TL;DR
Apify alternatives split by job, not by brand. For very large volumes and proxy-heavy sites look at Bright Data, which charges about $1.50 per 1,000 records. For no-code desktop scraping look at Octoparse, from $69 a month with a limited free plan. For developers who want a scraping API look at ScrapingBee, from $19 a month. For point-and-click monitoring look at Browse AI. For Google Maps only or social lead generation, look at specialists such as Outscraper and PhantomBuster, and compare their prices against your exact job. Stay with Apify when you want ready-made scrapers for popular sites, an API and AI integrations.
| Very large volumes | Bright Data, about $1.50 per 1,000 records |
| No-code desktop | Octoparse, free plan or from $69/month |
| Developer scraping API | ScrapingBee, from $19/month |
| Point-and-click monitoring | Browse AI, 50 free credits |
| Google Maps only | A Maps specialist, compare per-record price |
| Ready-made scrapers for popular sites | Apify, free plan with $5 of usage |
Which one this is: Apify, the web scraping platform at apify.com, and the tools commonly compared with it.
What Are the Main Alternatives to Apify, and What Do They Cost?
The tools below are billed in different units, which is why raw price comparisons mislead. Read the last column before you compare numbers.
| Tool | Best for | Free option | Paid from | What you are billed for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apify | Ready-made scrapers for popular sites, plus custom code, API and AI tools | $5 of usage a month | $19/month | Per result for most Store Actors, or compute units for custom code |
| Bright Data | Large volumes and sites that need heavy proxy use | 5,000 records a month | About $1.50 per 1,000 records | Per record, pay as you go |
| Octoparse | No-code scraping from a desktop app | Free plan: 10 tasks, local only | $69/month | Subscription, with cloud processes by plan |
| ScrapingBee | Developers who want a scraping API | 1,000 free credits | $19/month | API credits per request |
| Browse AI | Point-and-click monitoring of a few sites | 50 free credits | $19/month billed annually | Credits |
| Outscraper | Google Maps and other Google data | Check its site | Check its site | Per record |
| PhantomBuster | Automations for social networks and lead generation | Check its site | Check its site | Time its tools run, not results |
Prices for Bright Data, Octoparse, ScrapingBee and Browse AI were read on their pricing pages in September 2026. For Outscraper and PhantomBuster, check their own sites for current prices.
Which Alternative Fits Your Job?
You only need Google Maps leads
Apify's own Google Maps Scraper costs $4 per 1,000 places on the free plan, $3 on Starter, $2 on Scale and $1.50 on Business, with extras such as contact enrichment charged on top (see our Google Maps Scraper guide). A Maps specialist like Outscraper is worth a quote if Maps is the only thing you will ever scrape. Compare the same job on both: the number of places, whether you need emails, and whether you need reviews.
You want leads from social networks on a schedule
PhantomBuster is built around automations for networks such as LinkedIn and Instagram and bills by the time its tools run. Apify covers Instagram with an official Actor, priced per result (see the Instagram Scraper guide). If you need LinkedIn-style workflows with actions rather than just data collection, that is where a specialist is more natural.
You are not technical and want point-and-click
Octoparse and Browse AI are built for this. Octoparse runs tasks you set up visually on your computer, with a free plan for testing. Browse AI is built around training a robot to watch a page and alert you to changes. Apify can be used without code through its Store, and it rewards a little comfort with inputs, result limits and cost settings.
You are a developer with your own scraper code
ScrapingBee gives you an API that fetches pages for you, so you keep your parsing code and skip running browsers and proxies yourself. Apify is the other route: deploy your code, for example a Crawlee project, as an Actor and let the platform run and schedule it.
You need very large volumes or hard-to-scrape sites
Bright Data's strength is its proxy network and per-record pricing at scale, about $1.50 per 1,000 records on its web scraper page. At that scale the proxy bill often matters more than the scraper itself: Apify's residential proxy costs $8 per GB on Free and Starter and $7 on Business, so price the traffic, not just the results.
