What Octoparse does
Build scraping workflows
Select data on a web page, define actions such as clicks and pagination, and turn the workflow into a reusable task.
Run data extraction
Execute tasks locally or in the cloud, depending on the website, task setup, and automation needs.
Export structured data
Send extracted results to formats and destinations such as CSV, Excel, JSON, Google Sheets, databases, or cloud storage.
How it works
At a high level, an Octoparse workflow moves through three stages:1
Open the target website
Start from a URL, template, or custom task. Octoparse loads the page in its built-in browser so you can inspect and interact with the site.
2
Define the extraction logic
Select the data fields you want, then add actions such as clicking links, handling pagination, scrolling, logging in, or refining field values.
3
Run and export the task
Run the task locally or in the cloud, monitor progress, then export the collected data to the format or destination you need.
What Octoparse is good for
Octoparse is useful when data is available on websites but not provided in a convenient structured format. Common use cases include:- Price monitoring
- Lead generation
- Market research
- Product and review extraction
- Directory and listing collection
- Real estate, job, ecommerce, and social data collection
- Recurring data collection for operations or reporting workflows
What Octoparse is not
Octoparse is not a general-purpose analytics, BI, or database platform. It helps collect and structure web data, but downstream analysis, modeling, and reporting usually happen in other tools. It is also not the same as a hosted scraping API where you only send a URL and receive a standardized response. Octoparse tasks are workflows: you define how the website should be opened, navigated, extracted, cleaned, and exported.Browser-based extraction
Octoparse includes a built-in browser for interacting with websites while building tasks. In normal task-building mode, clicks are used to select elements and create actions. When manual interaction is needed, such as logging in, closing popups, or solving a challenge before continuing setup, Browse Mode lets the built-in browser behave more like a regular browser. This browser-based approach is useful for websites where the data is not available in static HTML or where extraction depends on page interaction.The exact behavior of a task depends on the website structure, task settings, extraction mode, and whether the task runs locally or in the cloud.
Where to go next
Core concepts: tasks, fields, actions
The building blocks behind every Octoparse task.
Build a task without code
Create a scraping workflow visually by clicking on the page.
Auto-detect page data
Let Octoparse identify fields and pagination automatically.
Local vs cloud extraction
When to run on your machine and when to run in the cloud.
Schedule recurring runs
Run tasks automatically on a recurring schedule.
Export formats and destinations
Output data to CSV, Excel, JSON, Google Sheets, databases, and more.
Anti-blocking: proxies, CAPTCHA, fingerprints
Handle IP blocks, CAPTCHAs, and browser fingerprinting.
Refine and clean extracted data
Reshape raw values into the fields you actually want.