Need Web Data? Here Are the 3 Methods Everyone’s Using

At Bright Data, we’ve built a limitless web data infrastructure for AI & BI. 🗃️ So yeah, we know a thing or two about how users with totally different needs (and from every corner of the globe 🌎) tap into web data. limitless web data infrastructure for AI & BI Now, when it comes to accessing high-quality web data, there’s a power trio you need to know about. No, not The Good 😊, the Bad 👿, and the Ugly 🧌… The Good 😊, the Bad 👿, and the Ugly 🧌… We’re talking about: API 🔗 SDK 🛠️ MCP 🪄 API 🔗 API 🔗 SDK 🛠️ SDK 🛠️ MCP 🪄 MCP 🪄 Time to understand these three approaches, who they’re built for, and how to get started through actionable insights! 1. API: The Flexible Bridge to Web Data When you think “integration,” the first thing that comes to mind is “API.” integration API And there's a good reason for that. Whether you’re writing a backend, frontend app, or script, integration with third-party services is usually just an API call away. Take Bright Data. Most of Bright Data's products are available via API: Bright Data's products Web Scraper API → Pull structured data from 120+ sites. No proxies, no hassle, just clean results on demand. Browser API → Run Playwright, Puppeteer, or Selenium scripts at scale with CAPTCHA-solving, proxy rotation, and zero setup. Web Unlocker API → Say goodbye to blocks and CAPTCHA. Pay only for successful results, and scrape globally without lifting a finger. SERP API → Get geo-targeted search results from Google, Yandex, and more—fully parsed and ready to use. Crawl API → Define a root URL and grab entire sites in HTML, JSON, Markdown, or plain text. Web Scraper API → Pull structured data from 120+ sites. No proxies, no hassle, just clean results on demand. Web Scraper API Browser API → Run Playwright, Puppeteer, or Selenium scripts at scale with CAPTCHA-solving, proxy rotation, and zero setup. Browser API Web Unlocker API → Say goodbye to blocks and CAPTCHA. Pay only for successful results, and scrape globally without lifting a finger. Web Unlocker API SERP API → Get geo-targeted search results from Google, Yandex, and more—fully parsed and ready to use. SERP API Crawl API → Define a root URL and grab entire sites in HTML, JSON, Markdown, or plain text. Crawl API See the pattern? 🕵️ There’s a reason, if it says “API” in the product name… The fact that all those services are available via API shouldn’t come as a surprise. APIs have been the standard for years (so no need to bore you with the obvious details 😉). all those services are available via API The provider (Bright Data, in this case) handles architecture, scaling, updates, deployments, unblock logic… all the tricky stuff that usually gives devs headaches. In return, you just get exactly what you want: functionality! 💡 functionality Here, functionality means unlocked, free, infinitely concurrent access to the web. That includes web data, the most valuable asset on Earth! 💰 web data Thanks to their extreme flexibility, APIs work for individual developers, small to mid-sized companies, and even enterprises like Deloitte or McDonald’s. With APIs, there are no limits to what you can build! APIs work for individual developers, small to mid-sized companies, and even enterprises Getting Started Create a Bright Data account, set up a Web Unlocker zone, and get your Bright Data API key. set up a Web Unlocker zone, and get your Bright Data API key Then test it by calling Web Unlocker (one of the scraping services available via API) via this Python snippet: # pip install requests import requests headers = { # Step 1: Get your API token here: https://brightdata.com/cp/setting/users "Authorization": "Bearer ", "Content-Type": "application/json" } data = { # Step 2: Get your Web Unlocker zone name here: https://brightdata.com/cp/zones "zone": "web_unlocker1", # Step 3: Set your target URL "url": "https://www.scrapingcourse.com/cloudflare-challenge", "format": "raw" } # Make a POST request to the Bright Data Web Unlocker API url = "https://api.brightdata.com/request" response = requests.post(url, json=data, headers=headers) # Print the API response print(response.text) # pip install requests import requests headers = { # Step 1: Get your API token here: https://brightdata.com/cp/setting/users "Authorization": "Bearer ", "Content-Type": "application/json" } data = { # Step 2: Get your Web Unlocker zone name here: https://brightdata.com/cp/zones "zone": "web_unlocker1", # Step 3: Set your target URL "url": "https://www.scrapingcourse.com/cloudflare-challenge", "format": "raw" } # Make a POST request to the Bright Data Web Unlocker API url = "https://api.brightdata.com/request" response = requests.post(url, json=data, headers=headers) # Print the API response print(response.text) The result will be something like this: Cloudflare Challenge - ScrapingCourse.com You bypassed the Cloudflare challenge! :D Cloudflare Challenge - ScrapingCourse.com You bypassed the Cloudflare challenge! :D Boom! 