Automation software vs custom Python scripts for scraping?

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Vibe009Z

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Hey guys, what are you relying on bulk data and keyword scraping these days? Are traditional tools still holding up without constant captcha blocks or has evryone shifted to custom python scripts with Rotating proxies? Let me know what setup works best.
 
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Definitely a python script any day and time, might be hard to setup but no subscription and no fees but custom fitted to whatever the needs are and can be adjusted as well to fit any unplanned obstacles or issues.
 
I’d go with a hybrid setup: tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Screaming Frog for keyword research and SEO data, with Python scripts for custom analysis and automation.
 
In my opinion, it depends on the amount of data you need to scrape. Automation tools are easier to set up, while Python scripts offer more flexibility for custom tasks. For regular scraping, I would choose based on reliability and cost.
 
I might be a bit biased as I am currently working on a browser automation tool, but automation wise, I find browser automation to be far better when it comes to long term maintenance and ease of use. Sockets/http requests will always win when it comes to things being lightweight, but you really cannot bypass many safety checks those websites have (cloudflare turnstile, captcha, etc) unless you use a browser.
Plus if you use AI to create a nice workflow for you, it's dead easy and simple to automate anything and reuse it, even if you've not seen a line of python in your entire life.
 
I have scraper features built into a software application, it pulls from public sources and it proves to be the hardest feature to maintain because of perhaps captcha checks and such, though according to AI it doesnt violate TOS. So ok, these Python modules work (BountifulSoup/etc), though to get them to pull live data Im having to tell the AI over and over what I want. Moving to using just Claude coding chatbot over Codex for now.
 
Vibe009Z said:
Hey guys, what are you relying on bulk data and keyword scraping these days? Are traditional tools still holding up without constant captcha blocks or has evryone shifted to custom python scripts with Rotating proxies? Let me know what setup works best.
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bro i made python based crawler through claude.after hundreds of updates i finally made an amazing one. first it was powered by playwright now it is on scrapling , thew later solves capcha and scraps every thing on the site. u can ask for details i will be happy to share...
 
I find a lot of good tools are offered directly through AI connectors now with no personal coding required. However, most of these would be subscription based, so if you're looking to have something non-subscription based that you can modify how it works, I would either code it yourself or get claude to build it, or a mix of both.
 
I'd use existing tools for one off keyword exports and python for anything that needs regular update or custom filtering. The biggest advantage of python isn't avoiding captchas imo but being able to dedupe results and track what actually changed between scraping runs instead of downloading the same data again
 
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