Instant Data Scraper or TableHarvest?
Instant Data Scraper is free and widely used. This page is for when it did not get your table, or when you cannot tell whether it got all of it. It starts with the cases where Instant Data Scraper is the better choice.
TableHarvest is made by Quillfold, which publishes this page.
When Instant Data Scraper is the better fit
You need many pages at no cost
Instant Data Scraper follows pages with no stated page limit, for free. The TableHarvest free plan follows up to 3 pages per capture.
It already gets your table right
If the rows and columns come out as you expect, there is no reason to switch.
You want a long track record
It has more than a million users in the Chrome Web Store. TableHarvest is new and not in the store yet.
You need a delay between pages
It lets you set how long to wait between page loads, which helps on slow sites.
When TableHarvest is the better fit
You need to know that nothing is missing
TableHarvest reads the total the page states, such as “57 entries”, and shows whether the captured rows match. We did not find a count check in Instant Data Scraper’s listing. More: why rows go missing
The grid only draws the rows on screen
Data grids such as AG Grid keep only the visible rows in the page. TableHarvest scrolls them and collects every row: 1,000 of 1,000 on the AG Grid demo in our test on 6 October 2026. We did not find this listed for Instant Data Scraper. More: why rows go missing
The table has merged cells or a header over several rows
TableHarvest fills merged cells into every row they cover and joins multi-row headers into one, like “2024 / Q1 / Revenue”. We did not find merged-cell handling listed for Instant Data Scraper. More: merged cells and “Column 1” headers
You need to show where the numbers came from
XLSX files from TableHarvest include a Report sheet with the source URL, the time, pages and rows captured, and whether the count matched. More: why rows go missing
It picks the wrong table, or columns come out as “Column 1”
TableHarvest lists every table, list and grid it finds and highlights each one on the page; you can also click the one you want. Columns can be renamed, reordered and hidden, and the choices are remembered for the site. More: merged cells and “Column 1” headers
You would rather not grant access to all websites
Since an update in April 2026, Instant Data Scraper requests access to data on all websites. TableHarvest reads only the tab you click it on, and asks for one site at a time when a multi-page capture has to load a new page.
You need JSON, Markdown or TSV, or a CSV that is safe in Excel
Instant Data Scraper exports XLS, XLSX and CSV. TableHarvest also writes TSV, JSON and Markdown, adds a BOM to CSV for Excel, and neutralises cells that could run as formulas. More: CSV opens garbled in Excel
Side by side
| Instant Data Scraper | TableHarvest | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free plan; Pro removes the page limit and adds data cleanup |
| Pages per capture on the free plan | No limit stated | Up to 3 |
| Checks rows against the total on the page | Not listed | Yes |
| Every row of grids that draw only visible rows | Not listed | Yes |
| Merged cells and multi-row headers | Not listed | Yes |
| Report of source, time and counts in the file | Not listed | Yes (XLSX) |
| Formats | XLS, XLSX, CSV, copy | XLSX, CSV, TSV, JSON, Markdown, copy |
| Site access | All websites (since April 2026) | The tab you click; one more site at a time when needed |
| Account | Not needed | Not needed |
| Where data is processed | In your browser | In your browser |
| Interface languages | English | English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean |
| In the Chrome Web Store | Yes, more than 1 million users | Not yet |
“Not listed” means we did not find it in the product’s store listing or documentation on the date above. It may still work in some cases. We have not run Instant Data Scraper through our own test pages.
Using both
They do not conflict. Keep Instant Data Scraper for long crawls, and open TableHarvest when you need to check a count or get every row of a grid.