AI crawlers / Diffbot
Diffbot: what it is and how to block or charge it
Diffbot is run by Diffbot. Diffbot's crawler, which turns web pages into structured data and a knowledge graph sold to AI and data customers.
| Operator | Diffbot |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Several uses, including AI |
| User-agent contains | Diffbot |
| Official IP list | None published, so it can only be recognized by name. Which crawlers publish one |
Block Diffbot in robots.txt
User-agent: Diffbot
Disallow: /robots.txt is a request, not a lock: well-behaved crawlers follow it. To block by user agent at the server, match Diffbot in the User-Agent header.
Or charge Diffbot per page
Instead of blocking it, answer Diffbot with HTTP 402 Payment Required and a price. Crawlers and agents that support x402 pay a fraction of a cent in USDC straight to your wallet and get the page; people and search engines browse free. Set it up free on pay-per-crawl in about five minutes.
Is Diffbot reading your site?
See the full list of AI crawlers. Facts here follow each operator's own documentation; tell us if one changes.