The 5 Best Python HTML Parsing Libraries Compared

When it comes to parsing HTML documents in Python, there are a variety of libraries and tools available.

Choosing the right HTML parser can make a big difference in terms of performance, ease of use, and flexibility.

In this guide, we'll take a look at the top 5 HTML parsers for Python and compare their features, strengths, and weaknesses including:

• The Best Python HTML Parsers Overview
• BeautifulSoup
• lxml
• html5lib
• requests-html
• pyquery

By the end you'll have a good understanding of the available options and be able to choose the HTML parser that best suits your needs.

If you prefer to follow along with a video then check out the video tutorial version here:

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The Best Python HTML Parsers Overview​

Python has several powerful HTML parsing libraries that make it easy to extract data from HTML documents. Each of whom have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Here are 5 of the most popular ones we will cover in this guide:

1. BeautifulSoup: BeautifulSoup is a widely used Python library for web scraping and parsing HTML and XML documents. It is easy to use and provides a lot of powerful tools for searching, navigating, and modifying HTML and XML content.

2. lxml: lxml is a high-performance library that provides a fast and easy way to parse HTML and XML documents. It is based on the libxml2 and libxslt libraries and provides a Pythonic API for accessing and manipulating HTML and XML data.

3. html5lib: html5lib is a pure-Python library that provides a simple and easy-to-use API for parsing and manipulating HTML and XML documents. It is designed to parse HTML5 documents, which can be more complex than earlier versions of HTML.

4. requests-html: requests-html is a Python library that combines the power of the requests library with the flexibility of HTML parsing using a browser-like interface. It provides a simple and intuitive way to extract data from HTML documents, and can even render JavaScript and CSS.

5. pyquery: pyquery is a Python library that provides a jQuery-like syntax for parsing HTML documents. It is built on top of lxml and provides a simple and intuitive way to extract data from HTML documents.

Next, we will look at how to use each of these HTML parsers and discuss their pros and cons.

BeautifulSoup​

BeautifulSoup is a Python library for parsing HTML and XML documents. It provides a convenient way to extract and navigate data from HTML documents, making it a popular choice among developers for web scraping and data extraction tasks.

One reason for its popularity is its ease of use. BeautifulSoup provides a simple and intuitive API that makes it easy to extract data from HTML documents. It also supports a wide range of parsing strategies and can handle malformed HTML documents with ease.

In the following example, we show you how to use BeautifulSoup to extract every quote from the QuotesToScrape website.

import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

url = 'https://quotes.toscrape.com/'

response = requests.get(url)
soup = BeautifulSoup(response.content, 'html.parser')

quotes = soup.find_all('div', {'class': 'quote'})
for quote in quotes:
    text = quote.find('span', {'class': 'text'}).text
    author = quote.find('small', {'class': 'author'}).text
    print(text)
    print(author)

Here we start by passing the response content to BeautifulSoup's constructor along with the parsing strategy 'html.parser'.

Then we use the find_all() method to extract all div elements with a class attribute of 'quote'. For each quote, we extract the quote text and author name using the find() method and print them to the console.

Ideal Use Case​

BeautifulSoup is ideal for use cases that involve parsing HTML and XML documents, such as web scraping, data extraction, and data mining. It is also a great choice for parsing malformed HTML documents, as it can handle common mistakes and inconsistencies in HTML markup.

Pros​

• Easy to use and has an intuitive API.
• Supports a wide range of parsing strategies.
• Can handle malformed HTML documents with ease.
• Good documentation and community support.

Cons​

• BeautifulSoup does not support XPath selectors natively. BeautifulSoup's primary selector language is CSS selectors, although it also provides some support for regular expressions and custom filter functions.
• Can be slower than other HTML parsing libraries for large documents
• Not as feature-rich as some other HTML parsing libraries

lxml​

lxml is a Python library for processing XML and HTML documents. It provides a fast and efficient parsing engine that supports a wide range of parsing strategies, including XPath and CSS selectors.

