Apify Review
Cloud platform and marketplace for running web scrapers, called Actors, at scale
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Looking for a Apify alternative? See our ranked comparison.→What is Apify?
Apify is a cloud platform for running web scrapers. It hosts thousands of pre-built scrapers, called Actors, that pull structured data from sites like Google Maps, Instagram, Amazon, and LinkedIn, and it also lets you write and deploy your own Actors in JavaScript or Python.
You pay for compute time (measured in compute units), storage, and proxy bandwidth as you run Actors, on top of a monthly subscription that sets your support tier and included credit allowance. Apify also runs a Store where developers publish and sell their own Actors, so a lot of scraping jobs are a matter of finding an existing Actor rather than building one.
Beyond scraping, Apify has been pushing into the AI agent space, offering Actors as tools that agents can call through the Model Context Protocol and, as of mid-2026, letting agents pay for Actor runs directly in USDC without an Apify account.
Apify screenshots
Who it's for
- ✓ Developers who want a large library of ready-made scrapers instead of building one from scratch
- ✓ Data teams that need proxies, browser automation, and storage bundled into one platform
- ✓ Ops people integrating scraped data into other tools via API or Zapier/Make without writing scraping code themselves
Who should look elsewhere
- ✗ Teams that need predictable flat monthly costs and can't tolerate a variable, usage-based bill
- ✗ High-volume scraping of proxy-defended sites where residential proxy bandwidth costs can exceed the compute costs
Pros
- + Huge marketplace of ready-made Actors, so many scraping jobs need zero code
- + Free plan is genuinely usable for small, occasional jobs, not just a trial
- + Handles the annoying parts of scraping at scale: proxy rotation, browser automation, and result storage
- + SDKs, CLI, and API make it straightforward to fit into an existing pipeline
Cons
- – Monthly credits expire with no rollover, so uneven usage months mean paying for credits you don't use
- – Billing has several separate meters (compute units, proxy bandwidth, storage, per-Actor fees from third-party developers), which makes total cost hard to predict in advance
- – Residential proxy bandwidth can become the largest line item once you're scraping sites that actively block bots
- – Some Store Actors add their own per-result or per-event fees on top of Apify's own compute charges
Apify pricing
What you pay for
You pay a monthly subscription that comes with a matching amount of platform credits, then draw those credits down as you run scrapers, use proxies, and store data. Credits don't roll over, so unused ones are gone at the end of the month, and going over your included credits means paying per compute unit on top of the subscription. Every price and tier here is disclosed on the public pricing page, nothing is quote-only except custom enterprise deals.
At about $29/month to start, it sits mid-pack on price in Web Scraping & Data Extraction.
| Plan | Price | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | $5 in platform credits per month · Community support · Rented Actor access limited to trial only |
| Starter | $29/mo | $29 in platform credits per month ($26/mo billed annually) · Chat support · Bronze Apify Store discount · $0.20 per compute unit beyond included credits |
| Scale | $199/mo | $199 in platform credits per month ($179/mo billed annually) · Priority chat support · Silver Apify Store discount · $0.16 per compute unit beyond included credits |
| Business | $999/mo | $999 in platform credits per month ($899/mo billed annually) · Dedicated account manager · Gold Apify Store discount · $0.13 per compute unit beyond included credits |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom scraping solutions · Scalable pricing · SLAs with guaranteed data · Dedicated team of experts |
Prices shown are monthly billing; annual billing gives roughly 10% off. Every plan's monthly fee doubles as its credit allowance, and credits expire at the end of each billing cycle with no rollover. On top of the subscription, proxies are billed separately: residential proxy bandwidth runs $7-$8/GB depending on plan, datacenter proxies include 5-500 IPs with extra IPs at $0.60-$1 each, and SERP proxies run $1.70-$2.50 per 1,000 queries. Overage beyond included credits is charged per compute unit at the rates above, except on the Free plan, which blocks account access until the next billing cycle instead of billing overage. Students get 30% off Starter and Scale; startups get 30% off Scale only. Nonprofits and academic institutions can get a separate discount on paid plans, though Apify doesn't publish the percentage. A custom Enterprise plan above Business is available on request, with no public price.
Pricing verified July 17, 2026 · source
How Apify's pricing compares
Apify next to its closest alternatives on entry price, billing, and whether pricing is public.
| Tool | Starting price | Billing | Free option | Pricing disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apify | $29/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| Bright Data | Usage-based | usage-based | Yes | Partly public |
| Zyte | Usage-based | usage-based | Yes | Partly public |
| ScrapingBee | $49/mo | usage-based | Trial (1,000 API credits, no credit card required) | Partly public |
| Octoparse | $69/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| Browse AI | $19/mo | tiered | Yes | Public |
Is Apify still actively developed?
Last significant update: June 2026. AI agents can now run and pay for eligible Actors directly with USDC on the Base network via the x402 protocol, with no Apify account or API key needed.
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Apify FAQ
Is Apify free to use?+
There's a free plan with $5 in platform credits per month, enough for small or occasional scraping jobs. It's not a time-limited trial, but you're capped at that credit amount each month with no overage.
Why is my Apify bill hard to predict?+
Because you're billed on several separate meters at once: compute units for running Actors, proxy bandwidth if you use Apify's proxies, storage, and sometimes extra fees set by the developer of a third-party Actor. A misconfigured Actor or a site that fights back with heavy anti-bot measures can push proxy costs up fast.
Do unused Apify credits roll over?+
No. The credits included with your monthly subscription expire at the end of each billing cycle. If you don't use them, they're gone, and you start fresh next month.
Do I need to write code to use Apify?+
Not necessarily. The Apify Store has thousands of ready-made Actors for common sites and tasks that you can run through a web console or API without writing scraper code. Building a custom Actor does require JavaScript or Python.