head to head · open source
scrapy vs Steel
scrapy has 65,209 GitHub stars, 12,092 forks, 394 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Steel has 7,916 stars, 1,004 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. scrapy leads on adoption by 724% (65,209 vs 7,916 stars). scrapy is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause; Steel is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. scrapy has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, Steel 13%. Steel was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 7.9K |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 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 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 Steel
Steel The open source browser API for AI agents & apps. The best way to build live web agents and browser automation tools. Get Started · Documentation · Website · Cookbook ✨ Highlights Steel.dev is an open source browser API that makes it easy to build AI apps and agents that interact with the web. Instead of building automation infrastructure from scratch, you can focus on your AI application while Steel handles the complexity. Under the hood, it manages sessions, pages, and browser processes, allowing you to perform complex browsing tasks programmatically without any of the headaches: Full Browser Control…
read the full Steel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is scrapy or Steel more popular?
scrapy has 65,209 GitHub stars and Steel has 7,916. scrapy has the larger community by that measure.
Are scrapy and Steel free?
Both are open source. scrapy is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Steel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between scrapy and Steel?
scrapy 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, scrapy or Steel?
Choose scrapy if you want the larger community (65,209 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.