# Web Scraping Copilot FAQ

These are some frequently asked questions about [Web Scraping Copilot](index.md#copilot):

## How much does Web Scraping Copilot cost?

**Web Scraping Copilot** in itself is **free**.

To use **code generation**, you do need a [GitHub Copilot](https://github.com/features/copilot) plan. The Free plan
is not recommended because you would spend your requests rather quickly.

To use [Scrapy Cloud](../scrapy-cloud/get-started.md#scrapy-cloud) features, you need a Scrapy Cloud
account. The free plan is fine, though.

## Does the extension use AI from Zyte?

No — your [GitHub Copilot](https://github.com/features/copilot) AIs are used.

The extension provides instructions and prompts, and the MCP server tools use
[MCP sampling](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25/client/sampling) to start separate chats in the background to handle the
different steps of code generation.

To control which models can be used by the MCP server, open the [Command
Palette](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/userinterface#_command-palette) (`Ctrl + Shift + P`) and select **MCP: List Servers › Web Scraping
Copilot › Configure Model Access**.

## Is my code sent to Zyte?

The code generation workflow that the extension facilitates does not send any
code to Zyte, only to [GitHub Copilot](https://github.com/features/copilot).

[Scrapy Cloud](../scrapy-cloud/get-started.md#scrapy-cloud) deployment, if used, does upload your code
to Scrapy Cloud.

## Which model is best for code generation?

The model you use in the **main chat** should be somewhat smart, since workflow
management can be hard for smaller models. We recommend something like
**GPT‑5**, although GPT‑5 mini has shown good results in our tests.

The MCP web scraping **tools**, to generate expectations and code, are designed
to work well enough with models for which [GitHub Copilot](https://github.com/features/copilot) paid plans (Pro or
better) allow unlimited requests, like **GPT‑5 mini**. Given the number of
requests that those tools can generate, it could be very costly to use a
smarter model.

If you don’t mind the extra cost, however, [Claude Sonnet 4.6 offers great
quality](https://www.zyte.com/blog/llm-benchmark-claude-sonnet-46/).