How to Scrape Data from Craigslist

7+ BEST Craigslist Scraper to Extract Data from Posts in 2024

Published on: February 16, 2024
Last Updated: February 16, 2024

7+ BEST Craigslist Scraper to Extract Data from Posts in 2024

Published on: February 16, 2024
Last Updated: February 16, 2024

Best Web Scrapers

#1 Top Rated
Phantombuster
NEW ERA OF DATA
the #1 web scraper

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#2 Top Rated
Oxylabs
API for web scraping

TRY IT FREE
#1 Top Rated
Phantombuster
NEW ERA OF DATA
the #1 web scraper

save 16%!
UNLOCK FREE TRIAL
#3 Top Rated
Bright Data
scrape data at scale

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In a hurry?
The best Craigslist scraper in 2024, as found in our independent testing, is Phantombuster!


When it comes to Craigslist API, you can post, even in bulk if you desire, but it doesn’t let you pull any data.

So, even if all you want to do is run some basic data analysis, you will be blocked from doing so.

This means you need a specific data scraper for Craigslist to get access to their data.

Let’s check out the best Craigslist scrapers on the web this year.

Best Craigslist Scraper & Data Extractor Tools in 2024

  1. Phantombuster – 🏆 Winner!
  2. Oxylabs
  3. Bright Data
  4. Apify

1. Phantombuster

A Review of Phantombuster and its Features

Recommended Guide: Phantombuster Review

One of the best ways to make sure that you can safely and anonymously scrape data from Craigslist is through Phantombuster.

These guys understand that they have a client base that wants everything to be done professionally and discreetly, and they can definitely help you achieve this.

👉 Get FREE Trial!

We love that this Craigslist scraper has a tutorial so that you can work out how to use their features to your advantage, and we also like that they have updates continuously on their features, so you’re always using the latest technology.

You can even scrape things like emails from Craigslist with these guys. Support is right at your fingertips too, with their chat box on their homepage there for whenever you should need it.

2. Oxylabs

Oxylabs Web Scraper API

Recommended Guide: Oxylabs Review

Oxylabs is one of those businesses that make it really easy for you to scrape all the data you need from Craigslist, even if you’re someone who hasn’t got a lot of tech experience.

In fact, if you’re brand new to the tech industry but you don’t want to have to learn all about coding, these guys are a great choice.

👉 Get FREE Account

They say that their features can help you quickly obtain all of the necessary web data from Craigslist, and you don’t need to know anything about coding.

They want to make it so that you can turn web pages into spreadsheets that are nicely structured within just a couple of clicks, and you know what the best part is?

You can try them for free.

And, the trial lasts for 7 days. If we were you, we would be making the most of a Craigslist data extractor like this.

3. Bright Data

Bright Data Web Scraper IDE

Recommended Guide: Bright Data Review

Bright Data is a tool that you can use to scrape data from Craigslist and the fact that they have a specified Craigslist scraping service means that they really care about their client’s needs, and really want to ensure that they are getting specific features that are relevant to this particular type of scraping activity.

They say that you can use their data collector tools so that you can retrieve available data that is publicly available on Craigslist.

👉 Get FREE Account

You can immediately crawl whatever kind of data that you need from Craigslist, and you can export this data to a spreadsheet, whether this is excel, email, or HTML.

One of the biggest features is the fact that they have scraping features that are available without coding, which means that they are easy to use, and their all-in-one platform integrates easily with proxy networks that are industry-leading.

This way, you can pair your scraping Craigslist needs up with a proxy and keep your personal information safe at all times.

Another feature that we love about this Craigslist leads scraper is the fact that they are scalable, which means that you can collect as much data as you need from Craigslist, and you can do this quickly.

4. Apify

Apify

Apify is a really solid Craigslist data extractor that you can use to scrape information,

They help you to scrape Craigslist for new posts, that match your search criteria.

This means that they can compile a list of all of the relevant data that you are trying to home in on, and when this pops up on their radar, they are going to automatically start scraping it for you.

On their website, you will see that they say that they have a free trial for seven days that you can make the most of, and then after this, it is only going to cost you $5 a month, and you don’t have to share your credit card details in order to make the most of their free trial.

They have tons of information on their website in general about how to use their features, as well as their input parameters, which means that you can get really specific when it comes to the information that you scrape from Craigslist.

5. Cloud Crawler

Cloud Crawler

This Craigslist crawler or spider works specifically within the Cloud, which makes it potentially difficult to use.

There’s not too much documentation for it, but it is good if you want to experiment with coding and you don’t want to develop your own Craigslist email scraper from scratch. Another bonus is that it is free.