💥 That’s the HTML unlocked by Web Unlocker, ready for you to parse and extract. Learn more in this video 🎥: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3DkHwqSweA&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3DkHwqSweA&embedable=true 2. SDK: The Developer’s Toolkit for Web Data Calling API endpoints directly gives you maximum control. 💪 maximum But let’s be real… it also comes with longer development times, error handling overhead, and updates every time the API changes. 😩 That’s where SDKs come in! An SDK simplifies access to your favorite products and services without all the boilerplate. SDKs come in! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG-fLp9BTRo&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG-fLp9BTRo&embedable=true Specifically, the Bright Data Python SDK is an open-source library that lets you call Bright Data’s scraping and search tools with single method calls! 🤩 Bright Data Python SDK Bright Data Python SDK Yes, a single method! Way simpler than crafting raw API requests. On the flip side, you’re limited to what the SDK exposes in terms of available methods and configurations. For some projects, that might feel restrictive… a single method! ⚠️ Note: Right now, the SDK is only available for Python and JavaScript. That means if you’re coding in other languages, you won’t be able to take advantage of it. Note Python and JavaScript JavaScript Anyway, calling one method and getting ready-to-use web data back is still pretty sweet. 😎 Want to discover all the available SDK methods? Here they are: 👇 Method Feature Description scrape() Scrape websites Scrape any website with Bright's anti-bot bypass capabilities search() Web search Query Google and other search engines (supports batch searches) crawl() Web crawling Discover and scrape multiple pages with filtering and depth control extract() AI data extraction Extract specific info using natural language queries and OpenAI parse_content() Content parsing Extract text, links, images, and structured data from JSON or HTML connect_browser() Browser automation Get a WebSocket endpoint for Playwright/Selenium integration search_chatGPT() ChatGPT search Prompt ChatGPT, scrape answers, and handle follow-ups scrape_linkedin.posts(), scrape_linkedin.jobs(), scrape_linkedin.profiles(), scrape_linkedin.companies() Scrape LinkedIn Scrape LinkedIn and get structured data download_snapshot(), download_content() Download web data from snapshots Download content for sync or async requests Method Feature Description scrape() Scrape websites Scrape any website with Bright's anti-bot bypass capabilities search() Web search Query Google and other search engines (supports batch searches) crawl() Web crawling Discover and scrape multiple pages with filtering and depth control extract() AI data extraction Extract specific info using natural language queries and OpenAI parse_content() Content parsing Extract text, links, images, and structured data from JSON or HTML connect_browser() Browser automation Get a WebSocket endpoint for Playwright/Selenium integration search_chatGPT() ChatGPT search Prompt ChatGPT, scrape answers, and handle follow-ups scrape_linkedin.posts(), scrape_linkedin.jobs(), scrape_linkedin.profiles(), scrape_linkedin.companies() Scrape LinkedIn Scrape LinkedIn and get structured data download_snapshot(), download_content() Download web data from snapshots Download content for sync or async requests Method Feature Description Method Method Method Feature Feature Feature Description Description Description scrape() Scrape websites Scrape any website with Bright's anti-bot bypass capabilities scrape() scrape() scrape() Scrape websites Scrape websites Scrape any website with Bright's anti-bot bypass capabilities Scrape any website with Bright's anti-bot bypass capabilities search() Web search Query Google and other search engines (supports batch searches) search() search() search() Web search Web search Query Google and other search engines (supports batch searches) Query Google and other search engines (supports batch searches) crawl() Web crawling Discover and scrape multiple pages with filtering and depth control crawl() crawl() crawl() Web crawling Web crawling Discover and scrape multiple pages with filtering and depth control Discover and scrape multiple pages with filtering and depth control extract() AI data extraction Extract specific info using natural language queries and OpenAI extract() extract() extract() AI data extraction AI data extraction Extract specific info using natural language queries and OpenAI Extract specific info using natural language queries and OpenAI parse_content() Content parsing Extract text, links, images, and structured data from JSON or HTML parse_content() parse_content() parse_content() Content