Web Scraper vs ShadowCrawl

In-depth architectural comparison of the Web Scraper and ShadowCrawl MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

W

Choose Web Scraper when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Web Scraper Details

Choose ShadowCrawl when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
• You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore ShadowCrawl Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	W Web Scraper Search & Data Extraction	ShadowCrawl Search & Data Extraction
Summary	Fetch, crawl, and browse protected pages with anti-bot handling - renders in a real browser and	Rust MCP stealth scraper: anti-bot search/scrape with CDP fallback + HITL non-robot.
Category & Scope	Search & Data Extraction	Search & Data Extraction

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "web-scraper": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "web-scraper"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shadowcrawl": {
      "url": "https://api.openai.com/v1"
    }
  }
}

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