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Apify
Category: Infra (Cloud Scraping and Automation Platform)
Official site: https://apify.com
Docs: https://docs.apify.com
GitHub (Actor templates): https://github.com/apify/actor-templates
What is Apify?
Apify is the largest cloud platform for web scraping, crawling, and browser automation. It runs serverless programs called Actors that scrape, extract, and transform data from any website. Thousands of pre-built Actors are available in the Apify Store for sites including Google, Amazon, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more.
Key capabilities:
- Actors - Serverless cloud programs you write or grab from the Apify Store. Deploy once, run on demand or on a schedule.
- Anti-blocking - Built-in proxy rotation, CAPTCHA solving, and fingerprint management.
- Storage - Cloud datasets, key-value stores, and request queues included with every run.
- Apify SDK - JavaScript (Node.js/TypeScript) and Python SDKs for building Actors locally.
- Apify CLI - Scaffold, run locally, and push Actors to the cloud from the terminal.
- MCP Server - AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) can discover and trigger Actors via the Apify MCP interface.
- Integrations - Native connectors for Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, and more.
Apify is used for lead generation, price monitoring, SERP data, social media scraping, and AI training data pipelines.
Free vs Paid
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Included Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (no credit card) | $5 of platform usage |
| Starter | $29/mo | More compute + proxy |
| Scale | $199/mo | High-volume workloads |
| Business | $999/mo | Enterprise scale |
Free plan limits: 16 GB max RAM, 25 concurrent runs, 5 datacenter proxy IPs included, residential proxies at $8/GB. Unused credits expire at end of billing cycle. Access is blocked if the $5 budget is exceeded until the next cycle.
Annual billing saves 10% on paid plans. Discounts available: 30% for startups, 50% for students.
Safety and ToS Notes
- Apify's platform is legitimate infrastructure; compliance with target site ToS is the operator's responsibility.
- Residential proxy usage is metered and billed separately from compute.
- Free plan proxy access does not extend to external (non-Apify-hosted) clients.
- Unused credits do not roll over between billing cycles.