How to Use Oxylabs for Web Scraping in 2026

by Fahim Joharder | Last updated Jun 29, 2026

Quick Start

This guide covers every Oxylabs feature:

Getting Started — Create your account and your first proxy user
How to Use Web Scraper API — Lets you collect public data from static and dynamic web pages without managing infrastructure yourself
How to Use Target Popular Sites — Lets you pull structured web data from major domains like Google and other restricted targets
How to Use Simple Data Extraction — Lets you turn raw pages into ready-to-use data with fast data extraction managing dynamic content automatically
How to Use OxyCopilot — Lets you generate scraping code and parsing instructions from plain-language prompts
How to Use Headless Browser — Lets you render JavaScript-heavy pages so you can scrape dynamic web pages reliably
How to Use Flexible Video Data Delivery — Lets you collect video metadata and deliver it in the format your tools expect
How to Use AI-ready YouTube Data — Lets you extract structured YouTube data shaped for AI pipelines
How to Use AI-Crawler — Lets you crawl whole sites and return AI-ready content through simple web automation
How to Use AI Integrations — Lets you connect Oxylabs data to AI tools and clients you already use

Time needed: 5 minutes per feature

Also in this guide: Pro Tips | Common Mistakes | Troubleshooting | Pricing | Alternatives

Why Trust This Guide

I’ve used Oxylabs for over a year and tested every feature in this article will guide you through.

This tutorial comes from real hands-on web scraping work — not marketing fluff.

Oxylabs is one of the most powerful web scraping and proxy platforms available today.

But most users only scratch the surface of what oxylabs proxies can do.

This guide shows you how to use oxylabs the right way, from the basics up.

Step by step, with screenshots and pro tips for any scraping project.

Oxylabs Tutorial

This complete Oxylabs tutorial walks you through every feature step by step, from setup to advanced web scraping tips and tricks.

Oxylabs

Collect web data at scale with residential proxies, datacenter proxies, and an all-in-one Web Scraper API. Oxylabs handles IP rotation, CAPTCHAs, and parsing for you. Start with a free trial — no risk.

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Getting Started with Oxylabs

Before using any feature, complete this one-time setup.

It takes about 3 minutes.

Watch this quick overview first:

Oxylabs review 2026 | VIBE SCRAPING is a thing now?

Now let’s walk through each step.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Go to the Oxylabs website and click Sign up.

Enter your email, then create a username and password.

✓ Checkpoint: Confirm your email and login to the dashboard.

Step 2: Create a Proxy User

In the dashboard, create a proxy user by entering a preferred username and password.

These become the user credentials you use to authenticate every request.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your new proxy user appears in the dashboard.

Step 3: Choose Your Proxy Type and Connect

Decide which of the oxylabs proxy types fits your target.

Enter the correct host and port, then test the connection with cURL or Python.

See the result below:

✅ Done: You can now route requests through oxylabs proxies and use any feature below.

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How to Use Oxylabs Web Scraper API

Web Scraper API lets you collect public data from static and dynamic web pages without managing infrastructure yourself.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the Web Scraper API tab

Step 2: Set your target and parameters

Enter the target website type and URL, plus rendering and parsing settings.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your scraped web data returns as clean JSON or HTML.

Step 3: Send the request

Choose real-time for immediate results or push-pull for asynchronous batch queries.

✅ Result: You can now scrape dynamic web pages using one endpoint that handles IP rotation, CAPTCHAs, and parsing.

💡 Pro Tip: The all-in-one Web Scraper API manages content and rate limits expertly, so you handle restricted targets without extra code.

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How to Use Oxylabs Target Popular Sites

Target Popular Sites lets you pull structured web data from major domains like Google and other restricted targets.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Pick a dedicated scraper

Select the scraper built for your target domain, such as Google or an e-commerce site.

Step 2: Add the search or product URL

Paste the URL or query you want to scrape into the request field.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Structured fields appear without writing custom parsers.

Step 3: Run and review

Send the request and review the parsed results in your dashboard.

✅ Result: You extract web data from popular sites that normally block basic clients.

💡 Pro Tip: Combine this with residential proxies for static and dynamic web pages that aggressively block datacenter IPs.

