What's actually different
Both auto-detect the table or list on a page, follow pagination and infinite scroll, let you rename and filter columns, and export without you writing a line of code.
The difference is what happens after the list. Magic Scraper can open the page behind every row, take fields from there, and merge them back in as extra columns — chained several levels deep. That is what drill-down means, and it is most of the reason to use one over the other.
Feature by feature
Their column comes from their own store listing, checked September 2026.
| Magic Scraper | Instant Data Scraper | |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-detects tables and lists | Yes | Yes |
| Pagination & infinite scroll | Yes | Yes |
| Rename and filter columns | Yes | Yes |
| CSV and Excel export | Yes | Yes |
| JSON export | Yes | Not listed |
| Drill-down: open the page behind each row | Yes | Not described |
| Multi-level chains (row → page → page) | Yes | Not described |
| Manual picker for awkward layouts | Yes | Partly — customise the prediction |
| Columns named from the page's markup | Yes | Rename them yourself |
| Setup remembered per site | Yes | Not listed |
| Price | Free; one-time licence for unlimited drill-down | Completely free |
When to try Magic Scraper
One specific frustration, and you'll know if it's yours.
The list isn't enough
The catalogue shows name and price. You need the SKU, the material, the lead time — and those only exist on each product's own page. Without drill-down that means opening 200 tabs by hand.
The data is two or three clicks deep
Row, to the product, to the maker, to where the maker sources materials. Chain the levels once on one row and it repeats down the whole table.
Something on the page sits outside the table
A discount that applies to every row, a heading, a badge. Click the rows, then shift-click the extra element and it becomes a column.
You do the same scrape every week
Your column choices, renames and drill chain are remembered per site, so the second run is one click rather than a re-setup.
When to keep Instant Data Scraper
When the data you want is already in the list. If the table on screen has your columns in it, Instant Data Scraper will get them, for free, and it has been doing so reliably for years. There is no reason to pay anyone for that.
It is also the safer bet on proof. A million installs and 7,700 reviews at 4.9 stars is a track record we do not have and will not pretend to. If a long record of working is what you are buying, that is the one to install.
Try both on the same page
Point both at the same site and the difference takes about two minutes to see for yourself.
The sandbox catalogue is a fictional shop: six pages of nine products, a Next button, and a detail page behind every row that carries SKU, material, lead time and warranty — none of which appear in the list.
Run either extension on it. Both should collect 54 rows across six pages. Then see which one can also bring back the SKU. Nothing on the site is real and nothing is rate-limited, so use it as hard as you like.
Reasonable questions
What can Magic Scraper do that Instant Data Scraper cannot?
Drill-down. It follows the link in each row to that row's own page, takes the fields you want from there, and merges them back into the table as extra columns — chained several levels deep if the data is buried. Instant Data Scraper's listing describes pagination and infinite scroll, but not per-row detail-page collection. Magic Scraper also exports JSON, where theirs lists XLS, XLSX and CSV.
Should I switch from Instant Data Scraper?
Not if it already does what you need — it's free and it works. Switch when you catch yourself scraping a list, then opening every row by hand to collect the fields that only exist on the detail page. That job is what this was built for.
Is Magic Scraper free?
Detection, the manual picker, export to CSV, XLSX and JSON, and multi-page crawling are all free, with no time limit. Drill-down runs on the first three rows for free; a one-time licence opens every row. If you never need the page behind a row, you never need to pay.
Can I use both?
Yes, and plenty of people should. They don't conflict.
Is Instant Data Scraper still maintained?
Yes. Around a million users, 4.9 stars from roughly 7,700 reviews, and last updated in August 2026. Anyone telling you it's abandoned is out of date.
Instant Data Scraper is a product of Web Robots. We are not affiliated with them, and this page is our own comparison, not theirs. Got something wrong? Tell us.