Apify
Prague platform where scrapers run as Actors, with a store of ready-made ones, proxies and scheduling on one bill
Quick Overview
| Company | Apify Technologies s.r.o. |
|---|---|
| Category | Web Scraping Tools |
| Headquarters | Prague, Czech Republic |
| Founded | Not stated |
| EU Presence | Yes - Czech Republic (EU) |
| Data Location | Not stated on the pages checked; see the Apify DPA and sub-processor list |
| Open Source | No |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes |
| Self-Hosting | No (Crawlee, its scraping library, is open source and runs anywhere) |
| Main Features | Actors, Apify Store, scheduling, proxies, anti-blocking, API, MCP server, Crawlee library |
| Pricing | Free plan with $5 usage; Starter $19/month, Scale $199/month, Business $999/month plus pay-as-you-go usage |
| Best For | Developers and analysts who want ready-made scrapers and their own code on one platform |
| Replaces | Octoparse, ScraperAPI, Browse AI |
Detailed Review
Apify treats a scraper as a program called an Actor. You can run one that someone else published in Apify Store, such as a ready-made extractor for a well-known website, or deploy your own Python, JavaScript or TypeScript code and let the platform handle runs, storage and scheduling.
The contracting company is Apify Technologies s.r.o., registered in Prague (company reg. no. 04788290) and governed by Czech law, according to its general terms. That makes it a European vendor in the plain sense, which is rarer than the marketing of some competitors suggests.
Actors, Store and Your Own Code
Every Actor in the store follows one of three pricing models listed on the pricing page: pay per event, pay per usage, or a mix of the two. That means a ready-made scraper can cost per result while your own Actor is billed in compute units, which is worth separating when you budget.
For custom work the platform provides Actor templates and Crawlee, a scraping and crawling library maintained by Apify, so a script written locally can later move to the cloud without a rewrite.
Plans and Proxies
The Free plan includes $5 of prepaid usage. Starter is $19 per month, Scale $199 and Business $999, each adding pay-as-you-go usage at $0.2, $0.16 and $0.13 per compute unit (pricing page, 23 October 2026). Residential proxies are $8 per GB on Free and Starter and drop to $7 on Business.
Proxies, Google SERP access and an unblocker are priced as separate lines, so a heavily protected target raises the bill beyond the plan fee.
Who Operates It
The general terms also incorporate an Acceptable Use Policy and a Data Processing Addendum, and they say that Actors are not part of the services Apify provides unless stated otherwise. Third-party Actors are governed by their own Actor Terms and Conditions, so check the publisher of any Actor that touches personal data.
Limitations to Consider
Cost is hard to predict: plan fee, compute units, proxy traffic and per-event Actor prices are billed separately. The terms state that Actors from the store are not part of Apify's services, so quality and support depend on each publisher. It is a developer-leaning platform; for a purely visual builder, Web Scraper is simpler. The pages checked do not state where data is stored.
Who Should Use Apify
Teams in Europe that want to mix ready-made scrapers with their own code and are comfortable reading a usage-based invoice.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Czech contracting entity under Czech law
- Store of ready-made Actors plus your own code
- Free plan with $5 prepaid usage
- Open-source Crawlee library for local development
- Scheduling, API and MCP server included
Cons
- Several billing lines make costs hard to forecast
- Store Actors are outside Apify's own services
- Aimed at people comfortable with code
- Data location not stated on the pages checked
Alternatives to Apify
Other European web scraping tools worth comparing before you decide:
Zyte
Ireland · Cork-based scraping API priced per request by site difficulty
Oxylabs
Lithuania · Vilnius provider of scraper APIs, unblocker and proxy pools
Web Scraper
Latvia · Latvian point-and-click scraper: free extension plus a cloud runner
Decodo
Lithuania · Former Smartproxy: web data API, ready templates and proxies
See all European web scraping tools or compare them directly against Octoparse on our alternatives page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Its general terms name Apify Technologies s.r.o. with its seat in Prague, recorded in the Commercial Register of the Municipal Court of Prague, and apply Czech law.
Not always. You can run a ready-made Actor from Apify Store with a form, but building your own scraper means writing code, usually JavaScript, TypeScript or Python.
The pricing page lists a Free plan with $5 of usage and paid plans at $19, $199 and $999 per month, plus pay-as-you-go usage in compute units. Actors in the store can add their own per-result or per-event prices.