Stay free if you only need $5/month compute credits and public actors only. Upgrade if you need $500/month included credits and priority support. Most solo builders can start free.
Why it matters: Costs scale with volume and site complexity, no unlimited plan
Available from: Starter
Why it matters: Actors break when target sites change, especially niche ones
Available from: Starter
Why it matters: Custom Actor development requires JavaScript/Node.js skills
Available from: Starter
Why it matters: More expensive than self-hosted Scrapy for high-volume simple sites
Available from: Starter
Roughly $30-50 depending on site complexity. JavaScript-heavy sites cost more compute units than simple HTML pages. The free tier's $5/month credits cover small test runs.
Popular Actors for major sites get community fixes quickly. Niche Actors may stay broken for weeks or months. You can build custom Actors using their SDK if reliability matters.
Yes, using Puppeteer, Playwright, or their Crawlee SDK. But most users find existing Actors sufficient and never write custom code.
Apify costs more per page but eliminates maintenance. Scrapy is free but requires developer time for proxy management, CAPTCHA solving, and infrastructure. Apify wins on convenience, Scrapy wins on cost at scale.
Start with the free plan — upgrade when you need more.
Get Started Free →Still not sure? Read our full verdict →
Last verified March 2026