Apify
Scrape and Actor platform, the third leg next to Firecrawl and Exa.
From $19/mo Free tier MCP server API
Bottom line
Actor marketplace and scraping platform with MCP. Free includes $5 usage; paid Starter is $19/mo plus pay-as-you-go.
Stands out for: 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 for: Unused prepaid usage expires each cycle. Usage beyond Starter's $19 is billed on the next invoice, and residential proxy costs extra per GB.
Overview
Apify is a cloud platform for Actors: scrapers, automations, and agents. Free is $0 with $5 to spend, $0.20 per compute unit, and community support. Starter is $19/mo plus pay-as-you-go with $19 prepaid usage and chat support. Scale is $199/mo at $0.16/CU. Business is $999/mo at $0.13/CU. Unused prepaid usage expires at cycle end. Free users who burn the $5 wait until next month; paid plans invoice overage.
Teams pick Apify when they want Store Actors or custom crawls without running browsers themselves. MCP is https://mcp.apify.com (OAuth or bearer token). Platform API docs live at docs.apify.com. Add-ons include extra concurrent runs, RAM, datacenter IPs, and $150/hour training. Residential proxy starts at $8/GB on Free and Starter. A separate six-month $500 builder credit is for people shipping their own Actors, not a sales trial.
Who it's for
Best for
- Builders running scrapers and agents in the cloud
- GTM teams buying ready-made Store Actors
- Desks that want MCP to search and run Actors
- Startups that will start on Free with $5 usage
Not ideal for
- Buyers who need unused credits to roll over
- Non-technical teams that will not operate Actors
Key features
Actor store. Run scrapers for jobs, companies, and profiles as sourcing infrastructure.
MCP. First-party server at mcp.apify.com. An agent can search and run Actors. Set spend limits.
AI features
| What the AI does | Plan |
|---|---|
| MCP server to search and run Actors | Included |
| Apify AI chat in Console | Included |
Only features named in the vendor's own documentation. Anything sold separately is marked as an add-on.
MCP server
https://mcp.apify.com
First-party MCP at mcp.apify.com. Official vendor-hosted server. Connect Claude or ChatGPT with your own login.
Setup steps and live status MCP Directory Check your stack in the MCP readiness checker
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $5/mo of platform usage |
| Starter | $19/mo | Plus pay-as-you-go |
| Scale | $199/mo | |
| Business | $999/mo | Lower compute-unit rates |
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 4 Nov 2026. Vendors change prices without notice.
Is Apify expensive?
Apify starts at $19/mo. We list 257 lead generation tools in total. 74 have a free tier, and those with a public price typically start around $49 a month.
- 37 quote-based
- 74 free tier
- 208 public price
Worked out automatically from every lead generation listing, so it updates as the directory changes.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free plan with $5 usage, no card
- Starter $19/mo plus overage
- Hosted MCP at mcp.apify.com
Cons
- Prepaid usage expires each month
- Overage on paid plans can surprise finance
- Residential proxy is billed per GB extra
What's new at Apify
No updates logged yet. Follow Apify and we will email you when it announces something new or its starting price changes.
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How Apify compares
See all Apify alternatives, with what each one does differently and a head to head for every pairing.
| Tool | Free tier | From | MCP | API | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ✓ | $19/mo | ✓ | ✓ | |
| | ✓ | $16/mo | ✓ | ✓ | Compare |
| | ✓ | $69/mo | ✓ | ✓ | Compare |
| | – | $49/mo | ✓ | ✓ | Compare |
| | ✓ | €20/mo | ✓ | ✓ | Compare |
$16/mo Free tier MCP API
Hosted crawl API if you want pages-as-markdown more than an Actor store.
$69/mo Free tier MCP API
Cloud Phantoms if LinkedIn and social automations are the whole job.
$49/mo MCP API
Simpler B2B scrape UI if you do not want to operate Actors.
€20/mo Free tier MCP API
Workflow automation if scraping is one step in a larger pipeline.
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