> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.octoparse.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Who is it for?

> Octoparse is built for teams that need structured web data but do not want to build and maintain scrapers from scratch.

Octoparse is built for teams that need structured web data but do not want every extraction workflow to become an engineering project.

It is especially useful when the data is available on websites, changes regularly, and needs to be collected repeatedly for research, operations, sales, pricing, or reporting workflows.

## Common users

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Analysts and researchers">
    Collect market data, public datasets, directory listings, product information, and competitor signals for analysis.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Growth and sales teams">
    Build lead lists, enrich prospect data, monitor business directories, and collect public company information.
  </Card>

  <Card title="E-commerce teams">
    Monitor product listings, prices, reviews, inventory signals, and marketplace content across multiple sites.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Operations teams">
    Automate recurring data collection and export results to spreadsheets, databases, or shared destinations.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## When Octoparse is a good fit

Octoparse is a good fit when:

* The data is visible or accessible on a website
* The website requires browser interaction, such as clicking, scrolling, pagination, or login
* The data needs to be collected repeatedly
* The task can be defined as a repeatable workflow
* Non-developers need to build or maintain the extraction process
* The output needs to be exported to files, sheets, databases, or other systems

Octoparse is often used when teams need flexibility: the target websites may not offer APIs, the page structure may vary, or the workflow needs to be adjusted without waiting for engineering resources.

## When another approach may be better

Octoparse is not always the right tool. Consider another approach when:

| Situation                                                             | Better approach                                                        |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The website provides a complete and stable official API               | Use the official API directly                                          |
| The workflow requires heavy custom logic or application-specific code | Build a custom integration                                             |
| The target data is not permitted to be collected                      | Do not scrape it                                                       |
| The data needs complex analysis or visualization                      | Use Octoparse for collection, then process the data in analytics tools |

<Warning>
  Always make sure your data collection follows the target website's terms, applicable laws, and internal compliance requirements.
</Warning>

## Team workflows

Octoparse can support both individual and team-based workflows.

A typical team setup looks like this:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Build the task">
    A user creates or configures the extraction workflow with templates, auto-detect, or the no-code builder.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test the output">
    The team checks sample results, field names, pagination behavior, and whether the task captures the right records.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run at scale">
    Tasks can run locally for testing or in the cloud for scheduled and unattended collection.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Share the results">
    Data can be exported to files, Google Sheets, databases, cloud storage, or downstream tools.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Related pages

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="How it works" href="/docs/platform/how-it-works">
    See the basic build, run, and export workflow.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Core concepts" href="/docs/platform/core-concepts">
    Learn the main terms used across Octoparse.
  </Card>
</Columns>