I'm building a no-code scraper for non-technical users, any recommendations?

Yes — if your audience is non-technical, the biggest wins are usually simplicity, guardrails, and clear outcomes, not just raw scraping power.

What to prioritize

1) Template-first experience

Most users don’t want to “build a scraper” — they want to:

• collect product prices
• extract leads
• monitor jobs
• pull reviews/news

So offer:

• ready-made templates by use case
• preconfigured selectors for common sites
• guided setup: URL → fields → test → export

2) Visual field selection

A point-and-click selector helps a lot:

• click an element on the page
• auto-detect repeating patterns
• rename fields in plain language
• preview extracted results before running

3) Strong error handling

Non-technical users get frustrated fast if things break silently. Add:

• field validation
• “why this failed” messages in plain English
• page-change detection
• automatic retries
• clear warnings when a site blocks scraping or changes layout

4) Scheduling and monitoring

A no-code scraper becomes much more useful if users can:

• run it once
• run it on a schedule
• get alerts when data changes
• export to CSV, Google Sheets, Airtable, Zapier, webhook

5) Data cleaning built in

Users often need help turning messy HTML into usable data:

• trim text
• split fields
• regex helpers
• date/number parsing
• deduping
• combining fields

6) Safe defaults and rate limiting

To avoid problems:

• built-in delays
• respect robots/ToS guidance where appropriate
• concurrency limits
• proxy support only when necessary and explained clearly
• clear anti-blocking guidance

UX recommendations

• Use a wizard flow, not a blank canvas
• Show sample output at every step
• Make all advanced settings hidden by default
• Use everyday language:
  • “List pages” instead of “pagination”
  • “Repeat this block” instead of “loop over DOM nodes”
• Include examples and tooltips

Product features that help a lot

• browser extension or embedded browser for selection
• cloud runs + local runs
• resume from failure
• versioning when site structure changes
• team sharing and role permissions
• export integrations
• “clone this workflow” to save time

Common pitfalls to avoid

• too much flexibility too early
• requiring users to understand CSS/XPath
• unclear pricing tied to “runs,” “tasks,” or “credits”
• hiding failures behind generic messages
• assuming users know what data they need before seeing examples

Good positioning

If you’re targeting non-technical users, position it as:

• “collect data from websites in minutes”
• “monitor prices/leads/jobs automatically”
• “turn any webpage into a spreadsheet” rather than “build custom web scrapers.”

If you want, I can also help with:

1. a feature checklist for your MVP
2. a UX flow for non-technical users
3. a comparison of no-code scraper tools
4. a recommended tech architecture for building it