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How to Use Oxylabs Simple Data Extraction

Simple Data Extraction lets you turn raw pages into ready-to-use data with fast data extraction managing dynamic content automatically.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Enable parsing

Toggle automatic parsing in your request settings.

Step 2: Map the fields you need

Tell the API which web data fields to return, like price or title.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Clean, structured records replace messy HTML.

Step 3: Export the data

Download results or pipe them straight into your scraping project.

✅ Result: You get fast, reliable data extraction managing dynamic content with no manual cleanup.

💡 Pro Tip: Schedule recurring jobs so extraction managing dynamic content runs automatically every day.

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How to Use OxyCopilot

OxyCopilot lets you generate scraping code and parsing instructions from plain-language prompts.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open OxyCopilot

Launch the OxyCopilot assistant inside the Web Scraper API.

Step 2: Describe what you want

Type a natural prompt, such as scrape product titles and prices.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Working scraping code appears in seconds.

Step 3: Copy the generated code

Review the AI output and copy it into your scraping project.

✅ Result: You skip writing boilerplate and let automation handle the basics.

💡 Pro Tip: Use OxyCopilot to draft Python or Web Scraper API calls, then refine the examples by hand.

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How to Use Oxylabs Headless Browser

Headless Browser lets you render JavaScript-heavy pages so you can scrape dynamic web pages reliably.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Enable rendering

Set the render parameter to load JavaScript before scraping.

Step 2: Choose your tool

Connect through Selenium, Playwright, or the API for python scraping dynamic website tasks.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Content loaded by scripts now appears in your results.

Step 3: Capture the page

Send the request and capture the fully rendered HTML.

✅ Result: You can scrape dynamic web pages that empty out without a real browser.

💡 Pro Tip: Pair the headless browser with session control to keep the same proxy across multi-step flows.

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How to Use Oxylabs Flexible Video Data Delivery

Flexible Video Data Delivery lets you collect video metadata and deliver it in the format your tools expect.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Select the video source

Choose the platform you want video data from.

Step 2: Set the delivery format

Pick JSON, CSV, or a custom delivery format.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Video fields arrive in a consistent shape.

Step 3: Pull the data

Run the job and receive structured video web data.

✅ Result: You feed clean video data into dashboards or models without reformatting.

💡 Pro Tip: Batch large pulls with the push-pull method to respect content and rate limits.

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How to Use Oxylabs AI-ready YouTube Data

AI-ready YouTube Data lets you extract structured YouTube data shaped for AI pipelines.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Choose the YouTube scraper

Open the YouTube data tool in your dashboard.

Step 2: Enter channels or videos

Add the channels, videos, or search terms to scrape.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Structured YouTube records replace scattered fields.

Step 3: Receive AI-ready output

Download data already formatted for model training.

✅ Result: You hand AI-ready web data straight to your model with no prep step.

💡 Pro Tip: Combine YouTube pulls with the Scheduler to refresh data on a fixed interval.

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How to Use Oxylabs AI-Crawler

AI-Crawler lets you crawl whole sites and return AI-ready content through simple web automation.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Set the start URL

Enter the domain or page the crawler should begin from.

Step 2: Define crawl depth

Choose how deep the web automation should follow links.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Crawled pages arrive parsed and ready.

Step 3: Run the crawl

Start the job and collect structured pages as they return.

✅ Result: You map an entire website without scripting your own crawler.

💡 Pro Tip: Limit crawl depth on large domains to control content and rate limits.

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How to Use Oxylabs AI Integrations

AI Integrations lets you connect Oxylabs data to AI tools and clients you already use.

Here’s how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the integrations menu

Find AI Integrations in your dashboard settings.

Step 2: Pick your tool

Select the AI tool or client you want to connect.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your data flows into connected tools automatically.

Step 3: Authenticate and connect

Add your credentials and confirm the connection.

✅ Result: You wire scraped web data into AI clients with no custom glue code.

💡 Pro Tip: Review the official examples before connecting production tools to avoid setup errors.

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Oxylabs Pro Tips and Shortcuts

After testing Oxylabs for over a year, here are my best tips.

