Simplescraper
Dev tools
web scraping
SHOW HN2019
How HN took it
3 positive, 21 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 12 critical, out of 37 comments about the project. Thread score -0.21.
Idea: 1 for, 5 againstExecution: 1 for, 4 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Kimono-style point-and-click UI with checkmarks feels effortless.
From 2 comments
This is very cool! I love how you brought back the original Kimono UI with the checkmark and Xs for adding and removing data tags. We built WrapAPI (https://wrapapi.com) back in…
phsource on HNThanks! Yeah the checkmark confirmation just feels effortless. Haven't got it perfected yet, but soon. Really appreciate the insights. You're right that much depends on mapping…
welanes on HN
Fixed the coinmarketcap demo video quickly.
From 1 comment
Nice, that looks much better!
uberswe on HN
Objections
Generic scraping tools are hard to monetize; developers can roll their own.
From 2 comments
This is very cool! I love how you brought back the original Kimono UI with the checkmark and Xs for adding and removing data tags. We built WrapAPI (https://wrapapi.com) back in…
phsource on HNI would guess: 1. Narrow target Your market is people who need scraped data to input into some kind of app/program/code, but don't have the resources/skills/time to use scrapy or…
omarhaneef on HN
Scraping sites may violate terms of service, e.g. coinmarketcap.
From 2 comments
Also interesting that this main example is also a violation of coinmarketcap's terms. They have a paid API.
treve on HNI think so too. From their terms [1] > You agree that you will not: > Copy, modify or create derivative works of the Service or any Content; > Copy, manipulate or aggregate any…
sh87 on HN
Selection breaks on pages without classes, and the 'turn into API' name oversells it.
From 2 comments
I just gave this a shot on the ISO website to get a list of country codes[1], but it seems the selection algorithm breaks down when there's no specific classes applied to…
MildlySerious on HNI don't feel it is right to describe it as "turns a website into an API", rather "gives scraped data through an API". "Turn website into an API", for me, evokes the image that I…
beagle3 on HN
Authenticated pages not supported in cloud recipes.
From 2 comments
It doesn't look like it. I got an error trying to scrape my HN upvotes url.
darkstar999 on HNYes - you're able to save data behind a login using the point and click functionality as it extracts whatever data is loaded in your browser ("local scraping"). And no - if you…
welanes on HN
Requests
Firefox version.
From 3 comments
>would appreciate any feedback Any option for a firefox build?
nannal on HNHi, is it possible to make it compatible with firefox?
ainiriand on HNFirefox add in please.
cfan01 on HN
Click scripting and load-more button support.
From 1 comment
I like this. Please consider adding the ability to script clicks on elements, e.g. buttons. I manage a site where we load a subset of articles on initial page load and then have…
maroonblazer on HN
RSS feed output.
From 1 comment
if you can add RSS feed response that would be great
earth2mars on HN
Integration with n8n workflows.
From 1 comment
Looks good, could this be integrated into n8n.io to be used to drive a workflow?
monkeydust on HN
Questions
Why does one page scrape cost 2 credits?
From 1 comment
Why is one page scrape 2 credits? Why not just 1?
giarc on HN
Does it work with authenticated pages?
From 1 comment
Does this work with authenticated pages?
holeyness on HN
How does it get around anti-scraping tech?
From 1 comment
When I saw this service last week, I think you had a section about a paid service where you do the scraping on a server and send the results. Do you offer that? How do you get…
bko on HN
Alternatives named
Kimono
From 2 comments
This is very cool! I love how you brought back the original Kimono UI with the checkmark and Xs for adding and removing data tags. We built WrapAPI (https://wrapapi.com) back in…
phsource on HNKimono was cool, nice to see another option. I still have a Kimono t-shirt in a drawer somewhere.
ntaylor on HN
Puppeteer
From 1 comment
OT: or just use puppeteer, not really hard, for free and you can rule the world
nightnight on HN
Apify
From 1 comment
Yes, it can! See https://apify.com/marketplace Disclaimer: I'm a co-founder of Apify :)
jancurn on HN
Plaid
From 1 comment
Plaid, Yodlee, and others abstracts away extracting data from various banks and financial services providers, so they're providing a solution built on top of the same data…
phsource on HN
ParseHub
From 1 comment
I'm the founder of parsehub. We are doing well and are independently owned. I think there are 3 things that contribute to this: 1. It is very easy to make a prototype that looks…
tsergiu on HN