Social Fetch vs ScrapingDog
ScrapingDog is a credit-based web scraping and SERP API — HTML fetches, Google endpoints, and a growing set of site-specific scrapers. Social Fetch is a social data API. Overlap exists on TikTok/YouTube-style routes; the core products still solve different tickets.
- Product shape
- Social REST APIWeb scraping + SERP + site scrapers
- Billing
- 1 credit ≈ 1 standard social lookupMonthly credits; 1–25+ per request by feature
- Entry paid plan
- $14 Starter pack (never expire)$40/mo Lite (200k credits)
Teams running monitoring, research, and enrichment pipelines
Why Social Fetch
Why teams switch from ScrapingDog.
What changes when your social lookups move to one REST API.
One API for 25 platforms
TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, X and more behind one key and one schema — no separate ScrapingDog setup per network.
Pricing you can reason about
One completed lookup, one price. Failed lookups aren't billed, so you know how far a balance goes.
JSON in the same request
Fetched live when you ask and returned in the response — ~3.2s on average, no job to poll.
No scraper maintenance
We handle proxies, browser changes, and platform breakages.
Built for production jobs
Run concurrent workloads with explicit statuses and request IDs.
Pay as you go, or save monthly
Start with 100 free credits and no subscription. Pay-as-you-go credits never expire; running lookups every month? A monthly plan gets you lower per-credit rates.
What teams build with Social Fetch
Monitoring, enrichment, research and content workflows — the jobs teams run on ScrapingDog, as plain API calls.
Monitor brands and competitors
Watch accounts on a schedule and get a signed webhook when something new posts.
Find and vet creators
Check reach and engagement before you reach out.
Turn video into searchable text
Transcribe and index video and audio content so you can find the exact moment you need.
Track public communities
Follow the subreddits, groups, and channels where your audience talks.
Monthly scrape credits vs prepaid social lookups
ScrapingDog Lite $40/mo (200k credits); Standard $90 (1M). Web scrapes 1–25 credits by flags; Google Search 5; social scrapers 5+. Social Fetch Scale: $379/230k non-expiring at $1.64/1k.
Free start
- Social Fetch
- 100 credits, no card, no expiry
- ScrapingDog
- Small free monthly credit allotment
Cheapest paid tier
- Social Fetch
- $1.35/1k on Scale Annual ($202.50/mo billed yearly; requires annual billing)
- ScrapingDog
- $40/mo for 200k credits
1,000 basic HTML fetches (1 credit)
- Social Fetch
- N/A
- ScrapingDog
- ~$0.20 on Lite (1k ÷ 200k × $40)
1,000 JS+premium fetches (25 credits)
- Social Fetch
- N/A
- ScrapingDog
- ~$5.00 on Lite math
1,000 structured social profiles
- Social Fetch
- ~$1.64
- ScrapingDog
- Depends on endpoint credits + monthly floor
Credits roll over?
- Social Fetch
- Yes — PAYG packs never expire
- ScrapingDog
- Monthly plans reset; PAYG option exists separately
| Scenario | Social Fetch | ScrapingDog |
|---|---|---|
| Free start | 100 credits, no card, no expiry | Small free monthly credit allotment |
| Cheapest paid tier | $1.35/1k on Scale Annual ($202.50/mo billed yearly; requires annual billing) | $40/mo for 200k credits |
| 1,000 basic HTML fetches (1 credit) | N/A | ~$0.20 on Lite (1k ÷ 200k × $40) |
| 1,000 JS+premium fetches (25 credits) | N/A | ~$5.00 on Lite math |
| 1,000 structured social profiles | ~$1.64 | Depends on endpoint credits + monthly floor |
| Credits roll over? | Yes — PAYG packs never expire | Monthly plans reset; PAYG option exists separately |
ScrapingDog prices checked 21 July 2026. How we priced this, with sources
Pricing
Social data, priced simply.
Start with 100 free credits. Monthly plans give you predictable volume and lower per-request rates.
Starter
1,000credits
$14.00 per 1k · $0.0140 per request
- Prove one workflow before you buy more
- All 25 platforms on one API key
Growth
25,000credits
$2.36 per 1k · $0.00236 per request
- For a project or one-off batch job
- Better per-credit rate than the Starter pack
Scale
230,000credits
$1.64 per 1k · $0.00164 per request
- For a large one-time job
- Best pack rate of the three — includes bonus credits
Need 1M+ credits, invoicing, or volume rates? Talk to us
Trust signals
DevHunt
Product Hunt
Uneed
Social Fetch vs ScrapingDog, side by side.
How each product expects you to integrate, what you're billed for, and which capabilities come as standard.
Product shape
- Social Fetch
- Social REST API
- ScrapingDog
- Web scraping + SERP + site scrapers
Billing
- Social Fetch
- 1 credit ≈ 1 standard social lookup
- ScrapingDog
- Monthly credits; 1–25+ per request by feature
Entry paid plan
- Social Fetch
- $14 Starter pack (never expire)
- ScrapingDog
- $40/mo Lite (200k credits)
Google / SERP
- Social Fetch
- Limited Google utility routes
- ScrapingDog
- Dedicated Google Search, Maps, Shopping, etc.