6. Visual Web Ripper

Visual Web Ripper

Visual Web Ripper is not as difficult to use as Cloud Crawler, and it helps you point directly at the information you want to scrape, meaning that the program does everything else.

It even comes with video tutorials and has a user-friendly website. However, like everything, it comes with its limitations.

The free trial only lets you scrape 100 elements from the website, which can come with a lot of code and scripts that you don’t need.

Also, the free trial is only available for 15 days. It’s very expensive, so you need to have the budget for it. The license for using this web scraper is $350.00.

7. Python Craigslist Scraper

Python Craigslist Scraper

Another open source code scraper is Python, and when compared to some of the other web scrapers we have talked about already, it’s definitely a lot easier to use.

It’s also free, encoded in one of the easiest languages for you to learn. This makes it potentially one of the most popular Craigslist scrapers out there.

8. Scrapy

Scrapy

We think that the last web scraper on our list is potentially one of the most legitimate ones. It markets itself as an all-purpose web crawler, which means that you can use it for a lot more than just Craigslist.

It’s also a lot less limited, but it’s really easy to configure, and it’s free to use. It offers its clients tutorials around scraping data from specific areas, where you won’t get unnecessary information.

When you first check it out, you might think that it looks a little bit overwhelming, but when you get to know it, you will realize that it’s not that bad as a Craigslist crawler.

Legality Around Craigslist Scraping

Craigslist Scraping

So, why are we mentioning this? For two main reasons. The first one is pretty obvious; we review and recommend proxies to our readers, and proxies are of course essential to being able to scrape data from Craigslist.

The other is a word of caution. Anything you do while following instructions like the ones below, is on you. This means that you now know that it is against Craigslist’s terms of use to scrape data.

This means that you are liable for anything that happens, which could include your posts getting removed, having access blocked, or your IP address banned. You might even become subject to legal action.

Is It Legal to Scrape Craigslist Data?

In the past, Craigslist has taken legal action when it comes to using Craigslist scrapers. Of course, this all depends on the scale of data scraping, as well as what you use the data that you scraped for.

Simple data analysis is more or less OK, but commercial use, especially if you are directly in touch with the competition, is not going to land lightly.

The biggest mistake that businesses make when scraping data from Craigslist is ignoring Craigslist’s warnings when they send out a cease and assist letter and ban their IP addresses.

At this point, you should definitely think about slowing down, if not stopping completely, but a lot of businesses out there ignore these actions and continue to extract data.

Therefore, if you get a cease and desist letter from Craigslist, then we recommend that you stop all activity.

Issues with Craigslist

The thing about Craigslist is that it’s a website with a lot of issues. It first started back in 2006, but how much has really changed since then? There have been a few significant updates over the years, but when it comes to the actual design of the website it’s hardly changed.

This means that the user interface hasn’t changed at all, but more data is obscured than what used to be. These days, you get to see three different types of ads posted.

  • Ads with Plaintext Contact Info: Most of the time these types of ads are posted by brands looking for people to contact them. These brands will have staff who can answer the phone, and therefore are able to avoid unwanted callers.
  • Ads with Obfuscated Contact Info: These are the types of individuals who post personal ads to Craigslist, and they post their phone numbers in a slightly different format, using both numbers and words. This is so that humans can work out the phone number, but a robot won’t be able to.
  • Ads with Zero Contact Info: If you want to contact the person who posted the ad, then you will need to send an email to the anonymous email address that Craigslist has provided as a forwarding address. You’ll see no personal information on the post, but the user will see your return address which means that they will be able to respond to you if they want.

When it comes to Craigslist, there are also issues around what is and what isn’t allowed when it comes to ads.

Post titles are of course free to include all sorts of different symbols, and in the world of Craigslist, it’s actually more effective to use symbols to stand out.

However, this kind of format does pose a problem to Craigslist scrapers, who either need to figure out how to decode these special characters or get rid of them completely. Another common problem on Craigslist is spam.

Of course, you won’t find this kind of issue in the more serious sections, like the property section, where everything is heavily moderated. However, you will find spam in personal sections, including jobs and free listings.

Craigslist does have anti-spam measures, and sometimes they require phone verification from their users.

They also have a posting limit, and an automated system that can ban or suspend somebody who breaks the rules. Does any of this work? No.

Craigslist attempted to make moves to improve the viability and flexibility of their website a few years ago.

This meant that you could use a lot of HTML to customize your posts, and to provide more information to people looking at your post.

However, back in 2013, Craigslist got rid of these features, returning to the basic black and white aesthetic.

They actually called this look Hurricane Craig, and there’s only really one benefit that we can see. This is the fact that it standardized a lot more data and posts.

