What is the difference between an API and web scraping?

An API is a door an app opens for software: you ask for data and get clean JSON back. Scraping reads a web page like a person would and pulls text out of the HTML. APIs are stable and allowed; scrapers break when the page changes and are often blocked.

Is RSS still worth using?

Yes, for news and blog posts from sites that publish a feed. It is free and needs no key. Just expect that a site can switch its feed off, and build your workflow so the source is one step you can swap.

Is web scraping legal?

It depends on the site, the data and where you are. Many sites forbid it in their terms, and personal data has extra rules. Prefer an official API or a data provider, and check the terms before you scrape anything.

What is a pay-per-call API?

A data service that charges a small amount for each request, such as a search-results API. You buy credits or pay as you go, and the cost is calls per run times runs per month times the price.

Yes. Stepthrough is free and the practice needs no account.

API vs Web Scraping vs RSS: Which to Use, Explained (Free)

Free · Live nowAI Basics Stepthrough~7 min17 stepsBeginner

Updated October 20, 2026. Built against the tool’s current screens and checked step by step. How we check this lesson

Almost every report a small business fills by hand could fill itself, if the data can get in. There are four ways web data reaches an automation: an official API, an RSS feed, a third-party data API that charges per call, and web scraping. In this free, hands-on lesson you compare all four, open the five parts of an HTTP request, pick the right way in for three real jobs and do the cost math, on simple worksheets with nothing to sign up for.

At a glance

Question	Answer
What you build	Compare the four ways web data gets into an automation, read the five parts of an HTTP request, and pick the right source for news, CRM data and competitor prices.
Tools	Stepthrough
Time	About 7 minutes, 17 steps in 4 parts
Level	Beginner, no coding needed
Cost	Free
Ways to learn it	Practice it step by step

The 4 parts, in short

Four ways in: Open Official API, Open RSS feed, Open Web scraping, Open Third-party data API.
Anatomy of a request: Open An HTTP request, The method, The URL, The headers, and 1 more step.
Pick the way: Open Pick the way, Job 1: news posts, Job 2: your own CRM, Job 3: competitor prices.
Cost and change: Open Cost and change, Do the math, Sources change, The smallest fix.

Start here first: Start Here: How Stepthrough Works (module 1 of AI Basics)

Part of: Get Data From the Web Into Your Automations (step 1 of 9). Next up: Coefficient: Pull Live Pipeline Data into Google Sheets and Auto-Refresh It Daily

Part of: n8n Intermediate: Real Business Workflows (step 3 of 17). Next up: n8n: Call Any API with the HTTP Request Node

What you will do

The example is Copperleaf Marketing, a made-up 12-person agency where Sam Rivera spends Monday morning copying competitor prices, industry news, Reddit questions and CRM numbers into a sheet. You open the four ways in, then the parts of one API call, then choose a source for a news feed, the agency's own CRM and Google Shopping prices. You finish with the cost of a pay-per-call API and what to do when a free source switches off.

API vs scraping vs RSS, in short

An official API is the app's own door for software. You send a request and get clean data back, usually as JSON, with a key. It is stable, documented and allowed, so use it whenever an app has one.

An RSS feed is a free list of a site's newest posts: a title, a link and a date. No key and no code. But a site can switch its feed off; Reddit has announced it is switching off its RSS feeds on November 13, 2026.

A third-party data API collects data such as search results, shopping prices or Reddit posts and sells it per call, often for a fraction of a cent. It deals with the blocking and page changes for you.

Web scraping reads the page like a person and pulls text out of the HTML. It works on almost any site, but breaks when the page changes, sites often block it, and some forbid it in their terms. Treat it as a last resort.

The five parts of an HTTP request

Every API call has a method (GET to read, POST to send), a URL called the endpoint, query parameters that narrow down what comes back, headers that say who is asking (the key, usually as a bearer token) and a response with a status code and JSON. n8n's HTTP Request node, Zapier's webhook step and Make's HTTP module are all forms for these same five parts.

Doing the cost math

Pay-per-call pricing is usually small: calls per run times runs per month times the price per call. At $0.003 a call, one call a day is about nine cents a month. A workflow that loops over thousands of items a day is a different bill, so multiply before you build, and check the provider's current prices.