One reason for its popularity is its performance. lxml is built on top of libxml2 and libxslt, two highly optimized C libraries, which make it one of the fastest and most memory-efficient HTML parsing libraries available in Python. It is also highly compatible with various XML and HTML standards.

In the following example, we show you how to use lxml to extract every quote from the QuotesToScrape website.

import requests
from lxml import html

url = 'https://quotes.toscrape.com/'

response = requests.get(url)
tree = html.fromstring(response.content)

quotes = tree.xpath('//div[@class="quote"]')
for quote in quotes:
    text = quote.xpath('.//span[@class="text"]/text()')[0]
    author = quote.xpath('.//small[@class="author"]/text()')[0]
    print(text)
    print(author)

Here we start by passing the response content to lxml's html.fromstring() method to create an ElementTree object.

We use an XPath selector //div[@class="quote"] to select all div elements with a class attribute of "quote". For each quote, we use relative XPath selectors to extract the quote text and author name and print them to the console.

Ideal Use Case​

lxml is ideal for use cases that involve parsing large or complex XML and HTML documents, as it provides a fast and efficient parsing engine that can handle a wide range of parsing strategies. It is also a great choice for data mining and web scraping, as it can extract data from complex document structures with ease.

Pros​

• Fast and memory-efficient parsing engine
• Supports a wide range of parsing strategies, including XPath and CSS selectors
• Highly compatible with various XML and HTML standards
• Good documentation and community support

Cons​

• Has a steeper learning curve than some other HTML parsing libraries
• Not as beginner-friendly as some other HTML parsing libraries

Overall, if performance is a critical factor in your HTML parsing tasks, or if you need to handle complex document structures, lxml is a great choice.

html5lib​

html5lib is a Python library for parsing HTML documents, which aims to create a consistent and predictable parsing behavior across different platforms and Python versions. It is known for its compatibility with the HTML5 standard and is often used in combination with other libraries, such as BeautifulSoup or lxml.

One reason for its popularity is its parsing behavior. html5lib parses HTML documents in the same way that web browsers do, which can make it a good choice for web scraping tasks that require a high degree of fidelity to the original HTML document. It also provides a pure-Python implementation, which can make it more portable and easier to install than other parsing libraries.

In the following example, we show you how to use html5lib and BeautifulSoup to extract every quote from the QuotesToScrape website.

import requests
import html5lib
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

url = 'https://quotes.toscrape.com/'

response = requests.get(url)
soup = BeautifulSoup(response.content, 'html5lib')

quotes = soup.find_all('div', {'class': 'quote'})
for quote in quotes:
    text = quote.find('span', {'class': 'text'}).text
    author = quote.find('small', {'class': 'author'}).text
    print(text)
    print(author)

In this example, we first import the requests, html5lib, and BeautifulSoup modules. We then send a GET request to https://quotes.toscrape.com/ using requests.get() and pass the response content to BeautifulSoup's constructor along with the html5lib parsing strategy.

We use the find_all() method to extract all div elements with a class attribute of 'quote'. For each quote, we extract the quote text and author name using the find() method and print them to the console.

Ideal Use Case​

html5lib is ideal for use cases that require a high degree of fidelity to the original HTML document, such as web scraping, data extraction, and data mining. It is also a good choice for parsing malformed or incomplete HTML documents, as it can handle common mistakes and inconsistencies in HTML markup.

Pros​

• Creates consistent and predictable parsing behavior across different platforms and Python versions.
• Compatible with the HTML5 standard.
• Provides a pure-Python implementation, which can make it more portable and easier to install.
• Good compatibility with other Python HTML parser libraries.

Cons​

• Can be slower than other HTML parsing libraries for large documents.
• Limited support for parsing strategies beyond the HTML5 standard.

Overall, if you need a library that can parse HTML documents in the same way that web browsers do, or if you need to handle malformed or incomplete HTML documents, html5lib can be a good choice.

requests-html​

requests-html is a Python library for sending HTTP requests and parsing HTML documents, which provides a simple and intuitive API for web scraping and data extraction tasks. It is built on top of the requests library and uses the Chromium web browser as its HTML parsing engine, which can make it a good choice for web scraping tasks that require dynamic content.

