Facebook Scraper API alternatives
Most teams comparing Facebook Scraper API alternatives are trying to get past the same walls: Meta's Graph API only reads Pages you administer, its Ad Library API only covers political and issue ads, and a do-it-yourself scraper hits a login wall on datacenter IPs. This page lays out the real options side by side, Meta's official Graph and Ad Library APIs, the Apify Facebook scrapers, and the Bright Data, Oxylabs, and ScrapingBee Facebook scrapers, and our own, so you can pick the one that fits your job and budget.
How it compares
| Option | Setup | Non-owned Pages | Commercial ads | Pricing model | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| facebookscraperapi | one API key | any public Page | via Ad Library | Pay per successful request | 1,000 requests |
| Meta Graph API | Meta app + Page token | Pages you administer only | not an ads endpoint | Free, admin-scoped | free, your Pages |
| Meta Ad Library API | approved access token | ads only | political and issue ads only | Free, gated access | approval required |
| Apify Facebook Scraper | Apify account, separate actor per job | page scraper actor | ad library actor | Pay per result / usage | monthly free credits |
| Bright Data Facebook Scraper | account + dataset or proxy setup | dataset, pay per record | dataset, pay per record | Pay per record / subscription | trial credits on signup |
| Oxylabs / ScrapingBee | you write the parser | parse it yourself | parse it yourself | Subscription / credits | trial credits |
Quickstart
curl "https://api.facebookscraperapi.com/api/v1/facebook/page?page=nasa&api_key=$API_KEY"import requests, os
# One real API call: a public Page username in, structured JSON out.
resp = requests.get(
"https://api.facebookscraperapi.com/api/v1/facebook/page",
params={
"page": "nasa", # any public Page username or URL
"api_key": os.environ["API_KEY"],
},
timeout=30,
)
data = resp.json()
page = data["results"][0]
print(page["name"], "-", page["likes"], "likes")Response
{
"query": "nasa",
"results_count": 8,
"results": [
{
"position": 1,
"page_id": "100044561550831",
"name": "NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration",
"url": "https://www.facebook.com/NASA/",
"likes": 28663333,
"followers": 28663333,
"talking_about_count": 103822
}
]
}Why it is hard
Teams look past Meta's official APIs for three reasons that show up fast: the Graph API only reads Pages you administer with a Page access token, the Ad Library API only returns ads about social issues, elections, or politics, and scraping the site yourself hits a generic login wall on datacenter IPs. The options below trade those pains in different ways, so the right pick depends on which one is hurting most.
Use it for
You need data from a Page you do not own
You administer the Page and want official metrics
You need commercial (non-political) ads
You want a no-code, one-off pull
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1,000 requests | Testing and small jobs |
| Pro | $0.60 / 1k | Production workloads |
| Pay-as-you-go | $0.90 / 1k | Spiky or one-off volume |
Median response 2.6s. You only pay for successful requests.
FAQ
Is there a free Facebook API?
Yes, Meta's Graph API is free, but it only reads Pages you administer with a Page access token, so it cannot return data for a competitor or creator Page you do not own. The Ad Library API is also free but limited to ads about social issues, elections, and politics and requires an approved access token. Our own Facebook Scraper API has a free tier of 1,000 requests with no Meta app required, and it reads public Pages, commercial ads, and public-figure profiles.
What is the best Facebook Scraper API?
The best Facebook Scraper API depends on the job. If you only need data for Pages you administer, the free official Graph API is hard to beat because it exposes admin-only metrics. If you need public data from Pages you do not own, commercial ads from the Ad Library, or several data types under one key, a hosted scraper API is the better fit because the official APIs gate those behind ownership and political-only access. Our API covers pages, ads, and public-figure profiles from dedicated endpoints with one key and success-only billing.
Why use a Facebook Scraper API instead of the official Graph API?
Teams use a Facebook Scraper API instead of the Graph API to read public data the Graph API will not return: a Page you do not administer, or a brand's commercial ads. The Graph API is scoped to Pages you own with a Page access token, and the Ad Library API only covers political and issue ads. A scraper API reads what a logged-out visitor can see and authenticates with one key. The trade-off is the billing model: you pay per request, while the official APIs are free within their limits.
Can I scrape Facebook ads without the official Ad Library API?
Yes. The Meta Ad Library itself is public, so any advertiser's active and recent ads are viewable in a browser, but the official Ad Library API only returns ads about social issues, elections, and politics and requires an approved access token. Our facebook/ads endpoint reads the public Ad Library directly and returns any advertiser's ads, including commercial product ads, as JSON with creative text, snapshot URLs, run dates, and platforms.
How does Apify pricing compare to a scraper API?
Apify runs Facebook scrapers as actors on its platform and bills most of them on a pay-per-result or usage model, with monthly free credits to start. You run each actor from a dashboard or call it, and the cost scales with results. A dedicated scraper API like ours bills per successful request and returns validated JSON from a fixed endpoint, so the difference is mainly running a managed actor per job versus calling one stable REST endpoint with one key across pages, ads, and profiles.
How does this compare to the Bright Data, Oxylabs, and ScrapingBee Facebook scrapers?
The Bright Data, Oxylabs, and ScrapingBee Facebook scrapers are all capable, but they are general scraping platforms priced for enterprise volume, and Oxylabs and ScrapingBee typically hand back raw HTML or a generic page payload you still parse into Facebook fields yourself. Bright Data offers prebuilt datasets billed per record. Our API is Facebook-specific: pages, ads, and profiles each come from a dedicated endpoint as parsed JSON, billed per successful request, with a 1,000-request free tier to test first. For teams whose only target is Facebook, that is usually the better-value alternative.