parsing Content parsing Extract text, links, images, and structured data from JSON or HTML Extract text, links, images, and structured data from JSON or HTML connect_browser() Browser automation Get a WebSocket endpoint for Playwright/Selenium integration connect_browser() connect_browser() connect_browser() Browser automation Browser automation Get a WebSocket endpoint for Playwright/Selenium integration Get a WebSocket endpoint for Playwright/Selenium integration search_chatGPT() ChatGPT search Prompt ChatGPT, scrape answers, and handle follow-ups search_chatGPT() search_chatGPT() search_chatGPT() ChatGPT search ChatGPT search Prompt ChatGPT, scrape answers, and handle follow-ups Prompt ChatGPT, scrape answers, and handle follow-ups scrape_linkedin.posts(), scrape_linkedin.jobs(), scrape_linkedin.profiles(), scrape_linkedin.companies() Scrape LinkedIn Scrape LinkedIn and get structured data scrape_linkedin.posts(), scrape_linkedin.jobs(), scrape_linkedin.profiles(), scrape_linkedin.companies() scrape_linkedin.posts(), scrape_linkedin.jobs(), scrape_linkedin.profiles(), scrape_linkedin.companies() scrape_linkedin.posts() scrape_linkedin.jobs() scrape_linkedin.profiles() scrape_linkedin.companies() Scrape LinkedIn Scrape LinkedIn Scrape LinkedIn and get structured data Scrape LinkedIn and get structured data download_snapshot(), download_content() Download web data from snapshots Download content for sync or async requests download_snapshot(), download_content() download_snapshot(), download_content() download_snapshot() download_content() Download web data from snapshots Download web data from snapshots Download content for sync or async requests Download content for sync or async requests Disclaimer: Check out the docs, as new methods may be added soon! Disclaimer Getting Started Install the Bright Data Python SDK: pip install brightdata-sdk pip install brightdata-sdk Get your Bright Data API key with Admin permissions, pass it to the bdclient class (or set it in the BRIGHTDATA_API_TOKEN environment variable), and scrape a real-world website like ESPN by calling a single method: Get your Bright Data API key with Admin Admin permissions bdclient BRIGHTDATA_API_TOKEN # pip install brightdata-sdk from brightdata import bdclient # Initialize the Bright Data SDK client = bdclient(api_token=" ") # The API key can also be defined as a BRIGHTDATA_API_TOKEN environment variable # The target page page_url = "https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/46190196/carlos-alcaraz-defeats-rival-jannik-sinner-us-open" # Scrape a news article and print it news = client.scrape( url=page_url, data_format="markdown", # Parse the result to Markdown ) print(news) # pip install brightdata-sdk from brightdata import bdclient # Initialize the Bright Data SDK client = bdclient(api_token=" ") # The API key can also be defined as a BRIGHTDATA_API_TOKEN environment variable # The target page page_url = "https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/46190196/carlos-alcaraz-defeats-rival-jannik-sinner-us-open" # Scrape a news article and print it news = client.scrape( url=page_url, data_format="markdown", # Parse the result to Markdown ) print(news) The result will be: Carlos Alcaraz defeats rival Jannik Sinner at US Open - ESPN (...) NEW YORK -- Three years after winning his first major title and becoming the youngest No. 1 player in history, \[Carlos Alcaraz\](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=3782) reclaimed his place atop the sport with another win at the US Open. On Sunday, facing rival \[Jannik Sinner\](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=3623) for the third straight major final, Alcaraz, from Spain, utilized his powerful forehand, ever-improving serve and electric athleticism for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory in a relatively swift 2 hours, 42 minutes. In doing so, he took back the world's top ranking from Sinner, after a 65-week run, and extended his head-to-head record to 10-5 over the Italian player. After Alcaraz secured the win with an ace on his third championship point, he threw his hands in the air above his head before crouching over on his knees with his trademark smile radiating across his face. Seconds later, he was hugging Sinner at the net and the two -- who have a friendly relationship -- had their arms around each other as they walked off the court. (omitted for brevity...) Carlos Alcaraz defeats rival Jannik Sinner at US Open - ESPN (...) NEW YORK -- Three years after winning his first major title and becoming the youngest No. 1 player in history, \[Carlos Alcaraz\](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=3782) reclaimed his place atop the sport with another win at the US Open. On Sunday, facing rival \[Jannik Sinner\](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=3623) for the third