Compare/Head to head
Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.
Starting price
$19/mo Free tier
Actor marketplace and scraping platform with MCP. Free includes $5 usage; paid Starter is $19/mo plus pay-as-you-go.
Where Apify fits
$1.50/1K results Free tier
Web data MCP server with 32 tools for search, scraping, browser automation and LinkedIn profile, company and job data, with blocking handled for you. 5,000 free requests a month, then $1.50 per 1,000 results. Best for sourcing and research agents that need public data without a LinkedIn login.
Where Bright Data fits
| Detail | Apify | Bright Data |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $19/mo | $1.50/1K results |
| Free tier | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| MCP server | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Public API | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Listed under | Lead generation, Sourcing | Sourcing, Lead generation |
| Capterra | 4.8 from 538 reviews | Not enough reviews |
Apify
Stands out: Hosted MCP at mcp.apify.com plus a Store of ready-made Actors, on a prepaid usage meter with overage billed on paid plans.
Watch out: Unused prepaid usage expires each cycle. Usage beyond Starter's $19 is billed on the next invoice, and residential proxy costs extra per GB.
Not the right fit for
Bright Data
Stands out: It turns 1,200+ pre-built scrapers, including LinkedIn profiles, companies and jobs, into tools an agent can find and run itself, with the unblocking handled on every request.
Watch out: It reads public data only, so it cannot message people or send connection requests, and it does not return verified emails or phones. Past the free tier, usage is billed per result, so large runs need a spend cap.
Not the right fit for
Apify
Bright Data
Apify
$19/mo
Free is $0 with $5 a month of platform usage. Starter is $19/mo plus pay-as-you-go, Scale $199/mo and Business $999/mo, each including that amount of prepaid usage, with lower compute-unit rates on higher plans. Unused prepaid usage expires at the end of each cycle, extra usage is billed on the next invoice, and proxies and extra resources are add-ons. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.
Checked 19 Sep 2026
Bright Data
$1.50/1K results
The Bright Data MCP server includes 5,000 free requests a month, renewing monthly with no card needed. Beyond that it is pay as you go: $1.50 per 1,000 results for search, scraping and extraction, and $8 per GB for browser navigation, with spend caps available. Its wider products are priced separately, including Scraper APIs from $1 per 1,000 records and LinkedIn and other datasets from $250 per 100,000 records. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.
Checked 21 Oct 2026
All Apify alternatives All Bright Data alternatives Every Lead generation tool
Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 19 Sep 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?