Side by side
| Rayobyte | Geonode | Webshare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fetch a URL | Scraping API, $0.0018 per success | Scraper API, HTML or Markdown | None |
| Free | 5,000 requests once | 1,500 requests a month | N/A |
| Proxy-style unblocker | Web Unblocker, $6 to $2.50/GB of successful traffic | None | None |
| Hosted browsers | rayobrowse, 48 free hours | None | None |
| Discovery | Bring your URLs | Map and Crawl APIs | N/A |
| Search results | Via Scraping API | Search API | N/A |
At the time of writing. See scraping API vs proxies.
Which fits your workflow
- LLM and content pipelines: Geonode's Markdown output and Crawl API. See the Geonode Scraper API.
- Existing scrapers with a few impossible domains: Rayobyte's Web Unblocker, a drop-in proxy endpoint. See the Rayobyte Web Unblocker.
- Agents that click and type: Rayobyte's rayobrowse.
- Full control and the lowest cost on easy targets: Webshare's raw proxies with your own scraper.
Combining
A practical stack uses Webshare lists for easy domains, Geonode's API for content collection, and Rayobyte's unblocker for the hardest domains. See using all three together.
Residential tip: You can test all three for little or nothing: Rayobyte has a no-card free trial, Webshare a free plan and Geonode a low-cost residential trial. Run the same script through each. See the Rayobyte Scraping API.
Cost per page: API, unblocker or raw proxies
| Page type | Raw residential proxies | Rayobyte Web Unblocker | Rayobyte Scraping API |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 KB HTML, easy site | Fractions of a cent | About $0.0003 at $6/GB | $0.0018 |
| 500 KB HTML, protected site | About $0.001 to $0.002 per attempt, plus failures | About $0.003 | $0.0018 |
| 2 MB rendered page | Several cents with retries and browsers | About $0.012 | $0.0018 |
Rough list-price figures at the time of writing. The lesson: per-request APIs win on heavy, hard pages; per-GB unblocking wins on light pages; raw proxies win on easy sites. Geonode's Scraper API sits in the per-request group, with the advantage of Markdown output and a recurring free tier.
Where each tool fits in a pipeline
- Discovery: Geonode's Map and Crawl APIs, or your own crawler on Webshare lists.
- Bulk fetching of easy pages: raw proxies from Webshare or Rayobyte datacenter.
- Hard pages in existing code: Rayobyte's Web Unblocker as a proxy URL.
- Pages for language models: Geonode's Markdown output.
- Interactive flows and agents: Rayobyte's rayobrowse.
See the Rayobyte Scraping API and the Geonode Scraper API.
Strengths and watch-outs
| Provider | Best at | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Rayobyte | Drop-in unblocker, hosted browsers, success-based billing | HTML output only |
| Geonode | Markdown output, crawl and search APIs, monthly free tier | No proxy-style unblocker |
| Webshare | Cheapest raw proxies for your own scraper | No managed tools |
Proxy tip: If your residential usage comes in bursts, Geonode is worth a look: purchased GB doesn't expire and sticky sessions can last up to 24 hours. More in the Geonode Scraper API.
Bottom line
Mix them: raw Webshare proxies for easy targets, Geonode APIs for content, Rayobyte tools for the hardest sites.
Rayobyte, Geonode and Webshare are three options among many. Our best proxies in 2026 guide explains how to match a proxy type to each task, and cheap proxies that work shows where budget providers fit. To understand the IP type behind this, read our residential proxies guide.
For head-to-head versions of this comparison, see Rayobyte vs Geonode Scraping Tools, Rayobyte vs Webshare for Managed Scraping, Webshare vs Geonode for Scraping APIs.
Budget tip: For jobs where a fixed IP list is enough, Webshare is one of the cheapest options: shared datacenter proxies are sold by the IP, and static residential (ISP) proxies cost well under a dollar per IP per month at the time of writing. More in Webshare for web scraping.
Key takeaways
- Geonode leads on content-friendly APIs with Markdown and recurring free requests.
- Rayobyte leads on drop-in unblocking and hosted browsers.
- Webshare sells proxies only, at the lowest per-IP cost.
- Mix tools by domain difficulty.
FAQ
Which offers Markdown output?
Geonode's APIs.
Which has a web unblocker?
Rayobyte.
Does Webshare have a scraping API?
No.
Do scraping APIs render JavaScript?
Rayobyte's Scraping API includes browsers, and Geonode's Scraper API offers optional JavaScript rendering, at the time of writing.
Can I parse the output myself?
Yes. Rayobyte returns HTML for your own parser; Geonode returns HTML or Markdown.
Which API is best for search results?
Geonode offers a dedicated Search API; Rayobyte's Scraping API can fetch search pages too.
Do APIs replace proxies entirely?
For some teams, yes; most use APIs only for the hardest targets.
Editorial note: Proxy providers change their pools, features and prices often, so treat any figures here as typical ranges at the time of writing and confirm current terms with the provider before you buy.