> **For coding agents and LLMs:** This is one Social Fetch marketing page (markdown export). For API orientation start with [`/llms.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.txt); for auth and crawl rules use [`/agents.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/agents.txt); for every operation use [`/llms-endpoints.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-endpoints.txt). ## This page - **On-site (HTML):** - **Markdown (.mdx) URL:** --- # Social Fetch vs Crawlbase Crawlbase is a crawling and proxy platform: send a URL, get a page, pay by success and domain complexity. Social Fetch is a social data API. LinkedIn is where the comparison gets noisy — Crawlbase sells LinkedIn crawls as HTML; Social Fetch returns structured LinkedIn profile and company JSON among 25 platforms. ## At a glance | | Social Fetch | Crawlbase | | --- | --- | --- | | Product shape | Social REST API | Crawling API + Smart AI Proxy + storage | | Billing unit | Credits per completed social lookup | Per successful crawl; tiered by domain complexity | | LinkedIn | Structured profile/company routes (1 credit typical) | Flat $15 per 1,000 successful LinkedIn crawls | | Entry | 100 free credits; $14 Starter pack (1,000 credits, one-time, never expire) | 1,000+ free crawl requests; PAYG volume tiers | | Output | Normalized social JSON + meta envelope | HTML/page body (you parse) | | Best fit | App features on social entities | High-volume open-web crawling infrastructure | ## Pricing (last verified 2026-07-21) **Complexity-priced crawls vs flat social credits.** Crawlbase Crawling API: ~$3/$4.50/$6 per 1k at lowest volume (Standard/Moderate/Complex), declining with volume. LinkedIn ~$15/1k successful crawls. Social Fetch Scale: $379/230k ($1.64/1k) including structured LinkedIn routes. | | Social Fetch | Crawlbase | Note | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Free start | 100 credits, no card | 1,000 free crawl requests (more with payment on file) | | | 1,000 standard-complexity pages | N/A | ~$3.00 at lowest volume band (declines with volume) | | | 1,000 LinkedIn page crawls | N/A (use structured routes instead) | ~$15 (flat LinkedIn rate) | | | 1,000 structured LinkedIn profiles | ~$1.64 | Crawl cost + your HTML parsers | | | Failed crawls | lookup_failed / 503 not charged | Documented as free on unsuccessful crawls | | | Multi-platform social schema | 264 ops / 25 platforms | Any URL; no social schema included | | Crawlbase pricing from crawlbase.com docs/blog and public plan summaries (July 2026). Domain complexity tiers and LinkedIn rates change; use their live calculator for exact quotes. ## Feature matrix | Feature | Social Fetch | Crawlbase | | --- | --- | --- | | Synchronous REST JSON (no actor run polling) | Yes | Yes | | One API key for all platforms | Yes | Yes | | Unified schema across platforms | Yes | No | | Public OpenAPI specification | Yes | Partial | | Official TypeScript SDK | Yes | Yes | | Interactive API playground | Yes | No | | TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, X in one vendor | Yes | No | | Pay-as-you-go without required monthly subscription | Yes | Yes | | PAYG credits never expire | Yes | Partial | | Web fetch (markdown/HTML) in same product | Yes | Yes | | Scheduled account / feed monitors | Yes | Partial | | Signed webhooks when watched accounts post | Yes | No | ## Crawlbase sells successful pages, not social objects The Crawling API's contract is: give us a URL, we return the page when cb_status is success, and we charge based on how hard that domain was. Smart AI Proxy and cloud storage extend the same infrastructure story. That is classic scraping infrastructure. Social Fetch's contract is: give us a social handle or URL, we return documented fields. Domain complexity is our problem on supported routes, not a line item on your invoice. ## LinkedIn: $15/1k HTML vs $1.64/1k JSON Crawlbase's LinkedIn pricing is easy to misread. Fifteen dollars per thousand successful crawls is the transport cost for public LinkedIn HTML. It does not include a stable person/company schema, Ad Library search, or the rest of a multi-network catalog. Social Fetch LinkedIn routes are ordinary credits — about $1.64 per 1,000 at Scale for structured responses. If your product needs LinkedIn profile cards in a UI, compare JSON APIs to JSON APIs. If you are building a custom LinkedIn HTML pipeline with your own parsers, Crawlbase's crawl rate may still fit. ## Where Crawlbase's volume curve wins At tens of millions of open-web pages, Crawlbase's declining per-1k curve for Standard domains can land far below any social API's rates — because you are buying page fetches, not social products. That is the correct tool for broad crawls, archives, and non-social monitoring. Do not use that curve to argue Social Fetch is "expensive for HTML." We are not selling HTML. ## Where they win Crawlbase is a fit when crawling infrastructure is the product: complexity-aware pricing, proxy modes, async crawls, storage. Social Fetch will not replace that stack. We win when the backlog spans social entities across 25 platforms — LinkedIn plus TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, and the rest of the catalog — and you want one key instead of a LinkedIn crawl SKU plus a pile of other HTML jobs. ## When Crawlbase is the better choice - High-volume open-web crawling is the main workload - You need Smart AI Proxy threads or crawl storage products - You already parse LinkedIn HTML and only need cheaper transport - Domain-complexity PAYG pricing matches your target mix ## When Social Fetch is the better choice - Structured LinkedIn/TikTok/Instagram JSON without HTML parsers - A multi-platform social catalog, not a LinkedIn-crawl-plus-parsers plan - Flat credit budgeting for product features - Sync REST with requestId for support - Coverage beyond LinkedIn HTML transport ## Verdict: Crawling infrastructure vs social data API Crawlbase wins at scale page fetching and LinkedIn HTML transport. Social Fetch wins when you need structured social JSON — including LinkedIn — without owning parsers. Do not compare $15/1k LinkedIn crawls to $1.64/1k profile JSON as if they were the same SKU. ## FAQ ### Is Crawlbase cheaper for LinkedIn? Crawlbase's ~$15/1k is for successful LinkedIn page crawls (HTML). Social Fetch's ~$1.64/1k is for structured LinkedIn lookups. Cheaper depends on whether you already have parsers and what "done" means for your feature. ### Does Social Fetch crawl arbitrary URLs? We have web fetch routes for supported use cases, but the product center is social entities. For general crawling at volume, Crawlbase (or similar) is the better fit. ### Does Crawlbase charge failed crawls? Docs state unsuccessful crawls are not billed. Social Fetch similarly does not charge lookup_failed or 503 temporarily_unavailable. ### Can I use both? Yes. Crawlbase for broad web crawls; Social Fetch for social profile/post/comment routes in the product. ### What is domain complexity? Crawlbase classifies targets as standard, moderate, or complex based on anti-bot difficulty and prices successful requests accordingly. Social Fetch does not expose that dimension — standard social routes stay flat credits.