You want web pages as clean text for an AI tool
Apify's Website Content Crawler is popular for this and connects to AI tools through its MCP server, but a dedicated page-to-markdown service can be simpler if that is all you do. Decide by whether you also need scrapers for other sites.
Which Tool Fits Which Priority?
Reviews of Apify are strongly positive: in September 2026 it rated 4.7 on G2 and 4.8 on Capterra. Here is how the main priorities line up:
- You want a flat, fixed monthly bill. A subscription tool such as Octoparse keeps the number the same every month. Apify works as a monthly budget: set a result limit and a spending limit on every run and the bill stays where you plan it.
- You want to pick the most proven scraper. The Apify Store shows user counts, ratings and last update dates for each Actor, so you can choose Actors from Apify or from publishers with many users and recent updates.
- You are new to scraping. Octoparse and Browse AI start from point-and-click. Apify starts from a ready-made Actor and a short form, and a few billing models are worth an hour to learn.
Our guide to what happens when Apify credit runs out explains how to cap spending on Apify.
When Does Apify Fit Best?
- A popular site already has a maintained scraper in the Store, priced per result, so you can calculate the cost before you run anything.
- You want to start free: $5 of usage every month with no credit card covers about 1,250 Google Maps places or about 1,850 Instagram results on the free tier.
- You want the data to flow into automations: there is an official n8n node, an API and an MCP server for AI assistants.
- You might later build your own scraper and want the same place to run it.
Free Plan • No Credit Card • $5 Of Usage Every Month
How Do You Compare Scraper Costs Fairly?
- Write down the job in results. For example, 5,000 Google Maps places, or 600 Instagram posts.
- Convert each tool's unit to that job. Per-record tools are simple multiplication. Credit and execution-time tools need a test run to see how many credits or minutes the job uses.
- Add proxies and extras. Emails, reviews and residential traffic are often billed separately.
- Check what happens at the limit. Does the tool stop, or keep going and bill overage?
- Run the same small test everywhere. A 50-result test on the free tier of each tool costs nothing and shows the real output and cost.
For reference, the Apify side of a 5,000-place Google Maps job with no extras is about $15 on Starter, $10 on Scale and $7.50 on Business, at the prices in our Google Maps Scraper guide.
Apify Alternatives: Common Questions
What is the best Apify alternative?
Is there a free alternative to Apify?
Is there a cheaper alternative to Apify for Google Maps?
Apify or Octoparse: which fits you?
Can I use Apify and another scraper together?
Why do people choose Apify?
Which Apify Alternative Should You Choose, in One Paragraph?
Choose by job. Go to Bright Data for very large volumes, Octoparse for no-code desktop scraping, ScrapingBee if you write the parsing code yourself, Browse AI for simple page monitoring, and a Maps or social specialist if that is all you do. Apify fits when a maintained, per-result Actor exists for your site, when you want a free start, and when you need the data in automations. Whatever you pick, run the same 50-result test first and set a spending limit.
Competitor prices come from their pricing pages, checked in September 2026.
Free Plan • No Credit Card • $5 Of Usage Every Month
What Other Tools Have We Covered?
- Payhip: pricing, fees and how to start
- Payhip vs Gumroad
- Apify: pricing, free plan and how to start
- Apify Google Maps Scraper
- Apify Instagram Scraper
- Submagic: pricing, free trial and features
- HYROS: pricing and how the tracking works
- Skool pricing, fees and free trial
- ClickFunnels pricing, free trial and the $99 offer
- Cometly pricing, plans and who it's for
- Paymo: pricing, free plan and time tracking
- Simplified AI: pricing, free plan and alternatives
- GoHighLevel: what it is, plans and who it's for
- GoHighLevel pricing and real monthly cost
This is an independent guide. It is not the official Apify website and it is not operated by, affiliated with or endorsed by Apify. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. We may earn a commission from sign-ups and purchases made through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. The alternatives on this page are linked without any affiliate relationship, so we earn nothing from them. Prices and plans were checked on the official pages in September 2026 and can change at any time: confirm them at checkout.