What we checked on Bright Data
Self-hosted
Only the MCP server can be run on your own machines or private cloud; the unlocking, scraping and browser infrastructure it calls stays in the vendor cloud and still needs an account token.
Local (self-hosted) MCP: Set up your own MCP server instance on-premise or in your private cloud.
Open source
The MCP server repository is published under the MIT licence and the Proxy Manager is described as open source, while the scraping and unlocking platform itself is closed.
A powerful Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides an all-in-one solution for public web access.
SDK languages
The vendor documents a Python SDK and a JavaScript SDK alongside a CLI, all authenticating with the same API key; no other language client is named.
The Bright Data CLI, Python SDK and JavaScript SDK use the same API key. Pass the key once when you set up the client, and every request the client…
Tracing and evals
Job management APIs, snapshot-based async jobs and a live credit view in the control panel let you follow each collection run; no separate evaluation layer is documented.
Performance at Scale: Unlimited concurrency, Batch & scheduled collection, Job management APIs
brightdata.com/pricing/serpChecked
How it meters
Billing is metered per successful request or delivered record, one credit each, while the Browser API meters traffic volume instead of time or seats.
The Web Unlocker API, SERP API and Web Scraper API consume one credit per request or record. Scraper Studio draws from the same pool and consumes one…
Cost of one job
On the cheapest paid path, pay as you go, a thousand SERP or unlocked requests cost $1.50, dropping to $1.30 once the $499 Scale plan is in force.
Pay as you go $1.5/1K requests
brightdata.com/pricing/serpChecked
Price per 1,000 requests
$1.30 per 1,000 requests in Scale, its cheapest mode.
$1.3/1K additional requests
brightdata.com/pricing/serpChecked
Free credit
$2 of free usage, once, at signup.
New accounts receive a separate one-time $2 trial credit (valid 7 days) to test the proxy products, plus an additional $5 bonus upon adding a payment…
Free tier
Every new account gets a standing monthly allowance of 5,000 credits spendable across five products with no card and no sales call, and it renews each month.
Every new Bright Data account gets 5,000 free credits per month (~$7.50 value), usable across the Web Unlocker API, SERP API, Web Scraper API,…
MCP server
A hosted MCP endpoint and a local server both expose search, scraping, pre-built scrapers and browser control to any MCP client, with 5,000 requests a month free.
The Bright Data MCP server gives AI agents and assistants real-time access to public web data through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Connect it to…
A company can buy it
There are team accounts with multiple users, an Enterprise tier with an account manager and SLA, and billing through the AWS Marketplace.
For team accounts, that free tier is shared across all users within the account. If you require additional credits, please contact your account…
Pooled budget
Credits sit in one account-level pool that every product and every user on a team account draws from, rather than each seat holding its own balance.
Free credits are drawn from a single shared pool of 5,000 credits per account. ... Usage is metered and deducted from the same pool, regardless of…
Admin controls
API keys carry one of five permission levels, so an admin can issue an agent a key that may call products but cannot touch billing or configuration.
User: Enables API usage on the proxy/API level without access to Billing or product configuration pages.
Audit log
Audit logs appear only in the Browser API Enterprise column beside SSO; the published self-serve plans list no audit trail of administrative action.
On the page: Browser API plan cards, Enterprise column
Single sign-on
SSO is listed as an Enterprise entitlement on the scraper, SERP and unlocker plan cards, so self-serve buyers on the free, pay as you go and Scale plans do not get it.
Enterprise Custom Talk to sales: Volume discounts, Account manager, Premium SLA, Priority support, SSO
brightdata.com/pricing/serpChecked
Getting out
Results can be pushed out to a webhook or S3 and customer data deletion is offered on request, but unused free credits are forfeited at the start of each month rather than carried over.
No. Credits reset to 5,000 on the first of each month. Unused credits are forfeited.
Certifications
ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018 certificates run to 2028, a SOC 2 Type II report is available under NDA with SOC 3 public, and GDPR and CCPA programmes are documented.
Yes. Bright Data holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO 27017, and ISO 27018 certifications, valid until August 11-13, 2028, issued by SII-QCD (ANAB…
Bright Data price and terms
Terms
- Free plan
- YesYes
The terms in full
5,000 credits a month on every new account, shared across Web Unlocker API, SERP API, Web Scraper API, Scraper Studio and Browser API (5 credits per MB), no credit card; unfunded accounts are rate limited to 1,000 requests a minute and unused credits do not roll over. Proxy products are excluded, with a separate one-time $2 trial credit.
What needs a higher plan
- Enterprise
- Audit log, Single sign-on
For AI agents
- MCP server
- Yes
Pricing page, captured
brightdata.com/pricing/serp, checked
Bright Data alternatives
All 4 alternatives- This spot is openBe the first agent people see on Bright Data's page.
- First on your rivals' pages
- Top of your category
- First in the home page list
- First in search results
- In comparisons and guides
- In the weekly newsletter
- Visits and AI reads each month
2 more alternatives
All 4 publish a price.
- ApifyFree, then $19 a monthMarketplace and cloud platform of ready-to-run web scraping and automation tools, callable over API or MCP.
- OxylabsFrom $30 a monthLive web search, page scraping and a cloud browser on one 177M-IP proxy network, with MCP servers for agents.
Questions about Bright Data
- How much does Bright Data cost?
- Bright Data is free to use. From brightdata.com/pricing/serp, checked 28 October 2026.
- Does Bright Data have an API or an MCP server?
- It has an MCP server.
- Is Bright Data open source, and can you host it yourself?
- Part of it is open source. You can host part of it yourself.
- What have we checked on Bright Data?
- 17 facts, under these headings: Whose machine it runs on, building with it, what it costs to run, buying it for a team, what happens to your code.
- How do we check Bright Data?
- We hold 17 facts on Bright Data, quoted from 7 pages. Facts and price last checked 28 October 2026.
Sources and changes
Last changed
Sources7
- docs.brightdata.com/general/account/billing-and-pricing/free-tier
- brightdata.com/pricing/serp
- docs.brightdata.com/products/mcp-server/overview
- docs.brightdata.com/api-reference/authentication
- github.com/brightdata/brightdata-mcp
- docs.brightdata.com/general/security/security-overview
- brightdata.com/pricing/scraping-browser
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