Top 10 Data Extraction Tools

Introduction

 

The world is relying a lot on “data” due to its vast availability and industries are rapidly adopting big data and applications of data science to grow their businesses and be at the top of the competition. Every huge industry uses data to extract meaningful insights that help them in making smart data-driven decisions for better business. 

 

Data extraction is one such application of Data science that helps in the retrieval and extraction of data from different sources with the purpose of processing and analyzing. The raw data available from the world can be unstructured, semi-structured, or structured and are often hard to decipher by humans themselves. The solution to this problem is to use data extraction tools that are available in the market. 

 

When used wisely, Data Extraction technologies may help businesses maximize the value of their data. In this article, we are going to list 10 data extraction tools that are the best in the market, but let us first discuss the types of data extraction tools present.

 

(Must read: Best data science tools)

 

Types of Data Extraction Tools

 

There are different types of Data Extraction tools of categories like Batch Processing tools, Open Source tools, and cloud-based tools. It is important to learn about the type of tools before proceeding with the actual tools. 

 

Given below are the brief definitions of the three given categories according to Hevo Data.

 

• Batch Processing Tools:

 

There are instances when businesses need to transfer data to another place but run into difficulties because the data is stored in outdated formats. Moving data in chunks is the ideal approach in such circumstances. 

 

This implies that the sources may just include a single or a few data units and are not very complicated. When transferring data within a premise or closed environment, batch processing might also be useful. 

 

• Open Source Tools:

 

When organizations are on a tight budget, Open Source Data Extraction Tools are desirable since they may buy Open-Source programs to extract or reproduce data given. 

 

Employees of the company should have the essential abilities and expertise to carry out this task. Some paid suppliers also provide restricted versions of their goods for free; hence, this may be categorized alongside Open-Source tools.

 

 

• Cloud-Based Tools:

 

The most common extraction programs available now are cloud-based data extraction tools. They relieve the user of the burden of calculating their logic and eliminate the security risks associated with managing data themselves. 

 

They let users link data sources and destinations directly without writing any code, making it simple for anybody in the organization to have rapid access to data that can subsequently be analyzed. Today's market offers a variety of Cloud-Based solutions.

 

(Also read: Data mining tools)

 

Top 10 Data Extraction Tools

 

Now that we have discussed the types of Data Extraction tools, let us learn about the best data extraction tools in the market.

 

1. Import.io

 

Import.io is one of the widely used web-based data extraction tools that helps in the extraction of data from websites. It is very easy to use by anyone as the user is not required to code in order to extract data, the tool does it all by itself. So, the user does not need to have any special skills to use this data extraction tool. 

 

This tool works well for stock research, e-commerce and retail, sales and marketing intelligence, and risk management. Import.io's main selling point is its ability to assist businesses in achieving success via the use of "smart data," as well as data visualization and reporting tools.

 

 

2. OutWitHub

 

This is one of the most widely used web scraping programs on the market today. It often divides web pages into distinct parts before navigating from page to page to extract important data from the website. This program has an extension for Mozilla Firefox and Chrome, making it easy to use, and it is mostly used to extract links, email addresses, data tables, pictures, and so on.

 

 

3. ParseHub

 

Another popular data extracting as well as a web scraping tool is ParseHub. It can scrape not just complicated websites that employ JavaScript and Ajax, but also sites that use infinite scrolling or that restrict content with logins. 

 

ParseHub has the ability to search through forms, maps, dropdowns, login to websites, and handle websites with infinite scroll, tabs, and pop-ups. 

 

To access this tool, the user will just have to open the website and select the data that is needed to be extracted. The ML relationship engine in ParseHub can screen the page/site to comprehend the hierarchy of items and return the necessary data in seconds. The extracted data can be downloaded in JSON, Excel, or API formats. 

 

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4. Octoparse

 

Octoparse is a user-friendly data extraction tool that only requires three steps to complete the process. There is no need for the user to code anything and the extraction can be done just by entering the targeted website URL. With Octoparse, the user can scrape any website without restrictions. 

 

To avoid sites from banning the IP address of the user, it employs automated IP rotation. Octoparse, in addition to being highly user-friendly, includes a plethora of advanced features such as a 24/7 cloud platform and scraping scheduler. The extracted data can be downloaded as CSV, Excel, and API files or can be directly stored in the user’s database.

 

 

5. Spinn3r

 

Spinn3r is a website-based service that is widely used to search for blogs from all around the world. It gives companies access to every blog that is published in real-time and is mostly used to gather information from social media, forums, online blogs, reviews, comments, mainstream news monitoring, and so on.

 

 

6. Web Scraper

 

Web Scraper is another point-and-click data extraction tool that is similar to Octoparse. It is specifically designed to make the extraction of web data easier and widely accessible. 

 

With the help of Web scraper, the user can extract data from any website without restrictions, even including the ones with features like multi-level navigation, JavaScript, or infinite scrolling. 

 

One can also build site maps from different kinds of selectors with this tool, and hence allow the user to customize Data Extraction to diverse site architectures. The Cloud Web Scraper service provides API and webhook access to the scraped data. 

 

Any regular user of Web scraper need not worry about outgrowing its services as it can scale with any growing business with the assistance of its in-built cloud service.

 

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7. Scrapingbee

 

Scrapingbee is an online scraping API that manages proxy servers and headless browsers. It can run Javascript on the pages and rotate proxies for each request, allowing the user to view the raw HTML page without being banned. They also provide a specific API for scraping Google search results. 

 

The user can directly access this tool on Google sheet as well as with any other chrome web browser. It supports Amazon scraping and Google search scraping as well. 

 

 

8. DocParser

 

DocParser is a Data Extraction tool that was created particularly to extract data from business documents. This adaptable tool makes use of a proprietary parsing engine that can handle a wide range of use cases. It extracts and transfers all important information from business papers to the required place. 

 

DocParser reduces the need for human data entry and simplifies the user’s organization through non-disruptive process automation. DocParser may be used to process invoices and accounts payable, convert purchase and sales orders, and HR forms, as well as extract data from standardized contracts and agreements.

 

 

9. Mailparser

 

Mailparser is a complex email parser that extracts data from emails. Email parsing differs from web scraping in that instead of collecting data from HTML web pages, the program extracts data from emails. 

 

MailParser is a powerful and simple-to-use application that allows the user to extract data without the need for complex code. It features an all-purpose tool – the HTTP Webhook – that can execute a wide range of tasks. 

 

To use Mailparser, one needs to transfer the emails to it, and the program will automatically scrape the required data to extract depending on the specific extraction criteria entered by the user during the setup process. 

 

After retrieving the data, the user may export it via either file downloads/native integrations or the general HTTP Webhooks.

 

 

10. Apify

 

Apify is a tool for online scraping and automation that can generate an API for any website. It comes with an integrated proxy service that comprises home and data center proxies that are designed for data extraction. 

 

Apify Store offers a variety of ready-made scraping tools for major websites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Maps, as well as bespoke solutions for scraping and extraction of any size. After the job is done, the user can download the data in structured formats. 

 

Conclusion

 

Data extraction is a very useful application of data science and is used by companies every day in order to extract valuable information from relevant sources. The most significant benefit of data extraction tools is that they remove the manual component from the equation, saving both time and money. 

 

In this article, we have discussed the three types of data extraction tools and ten popular and user-friendly data extraction tools that can be used at any skill level.