Houyi Collector

Houyi Collector is a free Chinese intelligent web scraping tool that uses AI to recognize page structure and collect data without coding.

Overview

Houyi Collector (后羿采集器) is one of China’s most popular free data collection tools. It uses intelligent recognition to identify lists, tables and detail pages automatically, letting users start collecting with one click. It handles pagination, infinite scroll, login-required pages and scheduled collection, and exports results to Excel, CSV and databases.

The tool runs on Windows, macOS and Linux with a friendly Chinese interface, and offers cloud-based scheduled collection for recurring tasks. Because core features are genuinely free with unlimited exports, it has become a go-to for researchers, ecommerce operators and self-media creators in China.

Houyi’s intelligent collection engine recognizes common page patterns — lists, tables, detail pages — and can collect thousands of records with simple configuration. It supports scenarios Chinese users face daily: collecting from e-commerce listings, forums and directories, handling encoded or dynamic content, and exporting to Excel or databases. Cloud scheduling runs tasks periodically, and the generous free policy has made it a standard tool in Chinese data collection communities.

Key Features

• AI page structure recognition with one-click collection
• Handles pagination, infinite scroll and detail page extraction
• Scheduled cloud collection with periodic runs
• Support for login-protected and dynamic pages
• Exports to Excel, CSV, MySQL and other databases
• Cross-platform desktop apps in Chinese

Pricing

Houyi Collector is free for core collection and unlimited export; paid versions add cloud scheduling capacity, proxy support and team features.

Who Is It For

Chinese users — researchers, ecommerce sellers, marketers and students — who need free, capable web data collection without programming.

FAQ

Is Houyi Collector free to use?

Yes, its free version offers substantial functionality including unlimited export, which is rare among scraping tools.

Does Houyi Collector offer an API?

It is primarily a desktop and cloud application; data can be exported to databases and files for downstream use.

How does Houyi Collector compare to alternatives?

Compared with international tools, it is localized for Chinese sites and free for most use cases.

Does Houyi Collector support scheduled collection?

Yes — cloud-based scheduled collection runs tasks periodically and saves results automatically, in addition to on-demand desktop collection.

What are the main use cases of Houyi Collector?

Chinese users apply Houyi to collect e-commerce product data, gather leads from business directories, monitor forum and news content, and build research datasets. Scheduled cloud collection keeps data current, and exports flow to Excel and databases for analysis. Its free policy makes it standard equipment for students, researchers and small operators.