specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Crawlbase
providerId: crawlbase
created: '2026-07-12'
modified: '2026-07-12'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Web Scraping
- Web Crawling
- Proxy
- Data Extraction
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Crawlbase spend. Crawlbase bills on a per-request / credit
  usage basis for the Crawling and Scraper APIs, monthly subscription fees for
  its Smart / AI proxy tiers and Cloud Storage tiers, and custom enterprise
  agreements. The dominant cost driver is successful crawl requests: only
  responses with pc_status 200 are charged, and per-request credit cost rises
  with JavaScript rendering (headless Chrome), premium residential routing, and
  scroll processing time. The Leads API bills one credit per ten emails per
  domain. A free trial covers up to 10,000 requests.
notes: >-
  Per-request and per-credit dollar rates are shown in Crawlbase's pricing
  calculator and are not reconciled here. Credit multipliers (JavaScript = 2
  credits, premium = 10, premium + JS = 20 on the Scraper API; Leads = 1 credit
  per 10 emails; scroll billed by processing time) are documented in the product
  references. Verify current rates on https://crawlbase.com/pricing during
  reconciliation.
sources:
- https://crawlbase.com/pricing
- https://crawlbase.com/docs/crawling-api/
- https://crawlbase.com/docs/scraper-api/
- https://crawlbase.com/docs/leads-api/
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Crawlbase
serviceCategory: Web Data and Scraping
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage-Based
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Crawlbase
  ServiceCategory: Web Data and Scraping
  ProviderName: Crawlbase
  PublisherName: Crawlbase
  InvoiceIssuerName: Crawlbase
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Usage-Based
meters:
- name: successful_requests
  description: Crawling API requests that return pc_status 200, billed per request (complexity-based). Failed requests are free.
  unit: requests
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - token_type
  - complexity
- name: javascript_render_credits
  description: Extra credits consumed when a request is rendered in headless Chrome (JavaScript token).
  unit: credits
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: premium_proxy_credits
  description: Extra credits consumed when a request routes through the premium residential proxy network.
  unit: credits
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: scraper_requests
  description: Scraper API structured-extraction requests, billed per request with credit multipliers for javascript and premium.
  unit: requests
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - scraper
- name: leads_credits
  description: Leads API email discovery, billed at one credit per ten emails returned per domain.
  unit: credits
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - domain
- name: storage_subscription
  description: Monthly Cloud Storage subscription fee by tier (Free / Developer / Business / Enterprise).
  unit: subscription
  aggregation: max
  dimensions:
  - account
  - tier
- name: proxy_subscription
  description: Monthly Smart / AI proxy subscription fee by tier (Free / Starter / Advanced / Premium).
  unit: subscription
  aggregation: max
  dimensions:
  - account
  - tier
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track successful (pc_status 200) request volume by token type and complexity; monitor JavaScript and premium credit multipliers separately from plain fetches.
- name: Allocation
  description: Use distinct tokens or sub-accounts per workload/team so crawl spend maps to internal cost centers.
- name: Optimization
  description: Prefer the Normal token for static pages; reserve the JavaScript token and premium routing for pages that truly need them; cap scroll_interval; rely on charge-on-success and async batching; cache via Cloud Storage to avoid re-crawling.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign owners per token/project; review monthly successful-request and credit burn against plan allowances and budget.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com