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Introduction

Build Production Ready Desktop Scrapers in 1 Day

What is a Desktop Extractor?​

A Desktop Extractor is a standalone application that runs locally on your computer to extract data from websites, PDFs, Excel files, and other documents. Unlike web-based tools, it operates offline, offering:

  • Faster performance (no cloud latency)
  • Zero cloud costs (runs on your machine)

Desktop Extractor Interface

Why Do Desktop Scrapers Outperform Web-Based Scrapers?​

A web-based scraper sends your work to someone else's server farm; a Desktop Extractor keeps the entire workflow on your laptop. That one shift leads to the following big wins:

1. Zero Cloud Bills:

  • Runs on the user's machine, eliminating expensive cloud computing fees
  • Charge less than competitors while keeping 100% margins

2. Faster Execution:

  • No waiting for cloud VMs to spin up
  • User's 4-core CPU beats shared cloud servers

3. Higher User Engagement:
The app sits right on the user's desktop, encouraging frequent use compared to web tools they must actively visit via browser.

4. Cross-Platform Deployment in 1 Day:
With Botasaurus, you can create a production-ready desktop scraper for Windows (.exe), macOS (.dmg), and Linux (.deb/.rpm) within 1 day. No need to build a website, manage servers, or handle scaling issues. Bota Desktop includes built-in features such as:

  • Task management
  • Data table
  • Data export (Excel, CSV, etc.)
  • Sorting & filtering
  • Caching
  • Auto updates and many more

With zero cloud costs, faster performance, and easier development, Desktop Scrapers simply offer a better cost/performance envelope than the cloud.

But I Don't Know Electron/React/Databases!​

Here's the magic:

✅ You write scraping logic (simple JavaScript/TypeScript)
✅ Botasaurus handles the rest: Task scheduling, data export, caching, sorting and filtering, installers, auto updates, etc.

Example: A stock price scraper needs just 3 steps:

  1. Write a 10-line function to scrape Yahoo Finance
  2. Add input controls (1 file)
  3. Click "npm run package" – your app is ready

→ Next: Let's build your first extractor in minutes.