# Cost Control

Cost limits can be configured using the `max_cost` parameter, which allows you to define the maximum number of API credits used per scrape. This ensures that each request stays within your defined budget and avoids unexpected usage.

{% hint style="warning" %}
If the scrape cost exceeds your limit, a **`403`** status code will be returned for the request, with the following error message:

 ***"This request exceeds your max\_cost. You can view the cost per request in your response header or in the API Playground on the dashboard."***
{% endhint %}

* **API REQUEST**

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="cURL" %}

```bash
curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://api.scraperapi.com?api_key=API_KEY&premium=true&max_cost=5&url=https://example.com/'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Python" %}

```python
import requests

target_url = 'https://example.com/'
# Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
api_key = 'API_KEY'

request_url = (
    f'https://api.scraperapi.com?'
    f'api_key={api_key}'
    f'&premium=true'
    f'&max_cost=5'
    f'&url={target_url}'
)

response = requests.get(request_url)
print(response.text)
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NodeJS" %}

```javascript
import request from 'node-fetch';

// Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
const url = 'http://api.scraperapi.com/?api_key=API_KEY&premium=true&max_cost=5&url=https://example.com/';

request(url)
  .then(response => {
    console.log(response);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(error);
  });
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="PHP" %}

```php
<?php

// Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
$url = "https://api.scraperapi.com?api_key=API_KEY&premium=true&max_cost=5&url=https://example.com";

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, false);

$response = curl_exec($ch);

if (curl_errno($ch)) {
    echo 'Curl error: ' . curl_error($ch);
} else {
    print_r($response);
}

curl_close($ch);
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Ruby" %}

```ruby
require 'net/http'

params = {
  # Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
  api_key: "API_KEY",
  premium: "true",
  max_cost: "5",
  url: "https://example.com/"
}

uri = URI('https://api.scraperapi.com/')
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

website_content = Net::HTTP.get(uri)
puts website_content
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Java" %}

```java
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        // Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
        String apiKey = "API_KEY";
        String targetUrl = "https://example.com/";

        String scraperApiUrl =
                "https://api.scraperapi.com?api_key=" + apiKey
                + "&premium=true"
                + "&max_cost=5"
                + "&url=" + targetUrl;

        HttpClient client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
                .uri(URI.create(scraperApiUrl))
                .GET()
                .build();

        HttpResponse<String> response =
                client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());

        System.out.println(response.body());
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

* **ASYNC REQUEST**

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="cURL" %}

```bash
curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
        "apiKey": "API_KEY",
        "url": "https://example.com/",
        "apiParams": {
          "premium": "true",
          "max_cost": "5"
        }
      }' \
  "https://async.scraperapi.com/jobs"
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Python" %}

```python
import requests

r = requests.post(
    url='https://async.scraperapi.com/jobs',
    json={
        # Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
        'apiKey': 'API_KEY',
        'premium': 'true',
        'maxCost': '5',
        'url': 'https://example.com/'
    }
)

print(r.text)
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NodeJS" %}

```javascript
import axios from 'axios';

(async () => {
  try {
    const { data } = await axios({
      method: 'POST',
      url: 'https://async.scraperapi.com/jobs',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      data: {
        // Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
        apiKey: 'API_KEY',
        url: 'https://example.com',
        apiParams: {
          premium: 'true',
          max_cost: '5'
        }
      }
    });

    console.log(data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
  }
})();
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="PHP" %}

```php
<?php
$payload = json_encode([
    // Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
    "apiKey" => "API_KEY",
    "url"    => "https://example.com",
    "apiParams" => [
        "premium"  => "true",
        "max_cost" => 5
    ]
]);

$ch = curl_init("https://async.scraperapi.com/jobs");

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $payload);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, ["Content-Type: application/json"]);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

print_r($response);
?>
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Ruby" %}

```ruby
require 'net/http'
require 'json'

uri = URI('https://async.scraperapi.com/jobs')
payload = {
  # Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
  "apiKey" => "API_KEY",
  "url" => "https://example.com",
  "apiParams" => {
    "render" => true,
    "max_cost" => 5
  }
}

response = Net::HTTP.post(uri, payload.to_json, "Content-Type" => "application/json")
puts response.body
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Java" %}