straight major final, Alcaraz, from Spain, utilized his powerful forehand, ever-improving serve and electric athleticism for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory in a relatively swift 2 hours, 42 minutes. In doing so, he took back the world's top ranking from Sinner, after a 65-week run, and extended his head-to-head record to 10-5 over the Italian player. After Alcaraz secured the win with an ace on his third championship point, he threw his hands in the air above his head before crouching over on his knees with his trademark smile radiating across his face. Seconds later, he was hugging Sinner at the net and the two -- who have a friendly relationship -- had their arms around each other as they walked off the court. (omitted for brevity...) U-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e! 🤯 3. MCP: The AI-First Free Gateway to Web Data API, SDK… yeah, nothing new there. APIs are perfect for custom integrations in any programming language. SDKs? Great for direct integration in specific tech stacks. But what if you want to supercharge AI with web data retrieval? That’s a whole different game… 🤔 Sure, you could build on top of APIs (or even an SDK) to create AI-ready functions for frameworks like LangChain, Hugging Face, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, and the like. But that means boilerplate code and slow integrations. Not exactly what you want when dealing with AI, which moves way too fast to be wasting time. ⌛ could boilerplate code and slow integrations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1t3UZA1TY&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1t3UZA1TY&embedable=true Now imagine a way to connect Bright Data’s most powerful web search, extraction, and data retrieval solutions to AI… with zero effort and no charge (yeah, you read that right 😉). That’s Bright Data’s Web MCP server for you! no charge Bright Data’s Web MCP server Bright Data’s Web MCP server MCP is an open AI protocol that standardizes how AI apps and agents connect to and use external tools, such as the products in Bright Data’s AI infrastructure. Basically: Bright Data’s AI infrastructure Install the Web MCP locally. Configure it in CLI solutions like Gemini CLI or Claude Code, AI agent frameworks like CrewAI or LangChain, or desktop AI chat apps like Claude Desktop. The AI agent immediately gains access to these two tools (for free!): Install the Web MCP locally. Install the Web MCP locally. Configure it in CLI solutions like Gemini CLI or Claude Code, AI agent frameworks like CrewAI or LangChain, or desktop AI chat apps like Claude Desktop. Configure it in CLI solutions like Gemini CLI or Claude Code, AI agent frameworks like CrewAI or LangChain, or desktop AI chat apps like Claude Desktop. The AI agent immediately gains access to these two tools (for free!): The AI agent immediately gains access to these two tools (for free!): for free! for free! Tool Description search_engine Scrape search results from Google, Bing, or Yandex. Returns SERP results in Markdown (URL, title, description). scrape_as_markdown Scrape a single webpage URL with advanced content extraction. Returns results in Markdown. Works even on pages with bot detection or CAPTCHA. Tool Description search_engine Scrape search results from Google, Bing, or Yandex. Returns SERP results in Markdown (URL, title, description). scrape_as_markdown Scrape a single webpage URL with advanced content extraction. Returns results in Markdown. Works even on pages with bot detection or CAPTCHA. Tool Description Tool Tool Tool Description Description Description search_engine Scrape search results from Google, Bing, or Yandex. Returns SERP results in Markdown (URL, title, description). search_engine search_engine search_engine Scrape search results from Google, Bing, or Yandex. Returns SERP results in Markdown (URL, title, description). Scrape search results from Google, Bing, or Yandex. Returns SERP results in Markdown (URL, title, description). Markdown scrape_as_markdown Scrape a single webpage URL with advanced content extraction. Returns results in Markdown. Works even on pages with bot detection or CAPTCHA. scrape_as_markdown scrape_as_markdown scrape_as_markdown Scrape a single webpage URL with advanced content extraction. Returns results in Markdown. Works even on pages with bot detection or CAPTCHA. Scrape a single webpage URL with advanced content extraction. Returns results in Markdown. Works even on pages with bot detection or CAPTCHA. Markdown In short: your AI agents can now search the web and scrape any page—tasks that LLMs usually struggle with. 🔥 your AI agents can now search the web and scrape any page And that’s just the beginning. Fund your Bright Data account, enable Pro Mode, unlock ~50 more advanced tools, including cloud browser interaction, web automation, and much more. Pro Mode unlock ~50 more advanced tools Cool note: The Bright Data Web MCP server also works remotely, supporting your AI workflows anywhere, anytime. 