AI data collection at a glance
Training and evaluation datasets often mean crawling millions of pages across many domains. Most of the web is lenient, a minority is protected, and the output needs to be clean text. Provider guides: Webshare for AI training data and Geonode for AI training data.
| Need | Webshare | Geonode |
|---|---|---|
| Bulk crawling of lenient sites | Datacenter lists with up to unlimited bandwidth (fair use) | Rotating datacenter per GB |
| Protected sites | Rotating residential, monthly GB | Rotating residential per GB, no expiry |
| Very high, steady residential volume | Not offered as unlimited | Unlimited residential by speed |
| Clean text output | Your own extraction | Scraper API returns Markdown; Crawl and Map APIs |
| Agent tooling | Proxies only | MCP server for its scraping tools |
Bulk crawling
For the lenient majority of the web, Webshare's datacenter lists with high or unlimited bandwidth settings are usually the cheapest option, because cost doesn't scale with GB. Respect fair usage policies and talk to the provider before very large crawls.
Protected sites
For the minority that block datacenter traffic, residential is needed. Geonode's per-GB list prices are lower, and at multi-TB monthly volumes its unlimited residential plans can be cheaper still. See unlimited residential compared.
Extraction
Getting clean text is a large part of the work. With raw proxies (either provider), you run your own boilerplate removal and conversion. Geonode's Scraper API can return Markdown directly, and its Crawl and Map APIs handle site-wide discovery, which saves engineering time for smaller teams.
Proxy tip: To test the Geonode side of this comparison, a small residential balance from Geonode is enough, and it doesn't expire if you pause. See Geonode for AI training data for its full product range.
Responsible collection
On either provider:
- Respect robots.txt and AI-specific opt-outs.
- Rate-limit per domain and back off on errors.
- Avoid personal data without a lawful basis.
- Keep provenance (URL, time, licence signals) for every document.
Both providers apply usage rules; Webshare restricts some targets on residential traffic. See ethical web scraping.
Verdict
- Broad crawls of the open web: Webshare datacenter lists.
- Protected sources and very high residential volume: Geonode residential or unlimited.
- Small teams that want clean Markdown fast: Geonode's APIs.
A two-provider crawl architecture
| Component | Provider | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Frontier queue | Your system | URLs with per-domain politeness |
| Default fetcher | Webshare datacenter lists | Bulk of the open web |
| Escalation fetcher | Geonode residential | Domains that block datacenter |
| Hard-page fetcher | Geonode Scraper API | JavaScript-heavy or unusual pages, returned as Markdown |
| Monitor | Your system | Success, bytes, cost per document |
Domains move between fetchers based on measured success.
Cost per million documents, illustrated
| Path | Assumptions | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| Webshare datacenter | Fixed list with high bandwidth setting | Plan cost, largely independent of documents |
| Geonode residential | 120 KB per document, 90% success | About 133 GB, roughly $75 to $95 |
| Geonode Scraper API | One request per document | Depends on plan; check current pricing |
Budget tip: The cheapest way to settle this comparison is to test both: Webshare has a free datacenter plan, and Geonode offers a low-cost residential trial. Run the same targets through each. See Webshare for AI training data.
Provenance and compliance
Record for every document the URL, fetch time, fetcher used, and any licence or opt-out signal found. That record is what lets you honour removal requests and explain your dataset later.
A real-world example
A model evaluation team builds a multilingual benchmark from recent news articles in 20 languages. They fetch most sources through Webshare datacenter lists, and use Geonode residential traffic in specific countries for publishers that serve different content to datacenter IPs. A handful of JavaScript-only sites go through Geonode's Scraper API with Markdown output, which saves building a renderer for them.
If you're still shortlisting, compare this setup with the options in our best proxies guide, and use our cheap proxies guide to estimate what a sensible budget looks like.
Key takeaways
- Webshare datacenter lists are usually cheapest for crawling the open web.
- Geonode residential and unlimited plans suit protected sources and very high residential volume.
- Geonode's Scraper API can return Markdown, saving extraction work.
- Route domains by measured success.
- Respect opt-outs and record provenance for every document.
FAQ
Which is cheaper for large AI crawls?
For lenient sites, Webshare's fixed lists. For protected sites, Geonode's residential.
Can either return pages as Markdown?
Geonode's Scraper API can. With Webshare proxies, you convert pages yourself.
Is unlimited bandwidth truly unlimited?
It's limited by fair use (Webshare lists) or speed (Geonode unlimited residential).
Do I need residential proxies for multilingual data?
Only where publishers serve different or blocked content to datacenter IPs in a country.
Can Markdown output replace my extraction pipeline?
For many pages it can, but validate quality and keep provenance metadata.
How do I keep crawling costs predictable?
Use fixed datacenter plans for the bulk and budgeted residential balances for the rest.
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.