head to head · open source
scrapy vs x-reader
scrapy has 65,180 GitHub stars, 12,093 forks, 394 open issues and last shipped yesterday. x-reader has 988 stars, 97 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. scrapy leads on adoption by 6,497% (65,180 vs 988 stars). scrapy is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause; x-reader is written in Python under MIT. scrapy has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, x-reader 10%. scrapy was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (python, web-scraping), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| scrapy | x-reader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 988 |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 97 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick scrapy if
- You weight community size — 65K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick x-reader if
- You want the x-reader feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and x-reader fits your workflow better
About scrapy
.. logo image:: :target: :alt: Scrapy :width: 480px .. version image:: :target: :alt: PyPI Version .. python version image:: :target: :alt: Supported Python Versions .. tests image:: :target: :alt: Tests .. coverage image:: :target: :alt: Coverage report .. conda image:: :target: :alt: Conda Version .. deepwiki image:: :target: :alt: Ask DeepWiki Scrapy is a web scraping framework to extract structured data from websites. It is cross platform, and requires Python 3.10+. It is maintained by Zyte (formerly Scrapinghub) and many other contributors . .. many other contributors: .. Scrapy: .. Zyte: Install with…
read the full scrapy overview →
About x-reader
x reader Universal content reader — fetch, transcribe, and digest content from any platform. Give it a URL (article, video, podcast, tweet), get back structured content. Works as CLI, Python library, MCP server, or Claude Code skills. 简体中文： README.zh.md / README.zh CN.md What It Does The Python layer handles text fetching and YouTube subtitle extraction. The Claude Code skills (optional) add full Whisper transcription for video/podcast and AI powered content analysis. Three Layers x reader is composable. Use the layers you need: Layer 1: Python CLI Layer 2: Claude Code Skills Requires cloning the repo (not…
read the full x-reader overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is scrapy or x-reader more popular?
scrapy has 65,180 GitHub stars and x-reader has 988. scrapy has the larger community by that measure.
Are scrapy and x-reader free?
Both are open source. scrapy is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and x-reader under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between scrapy and x-reader?
scrapy is written in Python and x-reader in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, scrapy or x-reader?
Choose scrapy if you want the larger community (65,180 stars) or its BSD-3-Clause licence terms. Choose x-reader if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.