Dashboard Shortcuts

Action	Where
Check usage statistics	Dashboard → Statistics
Create a proxy user	Dashboard → Users
Set traffic limits	Dashboard → Users → Rules
Generate endpoints	Dashboard → Endpoint generator

Hidden Features Most People Miss

Session control: Add a session id to your username string to keep the same proxy ip address across multiple requests.
City targeting: Add a city code to your username to pin oxylabs residential proxies to a location.
Usage statistics: Track generated traffic and request count daily by logging into the dashboard.
Popular libraries: Oxylabs docs show how to use libcurl and cpr for fast data, plus various php web scraping routines.

For C developers, the docs even cover how to master C web scraping, using libcurl and cpr for fast data extraction.

PHP users get examples for writing various php web scraping routines, so you can pick Python or Web Scraper API based on your stack.

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Oxylabs Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Using datacenter proxies on high-security sites

❌ Wrong: Sending oxylabs datacenter proxies at restricted targets that block shared IPs.

✅ Right: Use oxylabs residential proxies on high-security sites, since real user IPs are harder to block.

Mistake #2: Ignoring rate limits

❌ Wrong: Firing rapid requests and hitting an error when the site throttles you.

✅ Right: Respect dynamic content and rate limits by spacing requests and using the push-pull method.

Mistake #3: Reusing one IP for everything

❌ Wrong: Forcing every request through a single ip address until it gets flagged.

✅ Right: Let residential proxies rotate, and only keep the same proxy when a session needs it.

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Oxylabs Troubleshooting

Problem: Authentication error

Cause: Wrong proxy user credentials or a mistyped password.

Fix: Find your login and password in your account, then re-enter the username and password exactly.

Problem: Connection refused

Cause: The host or port does not match your proxy types.

Fix: Check the host and port combinations in the docs for the proxy type you are connecting with.

Problem: Empty results on dynamic pages

Cause: JavaScript content did not render before scraping.

Fix: Enable rendering or the headless browser to scrape dynamic web pages using a real browser.

📌 Note: If none of these fix your issue, contact Oxylabs support.

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What is Oxylabs?

Oxylabs is a web scraping and proxy platform that helps you gather public web data at scale.

Think of it like a giant key ring of IP addresses plus a web scraper that does the heavy lifting.

Watch this quick overview:

Oxylabs Review 2026 | Is it the Best Proxy Provider? (HONEST Opinion)

It includes these key proxy and scraping tools:

Oxylabs Residential Proxies: Real user IPs that rotate automatically, best for high-security sites.
Oxylabs Datacenter Proxies: Fast, affordable IPs, including dedicated datacenter proxies for stable sessions.
Mobile Proxies: Carrier IPs for the hardest targets among the oxylabs proxy types.
Web Scraper API: A web scraper that handles IP rotation, CAPTCHAs, and parsing automatically.
OxyCopilot: An AI assistant that writes scraping code from plain prompts.
Scheduler: Automates recurring scraping tasks at set intervals.

New users get a proxies quick start guide in the dashboard, so the quick start guide makes setup simple.

For a full review, see our Oxylabs review.

Try Oxylabs for free

Oxylabs Pricing

Here’s what Oxylabs Web Scraper API costs in 2026:

Plan	Price	Best For
Free Trial	$0/month	Testing proxies and the API
Micro	$49/month + vat	Small scraping projects
Starter	$99/month + vat	Growing data teams
Advanced	$249/month + vat	High-volume scraping

Free trial: Yes — Oxylabs offers a free trial so you can test before subscribing.

Proxy pricing: Proxies use separate Pay per IP or Pay per GB options.

💰 Best Value: Starter — enough volume for most scraping projects without overpaying.

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Oxylabs vs Alternatives

How does Oxylabs compare? Here’s the competitive landscape:

Tool	Best For	Price	Rating
Oxylabs	Proxies + scraper API	$49/mo	⭐ 4.5
Bright Data	Enterprise proxy scale	$99/mo	⭐ 4.4
Apify	Prebuilt scrapers	$49/mo	⭐ 4.5
ScrapingBee	Simple scraper API	$49/mo	⭐ 4.4
Zyte	Developer scraping	$45/mo	⭐ 4.3
Firecrawl	AI-ready crawling	$29/mo	⭐ 4.4
Browse AI	No-code automation	$48/mo	⭐ 4.5
ThorData	Budget proxies	$15/mo	⭐ 4.2

Quick picks:

Best overall: Oxylabs — proxies plus a strong web scraper in one place.
Best budget: ThorData — cheaper residential proxies for small jobs.
Best for beginners: Browse AI — no-code web automation.
Best for AI: Firecrawl — clean AI-ready web data.