```java
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            URL url = new URL("https://async.scraperapi.com/jobs");
            HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
            conn.setRequestMethod("POST");
            conn.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/json");
            conn.setDoOutput(true);

            String payload = "{"
                    // Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
                    + "\"apiKey\": \"API_KEY\","
                    + "\"url\": \"https://example.com\","
                    + "\"apiParams\": {"
                    + "\"premium\": \"true\","
                    + "\"max_cost\": 5"
                    + "}"
                    + "}";

            try (OutputStream os = conn.getOutputStream()) {
                os.write(payload.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
            }

            try (BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(
                    conn.getResponseCode() == 200 ? conn.getInputStream() : conn.getErrorStream()
            ))) {
                StringBuilder response = new StringBuilder();
                String line;
                while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) response.append(line);
                System.out.println(response);
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

* **PROXY MODE**

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="cURL" %}

```bash
curl --proxy 'http://scraperapi.premium=true.max_cost=5:API_KEY@proxy-server.scraperapi.com:8001' \
  -k \
  'https://example.com/'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Python" %}

```python
import requests

# Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
proxies = {
    "http": "http://scraperapi.premium=true.max_cost=5:API_KEY@proxy-server.scraperapi.com:8001"
}

r = requests.get('http://example.com/', proxies=proxies, verify=False)
print(r.text)
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NodeJS" %}

```javascript
import axios from 'axios';

axios.get('http://example.com/', {
  method: 'GET',
  proxy: {
    host: 'proxy-server.scraperapi.com',
    port: 8001,
    auth: {
      username: 'scraperapi.premium=true.max_cost=5',
      // Replace the value for password with your actual API Key.
      password: 'API_KEY'
    },
    protocol: 'http'
  }
})
  .then(response => {
    console.log(response.data);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.log(error);
  });
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="PHP" %}

```php
<?php

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "http://example.com/");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXY, 
    // Replace the value for api_key with your actual API Key.
    "http://scraperapi.premium=true.max_cost=5:API_KEY@proxy-server.scraperapi.com:8001"
);

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, false);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
var_dump($response);
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Ruby" %}

```ruby
require 'httparty'

HTTParty::Basement.default_options.update(verify: false)

response = HTTParty.get('http://example.com/', {
  http_proxyaddr: "proxy-server.scraperapi.com",
  http_proxyport: 8001,
  http_proxyuser: "scraperapi.premium=true.max_cost=5",
  # Replace the value for http_proxypass with your actual API Key.
  http_proxypass: "API_KEY"
})

results = response.body
puts results
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Java" %}

```java
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import javax.net.ssl.*;
import java.security.cert.X509Certificate;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            SSLContext sc = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
            sc.init(null, new TrustManager[]{
                new X509TrustManager() {
                    public X509Certificate[] getAcceptedIssuers() { return null; }
                    public void checkClientTrusted(X509Certificate[] certs, String authType) {}
                    public void checkServerTrusted(X509Certificate[] certs, String authType) {}
                }
            }, new java.security.SecureRandom());
            HttpsURLConnection.setDefaultSSLSocketFactory(sc.getSocketFactory());
            HttpsURLConnection.setDefaultHostnameVerifier((hostname, session) -> true);

            String apiKey = "API_KEY"; // Replace with your actual API Key.
            Authenticator.setDefault(new Authenticator() {
                protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
                    return new PasswordAuthentication(
                        "scraperapi.premium=true.max_cost=5", apiKey.toCharArray()
                    );
                }
            });

            System.setProperty("jdk.http.auth.tunneling.disabledSchemes", "");
            System.setProperty("https.proxyHost", "proxy-server.scraperapi.com");
            System.setProperty("https.proxyPort", "8001");

            HttpsURLConnection conn = (HttpsURLConnection) new URL("https://example.com/").openConnection();
            conn.setRequestMethod("GET");

            BufferedReader in;
            if (conn.getResponseCode() >= 400) {
                in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(conn.getErrorStream()));
            } else {
                in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(conn.getInputStream()));
            }

            StringBuilder resp = new StringBuilder();
            String line;
            while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
                resp.append(line).append("\n");
            }
            in.close();

            System.out.println(resp);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.scraperapi.com/control-and-optimization/cost-control.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.