Businesses have built their customer base using online platforms in the era of digitization. Online shopping has become increasingly popular in recent years. Programmers are no longer the only ones who scrape the web. With visual web scrapers such as AWS Lambda and Crawlbase, even non-coders can scrape any website’s data without writing a single line of code. Users can extract data from websites using AWS Lambda web scraping.
Some of the most popular web scrapers available for users without coding skills include AWS Lambda and Crawlbase. This article will help you decide by comparing these two web scrapers.
Defining Web Scraping
The process of web scraping involves collecting data and content from a website. An easy-to-read format, such as a spreadsheet, is used to export the information acquired. Using such tools can make your web scraping tasks faster and more affordable. An automated tool is recommended over manual web scraping.
The functionality and features of websites have evolved, and so have scrapers. In addition to attaining website content and ranking it, price comparisons from competitors’ websites, and understanding a social media user’s mentality, legitimate web scraping tasks allow businesses to conduct market research. Many web scraping tools are used illegally, such as to steal copyrights. The key to effectively scraping authorized web content is understanding how to use authorized tools.
AWS Lambda vs. Crawlbase: Which one is better?
What is AWS Lambda?
Web scraping tasks have traditionally been done using automated tools, but AWS Lambda web scraping takes it to the next level. You can run code using AWS Lambda without managing server or runtime components and maintain event integrations.
AWS Lambda Uses
It is possible to execute code for different applications and back-end services using AWS Lambda. What are the costs associated with using this service? During your task, you are charged based on the calculated time spent.
Furthermore, fees are only fees if your codes are executed. The minimal administration required adds to the appeal of this service, making it an excellent choice for various lambda use cases. With AWS Lambda, you can automatically execute your code according to incoming requests or events and manage all aspects of the computing resources, including the operating system, maintenance of the server, automated scaling, logging, and code monitoring.
How AWS Lambda Works?
- Lambda functions will be triggered when scheduled CloudWatch Events are triggered (with parameters).
- In the Lambda function, there are a variety of scrapers for different websites (one for each).
- When triggered, lambda functions get URLs relevant to the current scrapping session from the DynamoDB database.
- By downloading the URL content (and caching it if the same URL is used for multiple stocks), the Lambda function downloads the URL content.
- Using BeautifulSoup and regular expressions, the Lambda function returns the current stock/currency/commodity quote, the daily minimums, maximums, and timestamps.
- A queue is created for each record of data.
- SQS queue items are pulled from SQS and stored in PostgreSQL daily by a Lambda function.
What are Lambda Functions in AWS?
Having learned about AWS Lambda and its capabilities, let’s focus on the primary question. Why should you use AWS Lambda web scraping? AWS is one of several tools available for web scraping, and it is a reputable company that offers a reliable service. AWS Lambda’s cost factor is critical to such activities. Dedicated servers are not required, nor does the task need to be executed. A cost-effective solution is crucial for scraping jobs done regularly within a few hours or days.
News flash, airline booking sites, or e-commerce platforms displaying deals of the day are examples of short-lived web pages. It is essential to automate the scraping tool, so it captures data efficiently. The function can be scheduled to run automatically with AWS Lambda, so you don’t have to supervise the server’s start or stop. Your codes can also run automatically or be called from a web or mobile app. Aside from that, you can use any language you are proficient in to write Lambda functions, including Python, Node.js, and Java. Finally, you can scrape the web with both serverless frameworks and container tools.
Lambda does not offer local storage, which is its only downside. Working with AWS Lambda for web scraping requires connecting to other Amazon services that provide storage. Users might need clarification navigating through the tutorials due to great tutorials. The documentation for AWS Lambda might also be a challenge for new users.
Crawlbase
Web-scraping tool Crawlbase is used to scrape websites anonymously for companies and developers. This tool is a favorite among web scrapers of companies seeking to “scrape” high-quality data while lowering payment and remaining anonymous. Data at large and small scales can be scraped. Crawlbase’s services cannot crawl any platform or website.
Users of Crawlbase can scrape websites and crawl them without using any proxy servers, browsers, or infrastructure. Within minutes, applications can immediately collect data from LinkedIn, Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Instagram, and Amazon based on crawling websites. This solution resolves captchas, and users are not blocked from using the service. For new users, the app currently provides 1,000 free requests.
- Aggregation and publication of data
- Extraction of documents
- Extraction of email addresses
- Extraction of IP addresses
- Extracting images
- Extracting phone numbers
- Extraction of prices
- Extraction of web data
Concluding Thoughts
This article presented essential information on which tool is better for scraping websites, AWS Lambda or Crawlbase.
Let’s say you are developing a web scraper that will be deployed on AWS Lambda. You should keep several factors in mind in this case, such as better error-handling capabilities, API protection with an API key, and a database’s storage availability. All web-scraping enthusiasts should be familiar with Python and Java if they wish to use AWS Lambda web scraping.
The Web Scraping Service offered by Crawlbase is one of the most trustworthy and primary scraping services available. Its simple-to-use interface and excellent web scraping functionality make it one of the best tools on the market. Crawlbase is the best tool as it does not require one to be proficient in a programming language for its use.
