Apify

What it is for

Apify is a serverless actor desk for the web: you run a containerized Actor (yours or one from the Store), it writes a dataset, and you pay compute units plus any proxy the job used. Use it when the job is scrapes, browsers, and published Actors metered in prepaid usage, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official apify/crawlee GitHub file list — Apache-2.0 Node crawler (packages/, docs/, About “web scraping and browser automation”) — not a pricing card.

Key features

• Actors — a Docker job with a JSON input schema that you start from Console, API, CLI, or a schedule (Actors; pricing). One run. Language and RAM size are SKU of this job. The CLI / SDK is install.
• Actor Store — a marketplace of public Actors, most billed pay-per-event on the Actor page (pricing “Actors in Apify Store”). A catalog, not your private job. Store discount tiers (Bronze / Silver / Gold) are SKU of this.
• Proxy — residential, datacenter, SERP, and Unblocker IPs the run can attach (pricing Proxy table). A network, not the Actor. Included IP counts are SKU.
• Storage — datasets, key-value stores, and request queues the Actor reads and writes (same Actors docs). A disk for results, not the run.
• Schedules — cron / interval starts so an Actor fires without you clicking Start (platform scheduling). A clock, not a Store listing.

Crawlee is the OSS crawler library you can run off-platform. Console “Start” is ops for the same Actor. Compute units (1 CU = 1 GB RAM × 1 hour) and prepaid usage are the meter. Agentic x402 / agi.apify.com is a payment door.

Who it's for

Best fit: teams who will burn the Free $5 prepaid usage on a Store Actor or a Crawlee job, then buy Starter at $19/month ($17 billed annually) when they need chat support and 32 concurrent runs.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) from apify.com/pricing. Platform usage is prepaid dollars that expire at cycle end. Paid plans save 10% annually.

• Free — $0. $5 prepaid usage / month. No card. $0.2/CU. 16 GB max RAM. 5 concurrent runs. Community support. No Store discount. When prepaid is gone, the account blocks until next cycle.
• Starter — $19/month or $17/month billed annually. $19 prepaid usage. $0.2/CU. 64 GB RAM. 32 concurrent runs. Chat support. Bronze Store discount.
• Scale — $199/month or $179/month billed annually. $199 prepaid. $0.16/CU. 256 GB RAM. 128 concurrent runs. Priority chat. Silver Store discount.
• Business — $999/month or $899/month billed annually. $999 prepaid. $0.13/CU. 512 GB RAM. 256 concurrent runs. Account manager. Gold Store discount.
• Creator — $1/month for people who publish Actors. One-time $500 platform usage for the first 6 months; Store limited to universal Actors.
• Proxy (list) — residential $8/GB on Free/Starter ($7.5 Scale / $7 Business). Datacenter: 5 IPs on Free, then $1/IP on Starter, $0.8 Scale, $0.6 Business. SERPs $2.5/1,000 (Free/Starter) → $1.7 Business. Unblocker $1.5/1,000 → $1 Business.
• Enterprise — custom. Students 30% off Starter/Scale; startups 30% off Scale.

Overage on paid plans is invoiced. Unused prepaid does not roll. Confirm checkout; taxes follow your location.

Limitations / costs

• Free blocks when the $5 is gone. Paid plans invoice overage instead.
• Unused prepaid expires each cycle. Do not treat $199 as a banked credit.
• A scrape factory, not a one-URL markdown API. For URL → markdown see Firecrawl. For a hosted browser see Browserbase.

Alternatives

• Firecrawl — URL → markdown when you do not need an Actor Store or residential proxy.
• Browserbase — hosted browsers when the job is a session, not a Store Actor.
• Browse AI — a no-code monitor when you will not write a Docker Actor.

Official tutorial

Official Apify channel video: Getting Started with Apify 1/4 - Introduction (oEmbed author: Apify). First-party platform intro — Actors, Store, then a run.

Written path: Actors plus Pricing.

Website

https://apify.com

Repository

https://github.com/apify/crawlee

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official apify/crawlee GitHub file list (Apache-2.0 crawler). Dollars checked on apify.com/pricing (Free $5 usage; Starter $19/$17 yr; Scale $199/$179; Business $999/$899; CU $0.2–$0.13). Tutorial oEmbed author: Apify.

Last verified

2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.