How the interactive lesson works

Each step is shown first in the Watch panel, then you do it yourself in Your turn on a Stepthrough worksheet. No request is sent. It is module 2 of the free course Get Data From the Web Into Your Automations, which then practices each way in for real in Coefficient and n8n.

Try it yourself, free

Reading the steps is a start. Doing them is how it sticks. The interactive module walks you through every click in a practice copy of Stepthrough, checks each step, and never touches your real accounts.

Start “APIs vs Scraping vs RSS: Pick the Right Way to Get Web Data”

Step by step: APIs vs Scraping vs RSS: Pick the Right Way to Get Web Data

All 17 steps of the interactive module, in order. In the module you watch each one, then do it yourself in a practice copy that checks your work.

1. Four ways in

Open Official API. Click the Official API card.
Sam runs reporting at a small marketing agency. Every Monday, someone copies prices, news and CRM numbers into a sheet by hand. There are four ways to get that data in on its own. First, an official API.
Open RSS feed. Click the RSS feed card.
An API is the app's own door for software. Clean data, and it's allowed. Use it whenever there is one. Next, an RSS feed.
Open Web scraping. Click the Web scraping card.
RSS is a free list of a site's newest posts. Simple, but a site can switch it off. Now, web scraping.
Open Third-party data API. Click the Third-party data API card.
Scraping reads the page like a person. It breaks when the page changes, and many sites block it. Last resort. Finally, a third party data API.

2. Anatomy of a request

Open An HTTP request. Click the An HTTP request tab.
A company collects the data and sells it to you per call. Often a fraction of a cent. Now let's look inside an API call.
The method. Click Method: GET.
Every API call has the same parts. The method says what you want. GET reads data. POST sends data in.
The URL. Click the URL card.
The URL is the endpoint. One address for one kind of data. Here, deals.
The headers. Click the Headers card.
Query parameters narrow it down. Then the headers say who is asking. The key goes here, as a bearer token. Never in the URL.
The response. Click the Response card.
And the answer comes back. A status code, two hundred means it worked, and the data as JSON. One record per deal.

3. Pick the way

Open Pick the way. Click the Pick the way tab.
That's the same in n8n, Zapier or Make. Now you choose.
Job 1: news posts. Answer Job 1: the newest posts from a news site with a feed.
Job one. The newest posts from a news site that publishes a feed. Which way?
Job 2: your own CRM. Answer Job 2: open deals from the agency’s own CRM.
RSS. It's free and made for this. Job two.
Job 3: competitor prices. Answer Job 3: competitor prices from Google Shopping.
The official API, or a connector built on it. Job three. Competitor prices from Google Shopping, every week.

4. Cost and change

Open Cost and change. Click the Cost and change tab.
A search API that charges per call. It handles the blocking for you. Now, cost.
Do the math. Click the Pay-per-call math card.
Pay per call sounds scary. Do the math. One call a day, at a third of a cent, is about nine cents a month. Multiply before you build.
Sources change. Click the Sources change card.
Free sources can disappear. Reddit is switching off its RSS feeds on November thirteenth. Every workflow that reads them stops that day.
The smallest fix. Answer the question: what is the smallest fix for the Reddit workflow?
So what's the smallest fix for Sam's Reddit workflow?

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an API and web scraping?: An API is a door an app opens for software: you ask for data and get clean JSON back. Scraping reads a web page like a person would and pulls text out of the HTML. APIs are stable and allowed; scrapers break when the page changes and are often blocked.
Is RSS still worth using?: Yes, for news and blog posts from sites that publish a feed. It is free and needs no key. Just expect that a site can switch its feed off, and build your workflow so the source is one step you can swap.
Is web scraping legal?: It depends on the site, the data and where you are. Many sites forbid it in their terms, and personal data has extra rules. Prefer an official API or a data provider, and check the terms before you scrape anything.
What is a pay-per-call API?: A data service that charges a small amount for each request, such as a search-results API. You buy credits or pay as you go, and the cost is calls per run times runs per month times the price.
Is this lesson free?: Yes. Stepthrough is free and the practice needs no account.

Start this module free

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