Ecosyste.ms: Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

Awesome Lists | Featured Topics | Projects

https://github.com/luminati-io/javascript-scraping-libraries

The top JavaScript web scraping libraries, featuring key tools like Playwright, Puppeteer, and Cheerio, for efficient and scalable data extraction.
https://github.com/luminati-io/javascript-scraping-libraries

axios cheerio crawlee javascript node-curl nodejs playwright puppeteer web-scraping

Last synced: 13 days ago
JSON representation

The top JavaScript web scraping libraries, featuring key tools like Playwright, Puppeteer, and Cheerio, for efficient and scalable data extraction.

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

        
# Best JavaScript Web Scraping Libraries



[![Promo](https://github.com/luminati-io/LinkedIn-Scraper/raw/main/Proxies%20and%20scrapers%20GitHub%20bonus%20banner.png)](https://brightdata.com/) 



Explore the best JavaScript web scraping libraries, their key features, and a handy comparison table to find the perfect tool for your project.



## What Is a JavaScript Web Scraping Library



A JavaScript web scraping library helps extract data from online pages by sending [HTTP requests](https://brightdata.com/glossary/http-request), [parsing HTML](https://brightdata.com/blog/web-data/best-html-parsers), and rendering JavaScript-based content. 



You can learn more about JavaScript and node.js scraping [here](https://brightdata.com/blog/how-tos/web-scraping-with-node-js).



## Aspects to Consider



- **Goal**: Primary objective of the library.

- **Features**: Core capabilities.

- **Type**: Category (e.g., browser automation, HTTP client).

- **GitHub stars**: Popularity indicator.

- **Weekly downloads**: Usage frequency.

- **Release schedule**: Update frequency.

- **Pros/Cons**: Benefits and limitations.



## Top 6 JavaScript Web Scraping Libraries



### 1. [Playwright](https://playwright.dev/)



A powerful headless browser library for automated testing and dynamic website scraping.



- **Features**: Cross-browser support, auto-waiting, stealth plugin, etc.

- **Type**: Browser automation

- **GitHub stars**: ~68.3k

- **Weekly downloads**: ~8.7M

- **Pros**: Multi-browser support, advanced features

- **Cons**: Resource-heavy, steep learning curve



> 💡 Learn more about [**web scraping with Playwright and Python**](https://brightdata.com/blog/how-tos/playwright-web-scraping).



### 2. [Cheerio](https://cheerio.js.org/)



A fast, flexible HTML/XML parser with a jQuery-like API.



- **Features**: DOM manipulation, lightweight

- **Type**: HTML parser

- **GitHub stars**: ~28.9k

- **Weekly downloads**: ~6.9M

- **Pros**: Familiar syntax, fast parsing

- **Cons**: Slow development, lacks JavaScript rendering



> 💡 Learn more about [**web scraping with Cheerio**](https://brightdata.com/blog/how-tos/cheerio-npm-web-scraping).



### 3. [Axios](https://github.com/axios/axios)



Popular for making HTTP requests, ideal for retrieving HTML data.



- **Features**: Promise API, request interception

- **Type**: HTTP client

- **GitHub stars**: ~106k

- **Weekly downloads**: ~50M

- **Pros**: Widely used, advanced features

- **Cons**: Requires HTML parser, not lightweight



> 💡 Learn more about [**web scraping with Axios**](https://brightdata.com/blog/how-tos/cheerio-npm-web-scraping).



### 4. [Puppeteer](https://pptr.dev/)



A library for browser automation and dynamic content scraping.



- **Features**: User interaction simulation, anti-bot capabilities

- **Type**: Browser automation

- **GitHub stars**: ~89.3k

- **Weekly downloads**: ~3.1M

- **Pros**: Supports dynamic content, CLI for browser download

- **Cons**: No Safari support, limited automation API



> 💡 Learn more about [**web scraping with Puppeteer and Python**](https://brightdata.com/blog/how-tos/web-scraping-puppeteer).



### 5. [Crawlee](https://crawlee.dev/)



A framework for advanced crawling and scraping.



- **Features**: Proxy rotation, error management

- **Type**: Scraping framework

- **GitHub stars**: ~16.5k

- **Weekly downloads**: ~15k

- **Pros**: All-in-one solution, easy deployment

- **Cons**: Steep learning curve, limited community support



> 💡 Learn more about [**web scraping with Crawlee**](https://brightdata.com/blog/web-data/web-scraping-with-crawlee).



### 6. [node-curl-impersonate](https://github.com/SwapnilSoni1999/node-libcurl-impersonate)



HTTP client with browser impersonation for bypassing anti-bot systems.



- **Features**: TLS fingerprinting, browser impersonation

- **Type**: HTTP client

- **Weekly downloads**: ~50

- **Pros**: Low resource usage, multiple impersonations

- **Cons**: Limited resources, infrequent updates



> 💡 Learn more about [**web scraping with ```curl-impersonate``` and Python**](https://brightdata.com/blog/web-data/web-scraping-with-curl-impersonate).



## Summary Table



| Library               | Type                  | HTTP Requesting | HTML Parsing | JavaScript Rendering | Anti-detection | Learning Curve | GitHub Stars | Downloads |

|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------|--------------|----------------------|----------------|----------------|--------------|-----------|

| Playwright            | Browser automation    | ✔️              | ✔️           | ✔️                   | High           | Steep          | ~68.3k       | ~8.7M     |

| Cheerio               | HTML parser           | ❌              | ✔️           | ❌                   | —              | Gentle         | ~28.9k       | ~6.9M     |

| Axios                 | HTTP client           | ✔️              | ❌           | ❌                   | Limited        | Gentle         | ~106k        | ~50M      |

| Puppeteer             | Browser automation    | ✔️              | ✔️           | ✔️                   | High           | Steep          | ~89.3k       | ~3.1M     |

| Crawlee               | Scraping framework    | ✔️              | ✔️           | ✔️                   | Configurable   | Steep          | ~16.5k       | ~15k      |

| node-curl-impersonate | HTTP client           | ✔️              | ❌           | ❌                   | High           | Medium         | —            | ~50       |



## Conclusion



These libraries help with web scraping in Node.js but face challenges like IP blocks and CAPTCHAs. Bright Data offers solutions like [Advanced Proxy Services](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types) and [Web Scraper APIs](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper) to overcome these issues. 



Some of the most popular Web Scraper APIs include:



- [Instagram Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/instagram)  

- [LinkedIn Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/linkedin)  

- [Facebook Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/facebook)  

- [Twitter Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/twitter)

- [TikTok Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/tiktok)

- [Amazon Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/amazon)

- [Shopee Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/shopee)  

- [Social Media Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/social-media-scrape)

- [GitHub Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/github)

- [B2B Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/b2b)

- [eCommerce Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/ecommerce)

- [Indeed Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/indeed)

- [Zillow Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/zillow)

- [Crunchbase Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/crunchbase)

- [Glassdoor Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/glassdoor)

- [Real Estate Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/real-estate)

- [Yelp Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/yelp)

- [Google Maps Scraper](https://brightdata.com/products/serp-api/google-search/maps)