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Build, run, and scale web scraping and automation workflows

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Reviews onG2Capterra
1136 reviews tracked

The Bottom Line

Entry price

Free plan available, paid tiers above

Biggest pro

Good web scraping platform

Biggest con

Expensive at scale

TL;DR - Apify

  • Web scraping platform
  • Scale data extraction
  • Custom scrapers
Pricing: Free plan available
Best for: Growing teams
4.7/5 across review platforms

What is Apify?

Editorial review
Apify is a web scraping and automation platform that enables developers to build, run, and scale data extraction workflows. The platform provides a marketplace of pre-built scrapers (called Actors) and tools to create custom automation solutions for any website. The platform operates on a hybrid subscription plus usage model where plans include monthly platform credits consumed by compute units, data storage, and proxy usage. Actors handle everything from simple data extraction to complex browser automation, with support for JavaScript rendering and anti-bot bypass. Apify provides datacenter and residential proxy networks for reliable scraping at scale. Results can be stored in datasets and exported to various formats or integrated via API. The platform includes scheduling, monitoring, and webhook integrations for production workflows.

Available on: Web

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Good web scraping platform
  • Actor marketplace
  • Proxy management
  • Scheduled runs
  • Good documentation

Cons

  • Expensive at scale
  • Compute pricing complex
  • Learning curve
  • Rate limits
  • Some actors low quality

Ratings Across the Web

4.7(1,136 reviews)

Apify holds an aggregate rating of 4.7 out of 5 from 1,136 reviews across G2 and Capterra, last checked August 23, 2026.

Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more

Key Features

Web scraping platformActor ecosystemData extractionBrowser automationProxy supportCloud deployment

Pricing Plans

Pricing checked Aug 20, 2026

Free

  • $5 platform credits/month
  • Access to Actor store
  • Basic scraping
  • Community support

Starter

$39/monthly

  • More compute credits
  • Scheduled runs
  • Email support
  • API access

Team

$199/monthly

  • Team collaboration
  • Higher limits
  • Priority support
  • Actor development

Business

$999/monthly

  • Enterprise-scale scraping
  • Custom Actors
  • Dedicated support
  • SLA

Is Apify worth the price?

70/100

Apify Free tier gives you $5/month in platform credits, enough to run small scraping jobs and test Actors.

Starter at $49/month includes $49 in platform credits plus proxy access, making it effectively the real entry point for production use. Scale at $499/month targets teams running large crawls with $499 in credits, priority support, and team collaboration.

The credit-based model means you pay for what you use (compute, storage, proxy bandwidth), but costs can be unpredictable, a single misconfigured Actor can burn through credits in hours. Compared to building your own scraping infrastructure (Puppeteer + proxy rotation + queue management + storage), Apify saves weeks of engineering time at the cost of per-job pricing.

Hidden Costs & Gotchas

Platform credits are consumed by compute (Actor runs), storage (datasets, key-value stores), and proxy bandwidth, all three meters run simultaneously

Residential proxy traffic costs significantly more credits per GB than datacenter proxies, scraping sites with aggressive bot detection drains credits fast

Actor compute is billed per compute unit (1 CU = 1 GB RAM x 1 hour). Browser-based scrapers (Puppeteer/Playwright) use 4-10x more CUs than HTTP-based ones

Storage costs accumulate if you do not clean up datasets, old crawl results are retained and billed until deleted

Pre-built Actors from the marketplace may have per-result pricing set by their authors on top of your platform credit consumption

Monthly credit allocation does not roll over, unused credits from your plan expire at the end of the billing cycle

Enterprise pricing is fully custom and typically starts at $2,000+/month for high-volume scraping operations

How Apify Compares to Competitors

Scrapy is free and battle-tested for HTTP scraping but lacks built-in browser support and proxy management.

Crawlee (by Apify) is the open-source alternative with Playwright built in, same quality, no platform cost. Bright Data has superior proxy infrastructure but is primarily a proxy provider, not a scraping platform. Apify best value when you need the full managed platform: pre-built Actors, scheduling, storage, and proxy in one place.

How Apify's pricing compares

At $39/mo, Apify is mid-range of its 2 direct competitors ($2 to $49/mo across the set).

Entry paid plan, monthly. Pricing checked Aug 20, 2026.

Reviews

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4.7/5

Across 1,136 verified user reviews on G2, Capterra

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Apify FAQ

How does Apify facilitate web scraping and automation?

Apify provides a platform for building, running, and scaling data extraction workflows, offering a marketplace of pre-built scrapers called Actors and tools for custom automation. It supports complex browser automation, JavaScript rendering, and anti-bot bypass capabilities.

Which teams would benefit most from using Apify?

Teams focused on developer tools, data and databases, and automation would find Apify most beneficial. It is designed for developers who need to build, run, and scale web scraping and automation workflows efficiently.

How does Apify's approach to web scraping compare to ScrapingBee?

Apify offers a comprehensive platform with an Actor marketplace for pre-built solutions and tools for custom automation, including proxy management and scheduled runs. ScrapingBee primarily focuses on providing an API for web scraping with built-in proxy and browser management.

What kind of limitations should users be aware of when considering Apify?

Users should be aware that Apify can become expensive at scale, and its compute pricing model is complex. There is also a learning curve associated with the platform, and some Actors in the marketplace may be of lower quality.

How is Apify priced?

Apify operates on a hybrid subscription plus usage model, where plans include monthly platform credits. These credits are consumed by compute units, data storage, and proxy usage, and a free tier is available for initial use.

Can Apify handle complex browser automation tasks?

Yes, Apify's Actors are designed to handle everything from simple data extraction to complex browser automation. The platform includes support for JavaScript rendering and anti-bot bypass to manage challenging scraping scenarios.

Does Apify provide proxy management for reliable scraping?

Yes, Apify provides both datacenter and residential proxy networks to ensure reliable and scalable web scraping. This feature helps users bypass rate limits and other common web scraping challenges.

Source: apify.com

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