Apify review: the best AI data company for scrapers that agents can buy?

Answer in brief: Apify is a marketplace and cloud runtime for Actors, ready-made scrapers and automations such as Website Content Crawler, plus tools to build your own. It is #13 in our data-sourcing ranking and stands out for agent-native buying: since June 30, 2026, AI agents can pay per run through x402 across more than 20,000 Actors. Costs mix plan credit, compute units and per-Actor pricing, so model them carefully.

At a glance: Data-sourcing rank #13 of 14 · Segment: web data · Best for: targeted collection and autonomous agents · Pricing: free to $999/month plus usage.

What Apify does for AI data buyers

Instead of buying one dataset, you run the collector you need: Website Content Crawler for LLM-ready site text, scrapers for search and social platforms, or your own Actors. Results land in Apify storage, with proxies, an unblocker and SERP access as add-ons.

Who it fits

RAG builders feeding site content, agent developers wanting tools agents can buy on demand, and small teams needing a specific source fast. For bulk archives, see Bright Data.

Why buyers shortlist it

• Agent-native payments through x402.
• A huge catalog of 20,000+ Actors via x402.
• Start free with $5 of usage.
• Build your own with $500 of free usage for six months.

Honest drawbacks

• Actor quality, maintenance and pricing vary by publisher.
• Costs combine compute, proxies, storage and per-event fees; for example, the Instagram Scraper is shown at $2.30 per 1,000 results on Starter.
• Rights review is yours.
• SSO is Enterprise-only.

Pricing model

Free ($0 with $5 credit; $0.20/CU), Starter ($19/month; $0.20/CU), Scale ($199/month; $0.16/CU), Business ($999/month; $0.13/CU), plus custom Enterprise. Residential proxies cost $7 to $8 per GB. Annual billing saves 10%.

Best alternatives

• Zyte: pay per successful response.
• Diffbot: structured entities.
• Oxylabs: managed datasets and a Web API.

FAQ

Can AI agents pay for Apify directly?

Yes. Since June 30, 2026, Apify supports x402 payments per run.

How much does Apify cost?

From free ($5 credit) to $999/month for Business, plus usage; compute units cost $0.13 to $0.20.

What is an Apify Actor?

A serverless program, typically a scraper, crawler or automation, run from Apify Store or built yourself.

Sources

• Apify pricing
• Apify: Introducing x402 support (June 30, 2026)

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