🌐 Cool note Getting Started Grab your Bright Data API key, and use it to configure the Bright Data Web MCP server in most technologies with a setup like this: { "mcpServers": { "Bright Data": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@brightdata/mcp"], "env": { "API_TOKEN": " " } } } } { "mcpServers": { "Bright Data": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@brightdata/mcp"], "env": { "API_TOKEN": " " } } } } And just like that, your agent now has access to a whole suite of new features—as we covered here on HackerNoon: “MCP + OpenAI Agents SDK: How to Build a Powerful AI Agent.” “MCP + OpenAI Agents SDK: How to Build a Powerful AI Agent.” MCP + OpenAI Agents SDK: How to Build a Powerful AI Agent Otherwise, see the Web MCP action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W99pmJLM90I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W99pmJLM90I API vs SDK vs MCP for Web Data: Summary Table Method Project Size Target Audience Platform Control Integration Difficulty Price API From small to large projects Individual developers, small teams, large teams Any programming language or solution that can make an API call Maximum Medium Pay only for successful requests SDK Mainly small to medium projects Python/JavaScript developers, small teams Python and JavaScript/Node.js projects Medium Low Free SDKs, then pay for successful requests only MCP AI agent projects of any size AI enthusiasts, vibe coders Any AI framework or solution supporting MCP integration Low (as AI does its magic) Very low Free (with premium tools available) Method Project Size Target Audience Platform Control Integration Difficulty Price API From small to large projects Individual developers, small teams, large teams Any programming language or solution that can make an API call Maximum Medium Pay only for successful requests SDK Mainly small to medium projects Python/JavaScript developers, small teams Python and JavaScript/Node.js projects Medium Low Free SDKs, then pay for successful requests only MCP AI agent projects of any size AI enthusiasts, vibe coders Any AI framework or solution supporting MCP integration Low (as AI does its magic) Very low Free (with premium tools available) Method Project Size Target Audience Platform Control Integration Difficulty Price Method Method Method Project Size Project Size Project Size Target Audience Target Audience Target Audience Platform Platform Platform Control Control Control Integration Difficulty Integration Difficulty Integration Difficulty Price Price Price API From small to large projects Individual developers, small teams, large teams Any programming language or solution that can make an API call Maximum Medium Pay only for successful requests API API API From small to large projects From small to large projects Individual developers, small teams, large teams Individual developers, small teams, large teams Any programming language or solution that can make an API call Any programming language or solution that can make an API call Maximum Maximum Medium Medium Pay only for successful requests Pay only for successful requests SDK Mainly small to medium projects Python/JavaScript developers, small teams Python and JavaScript/Node.js projects Medium Low Free SDKs, then pay for successful requests only SDK SDK SDK Mainly small to medium projects Mainly small to medium projects Python/JavaScript developers, small teams Python/JavaScript developers, small teams Python and JavaScript/Node.js projects Python and JavaScript/Node.js projects Medium Medium Low Low Free SDKs, then pay for successful requests only Free SDKs, then pay for successful requests only MCP AI agent projects of any size AI enthusiasts, vibe coders Any AI framework or solution supporting MCP integration Low (as AI does its magic) Very low Free (with premium tools available) MCP MCP MCP AI agent projects of any size AI agent projects of any size AI enthusiasts, vibe coders AI enthusiasts, vibe coders Any AI framework or solution supporting MCP integration Any AI framework or solution supporting MCP integration Low (as AI does its magic) Low (as AI does its magic) Very low Very low Free (with premium tools available) Free (with premium tools available) Final Thoughts Now you know the three best ways to access web data and how they differ, so you can pick the right approach for your project. No matter which path you take, with Bright Data, you always have access to a web data infrastructure that supports multiple use cases at scale. a web data infrastructure that supports multiple use cases at scale At Bright Data, our mission is simple: make the web accessible for everyone, everywhere — whether via API, SDK, or AI through MCP. Until next time, keep building and exploring!