Apify: What It Does, Pricing and Who Should Skip It
Apify runs ready-made “Actors” (90,000+ scrapers and automations) and your own code in the cloud, with proxies, scheduling, APIs and an MCP server for AI agents.
At a glance
| Fact | Apify |
|---|---|
| Category | AI automation and agents |
| Lowest listed price | Free: $0 with $5/month to spend |
| Free tier or trial | Free plan with $5 of monthly usage, no credit card. |
| Pricing checked | 2026-10-18 |
| Owner | Independent company, not owned by this site’s owner |
| Our relationship | Program exists; we haven’t been approved, so this is a plain link |
Who it’s for
Developers and data teams who need web data at scale.
Who should skip it
Anyone who doesn’t read the fine print: reviewers say plan credits are less than they expected and unused credits don’t roll over.
Pricing (checked 2026-10-18)
- Free: $0 with $5/month to spend
- Starter: $19/month plus pay as you go
- Scale: $199/month plus usage
- Business: $999/month plus usage
Free tier or trial
Free plan with $5 of monthly usage, no credit card.
Notable complaints
Trustpilot: 4.8/5 from 804 reviews (checked 2026-10-18). Ratings depend heavily on how actively a company asks for reviews, so we don’t rank by them.
- A reviewer said unused monthly credit was lost. Source
- A reviewer said plan credit was lower than the sticker price implied. Source
Alternatives in Automation & agents
- Albato: Free plan
- Browse AI: Free: 50 credits/month
- Gumloop: Pro: from $37/month
- IrisGo: Free during public beta (no paid plans published)
Sources
- Apify official site (checked 2026-10-18)
- Apify pricing page (checked 2026-10-18)
- Apify reviews on Trustpilot (checked 2026-10-18)