head to head · open source
Scrapling vs Steel
Scrapling has 82,464 GitHub stars, 8,405 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Steel has 7,668 stars, 982 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Scrapling leads on adoption by 975% (82,464 vs 7,668 stars). Scrapling is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause; Steel is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Scrapling has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Steel 13%. Scrapling was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), 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
| Scrapling | Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 82K | ★ 7.7K |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.4K | ⑂ 982 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Scrapling if
- You weight community size — 82K 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 Steel if
- You want the Steel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Steel fits your workflow better
About Scrapling
Scrapling is an adaptive Python web scraping framework for developers, data teams, and regular users who need anything from a single request to a full scale crawl without rewriting selectors every time a site changes.
read the full Scrapling overview →
About Steel
Steel is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed browser API written in TypeScript that gives AI agents and applications cloud browser sessions, so teams can automate the web without building browser infrastructure from scratch.
read the full Steel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Scrapling or Steel more popular?
Scrapling has 82,464 GitHub stars and Steel has 7,668. Scrapling has the larger community by that measure.
Are Scrapling and Steel free?
Both are open source. Scrapling is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Steel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Scrapling and Steel?
Scrapling is written in Python and Steel in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Scrapling or Steel?
Choose Scrapling if you want the larger community (82,464 stars) or its BSD-3-Clause licence terms. Choose Steel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.