Custom web scraping software

Web scraping software automatically collects data from websites and converts it into a structured format that you can use in a database, API, dashboard or spreadsheet. A crawler visits pages, a scraper reads the relevant fields, and a parsing and normalisation layer makes the data consistent and usable. Custom software lets you set this up around your own sources, fields and frequency, rather than working with a standard tool that does not quite fit. Appfront builds scraping that only collects publicly accessible data and that respects robots.txt and the terms of use of sources.

Collecting publicly accessible data can be permitted, but there are clear boundaries. We build scrapers that respect a website's robots.txt and terms of use, keep to a reasonable request rate, and do not overload the server. We only collect publicly accessible data and do not bypass logins, paywalls, CAPTCHAs or other access restrictions. Where personal data is involved, we take the GDPR into account, with a lawful basis and data minimisation. We also observe copyright and database rights. When in doubt, we recommend checking the legal position in advance, ideally with your own legal adviser.

We read and respect a source's robots.txt and abide by its terms of use. In practice, that means we do not crawl excluded paths, and we apply a sensible rate and crawl delay so the website is not placed under unnecessary strain. Where a source offers an official API or data export, we prefer to use it rather than scrape, as that is more stable and more considerate. This allows us to build data collection that stays reliable over the long term without working against the sources.

Yes. Many modern websites only load their content after JavaScript has run. For such pages we use a headless browser that renders the page just as a real visitor would, so the data becomes available to read. Where a page retrieves its data from an underlying public API, we prefer to connect to that directly, as it is faster and more stable. We remain within what is publicly accessible and do not circumvent access restrictions.

Websites change, and scrapers built too rigidly around the old structure break as a result. That is why we build in monitoring and alerting: if the structure of a page changes, if fields remain empty, or if the volume of data collected deviates from what is normal, you receive a notification. We add validation rules, retries with back-off and logging, so that temporary errors are handled and genuine changes become visible quickly. This keeps the data collection maintainable, rather than a black box that quietly delivers incorrect data.

We tailor this to your situation. We can write the data to a database, make it available via an API, export it to CSV or Excel, or pass it on to a data warehouse or existing system. We often build a small data pipeline that links together fetching, cleaning, normalising and writing, with scheduling so it runs at fixed times. For storage and further processing, we are happy to connect with our data engineering and database development services.

We build custom software. Standard scraping tools work until a source or field structure differs slightly from what was expected, or until the scale, frequency or legal care required exceeds what such a tool can handle. Custom software aligns with your sources, your fields, your storage and your agreements on speed and respect for the source. After an initial consultation, we determine together which sources and functionality matter most and in what order we develop them, without promising a fixed timeline or price that we cannot yet substantiate.

We build for organisations that want to collect publicly accessible web data in a structured way: data teams that want their own pipeline, price comparison and e-commerce businesses that want to track prices and ranges, market research agencies that gather market signals, property platforms that monitor listings, and recruitment agencies that want a clear view of vacancies. In every case we build data collection that works lawfully and cleanly, and that fits your existing systems and processes.