🎯 Oxylabs Alternatives

Looking for Oxylabs alternatives? Here are the top options:

🚀 Apify: Runs ready-made scrapers and actors in the cloud, great for quick automation without managing your own servers.
🧠 ScrapeGraphAI: An AI-first scraper that turns prompts into structured web data, ideal for fast prototypes.
🏢 Bright Data: A large proxy and data platform with residential proxies, datacenter proxies, and enterprise scale.
👶 Browse AI: Point-and-click web automation for non-coders who want to monitor pages and pull data.
⚡ ScrapingBee: A simple web scraper API that handles headless browsers and rotates proxies for you.
💰 ThorData: Budget-friendly residential proxies and scraping tools for smaller scraping project budgets.
🔧 Zyte: A developer-focused scraping API and proxy service built around the Scrapy framework.
🌟 Webscraper.io: A popular browser extension for visual scraping straight from your own browser.
📊 Helium Scraper: A desktop scraper for building extraction flows without writing much code.
🔥 Firecrawl: Crawls sites and returns clean markdown, popular for feeding AI models web data.

For the full list, see our Oxylabs alternatives guide.

⚔️ Oxylabs Compared

Here’s how Oxylabs stacks up against each competitor:

Oxylabs vs Apify: Oxylabs wins on proxy depth and restricted targets; Apify wins on its marketplace of prebuilt scrapers.
Oxylabs vs ScrapeGraphAI: Oxylabs offers broader proxy types and scale; ScrapeGraphAI is lighter for AI-only extraction.
Oxylabs vs Bright Data: Both run huge proxy pools; Oxylabs is praised for cleaner docs and OxyCopilot, Bright Data for raw size.
Oxylabs vs Browse AI: Oxylabs suits developers and scale; Browse AI suits no-code users monitoring a few pages.
Oxylabs vs ScrapingBee: Oxylabs covers more proxy types and harder targets; ScrapingBee is simpler for small projects.
Oxylabs vs ThorData: Oxylabs leads on reliability and support; ThorData competes on lower entry pricing.
Oxylabs vs Zyte: Oxylabs gives a friendlier dashboard and OxyCopilot; Zyte appeals to Scrapy-first developers.
Oxylabs vs Webscraper.io: Oxylabs handles scale and restricted targets; Webscraper.io is best for quick browser scraping.
Oxylabs vs Helium Scraper: Oxylabs is cloud and API driven; Helium Scraper is a local desktop tool.
Oxylabs vs Firecrawl: Oxylabs offers full proxy infrastructure; Firecrawl focuses on AI-ready crawling and markdown.

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Start Using Oxylabs Now

You learned how to use every major Oxylabs feature:

✅ Web Scraper API
✅ Target Popular Sites
✅ Simple Data Extraction
✅ OxyCopilot
✅ Headless Browser
✅ Flexible Video Data Delivery
✅ AI-ready YouTube Data
✅ AI-Crawler
✅ AI Integrations

Next step: Pick one feature and try it now.

Most people start with the Web Scraper API.

It takes less than 5 minutes to run your first job.

Try Oxylabs for free

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Oxylabs do?

Oxylabs provides web scraping tools and proxies, including residential proxies, datacenter proxies, and a Web Scraper API, so you can collect public web data from static and dynamic web pages at scale.

Is Oxylabs free to use?

Oxylabs is not fully free, but it offers a free trial. New users can test the proxies and Web Scraper API before choosing a paid plan.

How do I use Oxylabs proxy in Python?

Create a proxy user, then pass your user credentials, host, and port into Python’s requests, Scrapy, or Selenium. Oxylabs proxies support HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5.

Can a residential proxy be detected?

Oxylabs residential proxies use real user IPs and rotate automatically with each request, so they are much harder to detect or block than datacenter proxies on restricted targets.

How much does Oxylabs cost?

Web Scraper API plans start with a free trial at $0/month, then Micro at $49, Starter at $99, and Advanced at $249 per month plus vat.