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Apify

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Full-stack scraping platform with a marketplace of 10K+ pre-built scrapers (Actors), plus the open-source Crawlee framework.

Web scraping APIs abstract away the hardest parts of web data collection: JavaScript rendering, anti-bot detection, proxy rotation, and data parsing. Instead of building and maintaining your own scraping infrastructure, you send a URL and receive clean, structured data back. For AI applications, many of these APIs now return LLM-ready markdown or structured JSON.

Visit Apify →See pricing →

Features

✓JS Rendering
✓Structured Output
✓Open Source
✓Self-Hosted Option
Pricing:FreemiumSee pricing →

Editorial assessment

The marketplace model is unique and powerful — 10K+ Actors means someone has probably already built a scraper for your target site. SOC2 compliant with ~$7.4M revenue (2023). Platform complexity is the tradeoff. Learning the Actor model takes time, and costs can spiral if you're not careful with compute allocation. The Crawlee OSS framework is excellent standalone.

How Apify compares

Firecrawl

Firecrawl is simpler and more AI-native, better for LLM-ready output without the marketplace complexity.

Zyte

Zyte is the enterprise alternative with 15+ years of experience and the Scrapy framework.

Scrapy

Scrapy (Apify's Crawlee competes with it) is the pure OSS path if you want full control.

Frequently asked questions

What is Apify?

Full-stack scraping platform with a marketplace of 10K+ pre-built scrapers (Actors), plus the open-source Crawlee framework. It falls under the Web Crawl & Scraping APIs category in our directory. Apify is open source, meaning you can inspect the code and self-host it.

How much does Apify cost?

Apify uses a freemium pricing model. There is a free tier available, with paid plans for higher usage.

What are the best alternatives to Apify?

The top alternatives to Apify include Firecrawl, Zyte, Scrapy. Each offers a different approach to web crawl & scraping apis — see our comparison section above for detailed analysis.

Does Apify support JavaScript rendering?

Yes, Apify supports JavaScript rendering, which means it can handle dynamic websites that load content via JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue, or Angular.

Does Apify provide structured output?

Yes, Apify returns structured output (typically JSON), making it straightforward to integrate into AI pipelines, RAG systems, and data processing workflows.

Can I self-host Apify?

Yes, Apify offers a self-hosted option, giving you full control over the infrastructure, data privacy, and deployment environment.

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