Apify

Cloud platform for web scraping and browser automation at scale

Hand-reviewed by the Toolglade team·Updated Aug 2026

automation#web-scraping#browser-automation#developer-tools#data-extraction

Free plan Free trial Claimed API Teams

Toolglade’s take

Apify is one of the most capable and mature scraping platforms, especially for developers who want to build custom Actors or scale reliably with managed proxies and infrastructure. The main friction is the usage-based, credit-plus-proxy billing model, which is powerful but hard to predict; Store Actors add their own pricing on top. It is less turnkey than pure no-code tools, and, as always with scraping, users must handle target sites' terms of service and legal considerations themselves.

About Apify

Apify is a mature, developer-focused cloud platform for web scraping and browser automation, organized around containerized Actors that you build or rent from its large marketplace. It provides scheduling, storage, proxies, an API, and SDKs, with a free tier and usage-based paid plans. It excels at scalable, technical scraping but has a credit-plus-proxy billing model that can be hard to forecast.

Apify is a developer-oriented cloud platform for web scraping and automation. Its core abstraction is the Actor: a containerized program that scrapes or automates a task, which you can build yourself (in JavaScript/Node or Python) or rent from the Apify Store, where thousands of third-party Actors cover popular sites and use cases. The platform handles scheduling, storage, proxy rotation, and scaling. Billing is usage-based, using platform credits that cover compute time, proxy traffic, storage, and dataset operations; many Store Actors also carry their own per-result or per-event pricing set by their developers. This gives fine-grained cost control but can be complex to forecast. Apify also provides an API, SDKs, integrations, and proxy products for handling anti-bot defenses. Apify was founded in 2015 in Prague, Czech Republic, by Jan Curn and Jakub Balada, coming out of the Y Combinator ecosystem. It is a substantial, established player in the scraping space with a large open community of Actor developers, and is better suited to technical teams than to non-developers looking for a purely no-code experience.

TL;DR

Apify is a mature cloud platform for web scraping and browser automation, founded in 2015 in Prague out of Y Combinator. It centers on Actors you build or rent from a large marketplace, with managed proxies, scheduling, an API, and SDKs. Pricing is usage-based (credits plus proxy), with a free tier and paid plans from about $29/month. It suits technical teams and scalable scraping more than no-code users.

Company overview

Apify was founded in 2015 in Prague, Czech Republic, by Jan Curn and Jakub Balada, with roots in the Y Combinator ecosystem. It has grown into an established web-scraping and automation platform with a large third-party developer community publishing Actors to its marketplace.

Apify has raised a modest amount of venture funding for its stage, reportedly around $3.5M total, including a roughly $3M round in 2024 led by J&T Ventures with Reflex Capital. Reported ARR estimates put it in the low-to-mid eight figures, indicating a business driven more by usage revenue than by large fundraises.

Product features

The platform provides Actors (containerized scrapers/automations), the Apify Store marketplace, scheduling, dataset storage, managed proxies, a REST API, and JavaScript and Python SDKs. Developers can build and monetize their own Actors, while non-builders rent maintained ones.

Anti-blocking is a key strength via Apify's proxy products and rotation. Integrations with Zapier, Make, Slack, and Google Drive help route results into downstream workflows.

Target market

Developers, data engineers, and technical teams needing scalable or complex scraping, plus semi-technical users who rent prebuilt Actors. Less ideal for non-technical users wanting a fully no-code experience.

Buyer personas

End users

Developers building Actors and data/ops staff running prebuilt scrapers on schedules.

Buyers

Engineering leads, data team managers, and technical founders paying via self-serve or enterprise contracts.

Key influencers

The Actor developer community, technical bloggers, and agencies recommending scraping infrastructure.

Ideal customer profile

A technical team needing reliable, scalable web scraping with managed proxies and reusable Actors, comfortable with usage-based billing.

Funding & performance

Apify has raised roughly $3.5M total across a handful of rounds, most recently about $3M (EUR 2.8M) in 2024 led by J&T Ventures with participation from Reflex Capital. Figures per public reporting; verify with the company.

Pros & cons

Pros

Large marketplace of prebuilt Actors
Powerful for custom, code-based scrapers
Managed proxies and anti-blocking tools
Scheduling, storage, and datasets built in
Robust API and JS/Python SDKs
Free tier plus usage-based scaling
Strong developer community

Cons

Usage-based credit + proxy billing is hard to forecast
Store Actors add their own separate pricing
Steeper learning curve than no-code tools
No self-hosted/on-prem option
Costs can climb at high volume
Overkill for simple one-off scrapes

Pricing plans

Free

$0 / month

~$5 monthly platform credits
No credit card required
Access to Apify Store
Community support

Starter

$29 / month

Usage-based platform credits
Higher limits than free
API and scheduling
Standard support

Scale

$199 / month

Larger credit allowance
More concurrency
Priority resources
Team features

Enterprise

$999+ / month

Custom limits and SLAs
Dedicated support
Advanced security and compliance
Volume pricing

Key features

API

Team collaboration

Multi-language

Integrations

Zapier, Make, Google Drive, Slack, REST API, JavaScript SDK, Python SDK

Input types

url, text, code

Output types

json, csv, structured data, datasets

Best For

Developer-built custom scrapers, Renting prebuilt Actors at scale, Managed proxies and anti-blocking, Scheduled, large-volume extraction

Compare key features

View all alternatives →

Feature

Apify

Firecrawl

Browse AI

Pricing

Freemium

Free plan

Yes

Free trial

Yes

API

Yes

Self-hosted

Yes

Team support

Yes

Frequently asked questions

What is an Actor in Apify?+

An Actor is a containerized program that performs a scraping or automation task. You can build your own or rent prebuilt Actors from the Apify Store.

Do I need to code to use Apify?+

Not necessarily. You can run prebuilt Store Actors with configuration only, but building custom Actors requires JavaScript/Node or Python skills.

How does Apify billing work?+

Billing is usage-based via platform credits covering compute, proxy traffic, storage, and dataset operations. Some Store Actors also charge their own per-result or per-event fees.

Does Apify handle anti-bot blocking?+

Apify offers managed proxy products and rotation to reduce blocking, though no scraper can guarantee access to sites with aggressive defenses.

Is there a free plan?+

Yes. Apify's free plan includes a small monthly credit allowance with no credit card required, suitable for testing before moving to paid usage tiers.