrapeHero — Best Data-Scraping Service
- Pricing: Starts at $150 for up to 10K pages
- Free Trials: No Free Trial
- Data Output Format: CSV, Excel, JSON
- Supported Platforms: Web
ScrapeHero is committed to giving you the best data scraping experience while providing high-quality data. You do not need hardware, software, scraping tools, or scraping skills; ScrapeHero solves everything for you. They build real-time APIs for websites that do not provide an API or have a rate or data-limit APIs so that you can integrate the data into your applications.
They can build custom AI which can help you analyze the data you have collected. Their data quality checks users' Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to identify issues regarding data quality. Their platform can crawl thousands of pages per second and extract data from millions of web pages daily. ScrapeHero handles complex Javascript, CAPTCHA, AJAX sites, and IP blacklisting. You can download extracted data in CSV, JSON, Excel, XML, and more.
DataHut — Best ScrapeHero Alternative
- Pricing: Starts at $40 for up to 10K pages
- Free Trials: No Free Trial
- Data Output Format: CSV, JSON
- Supported Platforms: Web
With DataHut, you can get any data from any site in any way you want. DataHut helps you manage the complexities that come with scraping data while you focus on extracting data without any problem. They stand out from the rest of CrunchBase Scrapers with four unique features.
Their Q&A team ensures 100% data integrity. You can get data in CSV or JSON format or use their API to pull data. If these features do not align with your needs, you can request your money back. Where DIY software cannot reach, DataHut's technology can penetrate, helping you extract data from even the most complex of websites. DataHut puts its customers first and so is on standby at every time to help its customers when they encounter issues.
Proxycrawl — Reliable Scraping API With Parsing Support
- Pricing: Starts from $21 for 10K Regular Pages
- Free Trials: Free Credits
- Data Output Format: HTML, JSON
- Supported Platform: API
Scrape CrunchBase anonymously and bypass and detection or blocking and CAPTCHAS. Proxycrawl allows you to scrape all the data you want fast. They have the best rotating proxy in the market to ensure you are protected as they guarantee.
For large-scale projects that require a large amount of data delivered to their servers. Their crawler takes care of the intent crawling as you require. You can move your scraped data into the cloud with Proxycrawl cloud storage designed for crawlers. Take a JPEG screenshot of the page you want with their easy API. It comes with a free trial, so you can decide if you want to continue with their service or not.
Zenscrape — Fastest Scraper API
- Pricing: Starts from $30 for 250K Credits
- Free Trials: Free Credits
- Data Output Format: HTML, JSON
- Supported Platform: API
Zenscrape has an API that handles all problems that are related to web scraping. It has one of the fastest APIs in the industry. Their API is capable performance-wise, no matter how many requests you send. Their plans are large and enticing; they offer you 1000 API requests per month for free. It supports all programming languages, and data can be retrieved by the HTTP client.
With Zenscrape, you can choose your proxy location to show geo-targeted content. They have an IP pool size large enough to withstand any web scraping project. Their automatic rotating proxy ensures you remain anonymous while you scrape data on CrunchBase or any websites. Javascript plays a big role in what users see on websites. Zenscrape ensures you retrieve what the real user sees by rendering Javascript.
How to Scrape CrunchBase (Using Octoparse)
You can choose to use any of Octoparse Task Templates on the main screen of their scraping tool to scrape CrunchBase. All that is required of you is to type in several parameters and the task ready to run.
For free users, CrunchBase displays only 5 search results. Make sure you have a pro account of CrunchBase before starting the task configuration.
In this section, we are going to be looking at two tasks. Task 1 entails extracting all the URLs of detailed pages of the search result. Task 2 entails collecting p product information from scraped URLs.
You can get a search result page URL first, or you can use this one: https://www.crunchbase.com/discover/organization.companies/9472f4f3410c0010e2780a286ce97f9e
Now let's begin with task 1
Task 1
Step 1 : Go to Web Page (open the target web page)
Step 2 : Enter the URL above on the home screen and click Start
Step 3 : Switch on the Browse Mode toggle on the top right and log in with your details.
Step 4 : Click open the settings of the Go to Web page action
Step 5 : Check the Use Cookies box and click on Use cookies from the current page
Step 6 : Click OK to save.