This made it a lot easier for robots to extract the data from browser windows, instead of needing to decode it first. This means that Craigslist is inadvertently making it easier for people like you to scrape data.

Why You Might Want to Scrape Craigslist

criagslist

So, why on earth would you want to scrape data from Craigslist? We think that there are many different reasons for this.

From an Analytical Standpoint

There’s always the chance that you might want to scrape data so that you can write a report. Investigative journalism is still a thing, even if it’s rare.

This means that you might want to scrape all of the posts in a particular section, and look at things about them, including frequency of posting, and the medium prices for products.

You might even want to compare the kind of item with how difficult it is to get in touch with the user. Of course, none of this work is profitable, it’s just information that you can use for different things.

Honestly, we think that Craigslist would probably be fine with this kind of activity, which means that you’re probably going to be safe doing so.

They most likely wouldn’t win a court case over it. However, you’ve still got to be careful, because sites like this can be unpredictable.

From a Personal Standpoint

You might want to use a scraper for information that you want to use personally.

This means that if you are shopping for a used car, you might want to harvest data on all used cars so that you can correlate locations, prices, model and make information, and any other data about the cars so that you can get a way better idea of what you’re looking for.

As helpful as Craigslist can be, their filtering and browsing is average at best.

From a Profitable Standpoint

There is also the opportunity to scrape data for something that you would like to purchase and resell. One common target of course is event and concert tickets.

You can monitor events that have been sold out, scrape the information from Craigslist to locate tickets for those in advance, buy the tickets, and then resell them for more, on other websites like eBay.

Of course, this type of activity does require a lot of effort, but if the margins are good, it can end up paying off.

From a Commercial Standpoint

You can use Craigslist to generate leads, and for this you would want to scrape information from The Wanted section, for anyone who is searching for an item or service that you provide.

This way, you can reach out to them to sell your service or product. It’s not the most efficient way of generating leads, but the option is there.

Of course, all of this relies on your determination to go against Craigslist’s terms of use. We recommend that you avoid any obvious commercial use.

How to Scrape Craigslist Data

The exact approach that you choose for scraping Craigslist data is going to depend a lot on the tool you sign up for.

However, the general process is going to look something like this:

1. Pick a Tool

Of course, the first thing you want to do is choose a scraping tool that you can use to scrape from Craigslist.

If you have had experience in the coding and developing industry, then you could even try your hand at developing one yourself.

If you haven’t, then there’s really no need to do so, because there are so many tools out there that already exist.

Let’s take a look at a few options that we think could be worth your time.

2. Use Proxies When You Can

Remember when we talked about above how Craigslist is always on the hunt to prevent scrapers? The solution to this is using a proxy when you scrape Craigslist.

The only way that Craigslist has to identify a scraper is to observe that the same IP address is accessing various pages again and again, in a really short amount of time.

You won’t even be able to tell what the user is doing, which means that they could just be browsing Craigslist.

However, if they think that your IP address is accessing too many web pages at once, they will limit or restrict you.

This is why using a Craigslist proxy is so fundamental, as it will funnel traffic through a rotating selection of web servers, which filter the origin point of the website.

This means that it’s impossible for Craigslist to keep track of the IP address that you’re using, because it is changing all the time.

There is very little possibility of getting restricted or banned when using a proxy for your Craigslist scraping.

We recommend using Proxy Seller for all of your Craigslist scraping needs.

One thing to note here is that you will need to work out how to filter your Craigslist scraper through a proxy.

3. Collate and Harvest Data

Once you have set your web scraper up, and decided which proxy to use with it, then you will be ready to scrape. All you’ve got to do is run it and collect the data.

There’s a good chance that the output will be into a CSV file which you can open on any spreadsheet program, including Google Sheets or Excel.

Conclusion

Now, all that’s left to do is to go through the data and use it for whatever you want. However, we again recommend that you don’t make a public commercial using it.

Remember, Craigslist is much more likely to send a cease and desist to you if you do.

This is why it’s a lot safer to use a Craigslist scraper to scrape data for personal use, as the worst they can do is block your IP address, which isn’t going to matter at all if you are using a proxy. Good luck!

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Written by Jason Wise

Hello! I’m the editor at EarthWeb, with a particular interest in business and technology topics, including social media, privacy, and cryptocurrency. As an experienced editor and researcher, I have a passion for exploring the latest trends and innovations in these fields and sharing my insights with our readers. I also enjoy testing and reviewing products, and you’ll often find my reviews and recommendations on EarthWeb. With a focus on providing informative and engaging content, I am committed to ensuring that EarthWeb remains a leading source of news and analysis in the tech industry.
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