Apify - Features, Pricing & What Users Say
Apify is a web scraping platform that uses natural language to help users extract custom data from websites and automate repetitive web tasks.
What Makes Apify Different
- Natural language controls for building data extraction workflows without complex coding
- Pre-built "Actors" - ready-made, production-tested automation scripts that handle common scraping tasks
- Visual builder interface for creating custom scraping workflows
- Production-grade infrastructure designed for stable, reliable data extraction at scale
- Includes proxy services and built-in logging for full visibility into automation runs
Key Features
- Actor Library - Access to 1,500+ pre-built, production-tested automation scripts with user ratings and usage statistics
- Visual Builder - Drag-and-drop interface for creating custom web scraping workflows without code
- Natural Language Controls - Use conversational language to define what data you want extracted
- Ready-Made Templates - Pre-configured workflows for common scraping needs
- Proxy Integration - Built-in proxy services for web scraping tasks
- Detailed Logs - Full visibility into automation runs with comprehensive logging data
- Workflow Automation - Automate repetitive web tasks beyond basic scraping
- Custom Data Extraction - Define exact data fields needed from target websites
Pricing
Apify operates on a freemium pricing model. Specific pricing details are not publicly listed. See current pricing.
What Users Say
What users like:
- Makes it easy to get exact data needed with minimal effort and complexity
- Stable platform with smooth Actor performance and reliable execution
- Ready-made Actors and visual builder eliminate the need for coding expertise
- Full visibility into automation processes through detailed logging
Common complaints:
- Community-maintained Actors vary in quality - requires vetting maintainers and testing before production use
- Proxy pricing is not the cheapest option compared to some alternatives
- Pin versioning requirements for production environments add complexity to workflow management
The Company
Apify was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. The company has a team of 51-200 employees. G2 rating information is not currently available.
Alternatives
- Octoparse - Web scraping platform with a visual interface for extracting data from websites without coding
- Scrapy - Open-source Python framework for building web scraping applications and data extraction projects
- Beautiful Soup - Python library for parsing HTML and XML documents to extract structured data from web pages
- Selenium - Browser automation tool that controls web browsers to perform scraping and testing tasks
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Apify?
Apify is a web scraping and workflow automation platform that allows users to extract custom data from websites. The platform features natural language controls, a visual builder interface, and a library of pre-built automation scripts called "Actors." Users can create data extraction workflows with or without coding knowledge, making it possible to automate tasks like web scraping, data collection, and repetitive web processes at production scale.
How much does Apify cost?
Apify uses a freemium pricing model, meaning users can access basic features for free with the option to upgrade for additional capacity and features. Specific pricing tiers and costs are not publicly detailed on their standard information pages. Users should contact Apify directly or visit their pricing page for current rates.
Is Apify worth it?
Based on user reviews, Apify serves organizations that need reliable web scraping and workflow automation. Users report that the platform is stable, easy to use for non-technical teams, and provides good visibility into automation processes. The 1,500+ pre-built Actors reduce setup time for common tasks. However, potential users should plan for time vetting community-maintained Actors and understand that proxy services may not offer the lowest-cost option in the market.
What are the best Apify alternatives?
Popular alternatives in the web scraping category include Octoparse for visual scraping workflows, Scrapy for developers building custom scraping applications with Python, Beautiful Soup for programmatic HTML parsing, and Selenium for browser automation and scraping tasks. The best choice depends on technical skill level, budget, and specific data extraction requirements.