Now it's time to Auto-detect Web page data – create the workflow.
Step 7 : Toggle off the Browser Mode switch
Step 8 : Select auto-detect Web page data and wait for the detection to complete
Step 9 : Delete unwanted fields in the Data Preview section
Step 10 : Uncheck the Add a page scroll option and Create workflow from the tips panel.
Octoparse will generate a loop Item in the workflow.
Step 11 : Now select the first company name on the Web page (which is usually highlighted in red)
Step 12 : Click the A tag on the tips panel
Step 13 : Click on Extract the URL of the selected link.
Step 14 : Select other information of the first company to scrape the text
Step 15 : Rename the fields if necessary
Now, you have to create pagination – scrape data from multiple pages.
Step 16 : Click on the Next button on the Web page
Step 17 : Choose Loop click single element
Step 18 : Select a proper AJAX timeout
Step 19 : Next is to start extraction. Click on Start extraction on the upper left side
Step 20 : Select Local extraction to carry out the task on your computer
You can export your scraped data into an Excel file.
Task 2: collect the product information through scraped URLs
Step 1 : Click on +New and select Advanced Mode
Step 2 : Enter the URLs that you scraped from Task 1.
Next is to extract data – select the data you want to extract
Step 3 : Select the company name on the Web page
Step 4 : Choose Extract text of the selected element
Step 5 : Do the same thing when you are scraping other companies' information.
Step 6 : Rename the fields if necessary
Step 7 : Modify the XPaths of fields
The fields vary for different company pages about funding information. So you need to modify the XPaths of these paths to find out the correct fields on different pages.
For this example, let's take the Total Funding Amount. Since the field title will not change, we can locate the field value via the title. The XPath for the Total Funding Amount is //span[contains(text(),'Total Funding')]/../../following-sibling::*[1]
Step 8 : Click on the settings of Extract Data
Step 9 : Click on Customise XPath of the fields
Step 10 : Input the modified XPath
Step 11 : Click on OK
Finally, start the data extraction.
Step 12 : Click on Start Extraction on the upper left of the screen
Step 13 : Click on Local Extraction to run the task on your computer. You can as well select Cloud Extraction to run the task in the cloud but this works only for premium users.
After extraction, you can now check your local drive on your computer to access your extracted data.
FAQs About CrunchBase Scrapers
Q. Is it Legal to Scrape Data from CrunchBase?
CrunchBase only recognizes data scraping as using their API to obtain basic organization data. It does not allow any form of automated electronic scraping on its website, which is why the use of proxies is advised. And too scraping of personal private data such as phone numbers, emails, addresses, and the like is highly prohibited.
To scrape such data, you have to follow proper procedures. The procedure may involve contacting CrunchBase and obtaining authorization to go ahead and scrape private data. Otherwise, there might be legal consequences for your actions.
Q. How do I Collect Data from CrunchBase?
Using any of the web scrapers highlighted in this article, you just have to enter the CrunchBase URL into the provided URL field. Then point to the category you wish to extract data from and click. However, some of the web scrapers could be slightly different, do pay attention to your screen. For most of them, you can export the extracted file in CSV format.
Locate it in your local storage or whatever storage you saved it in, and do what you may with your result. Since these scraper tools are automated, remember to use proxies for the concealment of your identity to avoid blocking.
Q. Is CrunchBase Data Reliable?
CrunchBase data are submitted to them monthly directly by companies registered with them, so their data is reliable and valid as it can be. The relationship between CrunchBase and registered companies ensures that the platform has firsthand access an up-to-date data from the direct source.
Therefore, you do not have to worry about the validity of their data. Besides, CrunchBase has Artificial Intelligence and machine learning algorithms that check the validity of data, scan for any anomaly, and alert their data science team of any problem in data (if any).
Conclusion
People scrape websites for various reasons such as market research, price analysis, competition and so on. These web scrapers will help you achieve your scraping goals while keeping you hidden with proxies. This is to ensure that nothing stops you from collecting information about that organization you find very interesting on CrunchBase.
Especially because you are not breaking any law, technically. Watch out for very cheap web scrapers and proxies, for they can't be 100% trusted to keep you anonymous and undetected.
That said, you can now go ahead and get as much information as you wish.