Social schema
- Social Fetch
- Normalized fields + meta envelope
- ScrapingDog
- HTML or scraper-specific JSON; credit cost varies
Best fit
- Social Fetch
- Product features on social entities
- ScrapingDog
- SERP + general scraping with social add-ons
| Row | Social Fetch | ScrapingDog |
|---|---|---|
| Product shape | Social REST API | Web scraping + SERP + site scrapers |
| Billing | 1 credit ≈ 1 standard social lookup | Monthly credits; 1–25+ per request by feature |
| Entry paid plan | $14 Starter pack (never expire) | $40/mo Lite (200k credits) |
| Google / SERP | Limited Google utility routes | Dedicated Google Search, Maps, Shopping, etc. |
| Social schema | Normalized fields + meta envelope | HTML or scraper-specific JSON; credit cost varies |
| Best fit | Product features on social entities | SERP + general scraping with social add-ons |
| Capability | Social Fetch | ScrapingDog |
|---|---|---|
| Synchronous REST JSON (no actor run polling) | ||
| One API key for all platforms | ||
| Unified schema across platforms | ||
| Public OpenAPI specification | ||
| Official TypeScript SDK | ||
| Interactive API playground | ||
| TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, X in one vendor | ||
| Pay-as-you-go without required monthly subscription | ||
| PAYG credits never expire | ||
| Web fetch (markdown/HTML) in same product | ||
| Scheduled account / feed monitors | ||
| Signed webhooks when watched accounts post |
Customers
Teams building on Social Fetch.
“Our TikTok and Instagram scrapers broke constantly. Social Fetch took us off that rotation — we ship product again.”
“Transcripts at volume from one endpoint. No broken scrapers for our small team to maintain.”
“Live profile data on every request. We never flag accounts from a stale cache.”
“Heavy concurrent load, no rate limits to negotiate. The rare API I haven't wrapped in retries.”
Which one should you pick?
If the ScrapingDog list sounds like you, ScrapingDog is probably the better buy — and that's fine.
Pick Social Fetch if…
- You want plain-English routing to social operations via Ask
- Normalized social profiles/posts are a product feature
- Flat credits without 5–25× scrape multipliers
- Support needs requestId-level breadcrumbs on social routes
- SERP stays on ScrapingDog; social entities move to a social API
Pick ScrapingDog if…
- Google SERP, Maps, Shopping, or retail scrapers are the primary workload
- You need a low monthly scrape credit pool for mixed HTML targets
- Site-specific scrapers ScrapingDog offers fit your stack already
- You prefer one vendor for SERP + occasional social HTML pulls
Social Fetch vs ScrapingDog: common questions
Migration, billing surprises, and what changes when you add a second platform.
Does ScrapingDog replace a social API?
Only if you are comfortable owning parsers and credit multipliers for social pages. For production creator/profile features, a social-native API is usually the cleaner contract.
Is ScrapingDog cheaper?
For basic HTML and some SERP workloads, monthly credit math can land under $1/1k. For premium/JS/social scraper routes, effective cost rises fast. Compare against Social Fetch's $1.64/1k for structured social JSON, not against raw HTML CPM.
Do ScrapingDog credits expire?
Monthly plan credits are tied to the billing period. ScrapingDog also advertises a PAYG option; confirm current expiry rules on their pricing page. Social Fetch PAYG packs never expire.
Can I use both?
Yes. ScrapingDog for Google/SERP and open-web scrapes; Social Fetch for TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other social entity lookups.
Does Social Fetch offer a Google Search API?
We offer limited Google utility routes in the catalog, not a full SerpApi-style engine suite. For broad SERP coverage, ScrapingDog or a dedicated SERP vendor fits better.
The detailed Social Fetch vs ScrapingDog comparisonHow ScrapingDog works, where the costs come from, and when to keep it.
ScrapingDog is a scrape-and-SERP toolkit
ScrapingDog's center of gravity is web scraping and Google-family APIs: Search, Maps, Shopping, News, Trends, plus Amazon and other retail scrapers. Social endpoints (TikTok, YouTube, X, profile/post scrapers) sit alongside that toolkit — useful, but not the same product as a social-native catalog with one envelope.
Social Fetch does not try to replace Google SERP APIs. We return public social entities as documented JSON. If your backlog is half SERP monitoring and half creator cards, you may want both tools for different jobs.
Credit multipliers vs flat social credits
A 200k-credit Lite plan looks huge until Google calls cost 5 credits and premium social/profile routes cost 10–100. The effective page or profile count is often a fraction of the headline allotment.
Social Fetch keeps standard profile/post/search routes at one credit. Specialty routes document multi-credit costs in the API reference instead of burying them in a general scrape multiplier table.
Ask routes the social question; scrapers fetch the page
When the backlog mixes "monitor this Google SERP" with "how many TikTok followers does this handle have," ScrapingDog covers the first job well. For the second, teams often wire a social HTML scraper and guess the right path.
Social Fetch's Ask route (POST /v1/ask) takes a plain-English social question, picks the matching marketplace operation, and returns the same JSON a typed endpoint would. Routing is free; only the nested lookup bills. Pin the routed operation for production once you know the path.
Keep ScrapingDog for SERPs, retail pages, and one-off HTML jobs. Use Ask (or typed REST) for recurring social entity traffic.
Where they win
ScrapingDog's entry price and SERP breadth are real advantages for SEO and research stacks. Their social scrapers may be enough if you only need a few platforms and already tolerate scraper-shaped JSON.
We win when the engineer (or agent) needs a social answer routed to a documented operation — not another HTML multiplier table.
Bottom line: SERP/scrape toolkit vs social data API
ScrapingDog is a competitive scrape-and-SERP API with social add-ons. Social Fetch is a social data API that does not pretend to be Google Search. Use ScrapingDog for SERPs and general pages. Use Social Fetch when the object you need is a social entity with a stable schema.
Methodology and sourcesHow we priced each scenario, and where every ScrapingDog figure comes from. Checked 21 July 2026.
Sources
ScrapingDog pricing from scrapingdog.com/pricing and docs.scrapingdog.com (July 2026). Credit costs per API from their docs table. Confirm current multipliers and PAYG terms before budgeting.
ScrapingDog is a trademark of its owner. Social Fetch is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by ScrapingDog. Details about ScrapingDog come from public sources checked on 21 July 2026.
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