One reason for its popularity is its ease of use. requests-html provides a simple and intuitive API that makes it easy to extract data from HTML documents. It also supports a wide range of parsing strategies, including CSS selectors and XPath, and can handle dynamic content using JavaScript rendering.

In the following example, we show you how to use requests-html to extract every quote from the QuotesToScrape website.

from requests_html import HTMLSession

url = 'https://quotes.toscrape.com/'

session = HTMLSession()
response = session.get(url)

quotes = response.html.find('.quote')
for quote in quotes:
    text = quote.find('.text', first=True).text
    author = quote.find('.author', first=True).text
    print(text)
    print(author)

In this example, we first import the HTMLSession class from the requests_html module. We then create a new HTMLSession object and send a GET request to https://quotes.toscrape.com/ using the get() method.

We use the find() method to extract all elements with a class attribute of 'quote'. For each quote, we extract the quote text and author name using the find() method and print them to the console.

Ideal Use Case​

requests-html is ideal for use cases that involve web scraping and data extraction tasks, especially those that require dynamic content or JavaScript rendering. It is also a good choice for developers who are familiar with the requests library and prefer a similar API for HTML parsing.

Pros​

• Simple and intuitive API
• Supports a wide range of parsing strategies, including CSS selectors and XPath
• Can handle dynamic content using JavaScript rendering
• Good documentation and community support

Cons​

• May be slower than some other HTML parsing libraries for large documents.
• Relies on the Chromium web browser, which may require additional dependencies.

Overall, if you need a library that can handle dynamic content and JavaScript rendering for web scraping and data extraction tasks, requests-html can be a good choice.

pyquery​

pyquery is a Python library for parsing HTML documents, which provides a jQuery-like syntax for traversing and manipulating HTML documents. It is built on top of lxml and supports a wide range of parsing strategies, including CSS selectors and XPath.

One reason for its popularity is its syntax. pyquery provides a simple and intuitive API that mimics the syntax of jQuery, making it easy for developers who are familiar with jQuery to get started with HTML parsing in Python. It is also highly compatible with various XML and HTML standards.

In the following example, we show you how to use pyquery to extract every quote from the QuotesToScrape website.

import requests
from pyquery import PyQuery as pq

url = 'https://quotes.toscrape.com/'

response = requests.get(url)
doc = pq(response.content)

quotes = doc('.quote')
for quote in quotes:
    text = pq(quote).find('.text').text()
    author = pq(quote).find('.author').text()
    print(text)
    print(author)

In this example, we first import the requests and PyQuery classes from the pyquery module. We then send a GET request to https://quotes.toscrape.com/ using requests.get() and pass the response content to PyQuery's constructor to create a PyQuery object.

We use the find() method to extract all elements with a class attribute of 'quote'. For each quote, we use the pq() method to wrap the quote element in a new PyQuery object and extract the quote text and author name using the find() method and print them to the console.

Ideal Use Case​

pyquery is ideal for use cases that involve traversing and manipulating HTML documents, such as web scraping and data extraction tasks. It is also a great choice for developers who are familiar with jQuery and prefer a similar syntax for HTML parsing in Python.

Pros​

• Provides a jQuery-like syntax for traversing and manipulating HTML documents
• Supports a wide range of parsing strategies, including CSS selectors and XPath
• Highly compatible with various XML and HTML standards
• Good documentation and community support

Cons​

• Can be slower than some other HTML parsing libraries for large documents
• Limited support for parsing malformed or incomplete HTML documents

Overall, if you need a library that provides a jQuery-like syntax for traversing and manipulating HTML documents, pyquery can be a good choice. It is also a great choice for developers who are familiar with jQuery and prefer a similar syntax for HTML parsing in Python.

More Web Scraping Tutorials​

So that's 5 of the most popular Python HTML parsing libraries compared.

If you would like to learn more about Web Scraping, then be sure to check out The Web Scraping Playbook.

Or check out one of our more in-depth guides:

• How to Scrape The Web Without Getting Blocked Guide
• The State of Web Scraping 2020
• The Ethics of Web Scraping