AlterLab SDKs

Scrape any website. No blocks. No hassle.

Official SDKs for the AlterLab Web Scraping API

Documentation • Python Docs • Node.js Docs • Playground

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What is AlterLab?

AlterLab is a web scraping API that handles the hard parts for you. Instead of managing proxies, fighting CAPTCHAs, and reverse-engineering anti-bot systems, you make one API call and get clean data back.

Under the hood, AlterLab maintains a fleet of residential proxies, headless browsers, and machine learning models trained to bypass protection systems like Cloudflare, DataDome, and PerimeterX. When a simple HTTP request fails, the system automatically escalates through increasingly sophisticated methods until it succeeds—and you only pay for what actually works.

The result: reliable data extraction from sites that block traditional scrapers, without the infrastructure overhead or the cat-and-mouse game of maintaining your own anti-detection stack.

Why AlterLab?

Simple Integration	Three lines of code. No proxy configuration, no browser setup, no CAPTCHA solving logic. Just a URL in, structured data out.
Handles Anti-Bot Systems	Automatic escalation through 5 tiers: fast HTTP requests for simple sites, full browser automation with CAPTCHA solving for protected ones.
Predictable Pricing	Pay-as-you-go with no monthly fees. $1 gets you 5,000 simple scrapes or 50 CAPTCHA solves. Credits never expire.
Production Ready	Battle-tested infrastructure serving millions of requests. 99.9% uptime SLA with real-time status monitoring.
Full Transparency	Every response includes the tier used and exact cost. No surprises on your bill.

Quick Install

# Python
pip install alterlab

# Node.js
npm install alterlab

Quick Start

Python

from alterlab import AlterLab

client = AlterLab(api_key="sk_live_...")
result = client.scrape("https://example.com")

print(result.text)                    # Extracted text
print(result.json)                    # Structured data
print(f"Cost: ${result.billing.cost_dollars}")  # $0.0002

Node.js / TypeScript

import { AlterLab } from 'alterlab';

const client = new AlterLab({ apiKey: 'sk_live_...' });
const result = await client.scrape('https://example.com');

console.log(result.text);                    // Extracted text
console.log(result.json);                    // Structured data
console.log(`Cost: $${result.billing.costDollars}`);  // $0.0002

Features

Feature	Description
Intelligent Scraping	Auto-selects the best approach for each site
JavaScript Rendering	Full Playwright browser for SPAs and dynamic content
Structured Extraction	JSON Schema, AI prompts, or pre-built profiles (product, article, etc.)
BYOP Support	Bring Your Own Proxy for 20% discount
Cost Controls	Set max tier, budget limits, prefer cost vs speed
Async Support	Native async/await for concurrent scraping
Full TypeScript	Complete type definitions for excellent DX
Auto Retries	Exponential backoff with configurable retry logic
Screenshots & PDFs	Capture visual snapshots of any page
OCR	Extract text from images

Pricing

$1 = 5,000 scrapes (Tier 1) — The API automatically escalates through tiers until successful.

Tier	Name	Price	Per $1	Best For
1	Curl	$0.0002	5,000	Static HTML, blogs, docs
2	HTTP	$0.0003	3,333	Sites with TLS fingerprinting
3	Stealth	$0.0005	2,000	Cloudflare, DataDome
4	Browser	$0.001	1,000	React/Vue SPAs, infinite scroll
5	Captcha	$0.02	50	hCaptcha, reCAPTCHA

No subscriptions. No monthly fees. Credits never expire.

Free Tier

Get 5,000 free scrapes when you sign up — no credit card required.

Get Started Free →

Advanced Examples

Structured Extraction with JSON Schema

result = client.scrape(
    "https://amazon.com/dp/B08N5WRWNW",
    extraction_schema={
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
            "title": {"type": "string"},
            "price": {"type": "number"},
            "rating": {"type": "number"},
            "reviews_count": {"type": "integer"}
        }
    }
)
print(result.json)
# {"title": "Product Name", "price": 29.99, "rating": 4.5, "reviews_count": 1234}

JavaScript Rendering with Screenshot

result = client.scrape_js(
    "https://spa-app.com",
    screenshot=True,
    wait_for="#main-content"
)
print(result.screenshot_url)  # URL to screenshot image

Cost Controls

from alterlab import AlterLab, CostControls

result = client.scrape(
    "https://example.com",
    cost_controls=CostControls(
        max_tier="2",       # Never use browser/captcha tiers
        prefer_cost=True,   # Optimize for lowest cost
        fail_fast=True      # Error instead of escalating
    )
)

Async Concurrent Scraping

import asyncio
from alterlab import AsyncAlterLab

async def main():
    async with AsyncAlterLab(api_key="sk_live_...") as client:
        urls = ["https://example.com/1", "https://example.com/2", "https://example.com/3"]
        results = await asyncio.gather(*[client.scrape(url) for url in urls])

        for r in results:
            print(f"{r.url}: ${r.billing.cost_dollars}")

asyncio.run(main())

BYOP (Bring Your Own Proxy)

from alterlab import AlterLab, AdvancedOptions

result = client.scrape(
    "https://example.com",
    advanced=AdvancedOptions(
        use_own_proxy=True,
        proxy_country="US"
    )
)

if result.billing.byop_applied:
    print("Saved 20%!")

SDK Reference

Language	Package	Version	Docs
Python	alterlab		Python Docs
Node.js	alterlab		Node.js Docs

Requirements

SDK	Requirements
Python	Python 3.8+
Node.js	Node.js 18+ (uses native fetch)

Support

• Documentation: alterlab.io/docs
• Playground: alterlab.io/playground
• API Status: status.alterlab.io
• Discord: Join our community
• Email: support@alterlab.io
• Issues: GitHub Issues

Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

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