Your First Web Scrape with Proxies, Step by Step
In plain English: web scraping means using a small program to collect public information from websites automatically, instead of copying it out by hand. People use it to compare prices, gather data for research or feed a hobby project. This guide takes you through a first scrape in five steps, from planning to a tidy file of results, and shows where proxies fit in.
One rule runs through every step: collect only public data, respect the website's terms of service and its robots directives (the robots.txt rules for automated visitors), and keep your request rate gentle. Brand new to proxies? Read what are proxies first. Already know the basics? Our guide to proxies for web scraping goes further into choosing IPs.
Written and kept up to date by the people who run Budget Proxies. If a step no longer matches what you see on your screen, let us know through the contact page.
What this guide walks you through
- Step 1: Decide exactly what you need
- Step 2: Decide which kind of IP to borrow
- Step 3: Tell it when to change IP, and slow it down
- Step 4: Grab the pages and keep only the bits you want
- Step 5: Stay polite as your project grows
Step 1: Decide exactly what you need
Write down the exact pieces of information you want, for example a product's name, its price and whether it's in stock, and note which pages hold them. Then see if there's an official API (a ready-made data feed for programs) you could use instead. If there is, use it; it's nearly always cleaner and more reliable than scraping. Last of all, read the site's terms of service and its robots.txt file, so you know what's allowed before you start.
Step 2: Decide which kind of IP to borrow
How careful a website is about automated visitors decides which proxy type you need:
- Sites with light protection → datacenter proxies (from $2.49/GB), server IPs that cost less and respond quickly.
- Sites that are wary of server IPs, or pages that change with your location → residential proxies (from $3.98/GB), which use real home connections.
- The toughest sites → Residential Premium, our curated pool, for a better success rate.
Step 3: Tell it when to change IP, and slow it down
Point your scraper at the proxy gateway, the single address your program connects to, and choose how the IPs should change. Per-request rotation gives every request a new IP, which suits pages that don't depend on each other. A sticky session keeps one IP for a series of steps, such as moving through pages in order. Add a short, random pause between requests and limit how many run at the same time (your concurrency), so the site only gets a reasonable load. Set a timeout as well, and when a request fails for a temporary reason, try again after waiting a little longer each time. That waiting pattern is called backoff.
Step 4: Grab the pages and keep only the bits you want
Fetch each page through the proxy, then pull the fields you want out of the HTML, the code behind the page. Most tools do this with CSS selectors or XPath, two ways of pointing at one part of a page. Save the results somewhere structured, such as a CSV file (which spreadsheet programs can open) or a database, and keep copies of pages so you never download an unchanged one twice. The table sums up all five steps.
| Step | What to do | Beginner tip |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Plan | List what you need, then check for an API | If the site offers its own feed, use that |
| 2. Proxy | Datacenter or residential? | Careful sites call for more trusted IPs |
| 3. Rotate | New IP each time, or keep one? | Random pauses, and only a few requests at once |
| 4. Parse | Point at the data with CSS/XPath, then save it | Saved copies mean no page is fetched twice |
| 5. Scale | Grow slowly, rules first | Skip the headless browser unless JavaScript is needed |
Step 5: Stay polite as your project grows
As your project grows, keep the same habits: collect only public data, respect the site's terms and its robots rules, keep the pace gentle, and describe your scraper honestly where that's appropriate. Plain HTTP requests use much less data than a headless browser (a full browser running without a window), so only use one for pages that genuinely need JavaScript to load. The proxy calculator shows what your project might cost, the pricing page lists the rates, and you can buy now whenever you're ready. And remember: no proxy can promise access, and each site's terms apply however big your project gets.
Questions beginners ask
Not sure what to buy? Start at step 1
Here are our four types, from the lowest price per GB upwards. Try a small amount of the first one that could work for your project, and only move up a step if a quick test lets you down.
Sites without bot protection, big batches of public pages, automation and SEO tools
Protected sites, ad checks, market research and seeing what one place really sees
Apps and platforms built for phones, plus testing your own mobile app
Well-guarded sites, where a better success rate is worth the higher price
Small first order? Datacenter from $2.49/GB · billed on the data you actually move · ready straight away · 30 days to use it · no traffic logs.
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Read the guide →What Are Residential Proxies? Home Addresses, Explained
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Read the guide →Datacenter vs Residential Proxies: Which Should a Beginner Buy?
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Read the guide →Got a particular job in mind?
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