Scrape.ly vs Apify: an Apify-compatible alternative
Scrape.ly speaks the same Actor model as Apify: the SDKs keep the Apify SDK API, builds accept apify/actor-* images, and the API clients are drop-in replacements for apify-client. Here is how the two platforms compare on pricing, proxies, the Store, and creator payouts.
Competitor facts and prices as listed on Oct 15, 2026. Sources
import { Actor } from 'apify' await Actor.main( async () => { await Actor .pushData(items)})
The short answer
If you already build on Apify, Scrape.ly is the shortest move you can make: most Actors push and run unchanged, and apify-client code works after changing the import, the base URL, and the token. Scrape.ly prices residential traffic at $2–$4 per GB and datacenter traffic at $0.75–$1 per GB, and creators keep 80% of event fees without platform usage deducted. Apify remains the larger, more established marketplace, with annual billing, plans that include prepaid usage, and a Google SERP proxy.
Apify-compatible
$2–$4/GB residential, $0.75–$1/GB datacenter
Creators keep 80% of paid fees
Scrape.ly vs Apify, side by side
Apify: Cloud platform and marketplace (Apify Store) for serverless scraping and automation programs called Actors, with its own proxy, SDKs, CLI, API client, and hosted MCP server.
| Feature | Scrape.ly | Apify |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Apify-compatible Actor platform with a Store, proxies, a hosted browser, and MCP | The original Actor platform and the Apify Store |
| Runs Apify Actors | Yes, most run unchanged; apify/actor-* base images build | Yes (native) |
| Pricing model | Plans raise limits; usage from a prepaid USD balance | Monthly or annual plans that include the same amount of prepaid usage |
| Free plan | Monthly usage credit, no credit card to start | $5 of usage per month, no credit card required |
| Residential proxy | $2–$4 per GB | $8/GB (Free, Starter) down to $7/GB (Business) |
| Datacenter proxy | $0.75–$1 per GB | Per IP: 5 to 500 included by plan, then $1 to $0.6 per IP |
| Google SERP proxy | Not offered | $1.70 to $2.50 per 1,000 SERPs, by plan |
| Marketplace | Scrape.ly Store | Apify Store, thousands of tools |
| Creator share | 80% of event fees paid with purchased credits; usage paid by the user | 80% of revenue minus the Actor's platform usage costs |
| Creator payouts | On request: from $25 (crypto, PayPal) or $500 (bank) | Monthly: from $20 (PayPal, Wise) or $100 (other); KYC required |
| MCP server | Hosted, OAuth or API token | Hosted at mcp.apify.com |
| Open-source tooling | SDKs built on Crawlee; API-compatible with the Apify SDK, parts derived from it (Apache-2.0) | Crawlee, Apify SDKs, apify-client, Apify CLI |
Pricing compared
Apify prices as listed on Oct 15, 2026 on their public pricing pages; check their site for current figures. Scrape.ly's current plans are on the pricing page.
Scrape.ly
- Free plan
- Monthly usage credit, no credit card to start
- Paid plans
- Raise concurrency, memory, and other limits, and can add a Store discount
- Usage
- Compute, storage, transfer, proxy, and browser usage from a prepaid USD balance
- Residential proxy
- $2–$4 per GB
- Datacenter proxy
- $0.75–$1 per GB
- Spending control
- Optional maximum charge per run; the run stops when it is reached
Apify
- Pricing model
- Monthly or annual plans that include the same dollar amount of prepaid platform usage. Usage is billed in compute units (CU), proxy, storage, and data transfer; Store Actors add pay-per-event or pay-per-usage charges.
- Free tier
- Free plan: $0 with $5 of prepaid usage per month and no credit card required. Unused usage expires at the end of the cycle, and access is blocked once the allowance is used up until the next cycle. Proxies on the free plan work only within the Apify platform, not from external clients.
Apify plans
| Apify plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | $5 prepaid usage/mo; $0.2 per CU; 16 GB max RAM; 5 concurrent runs; residential proxy $8/GB; 5 datacenter IPs; community support |
| Starter | $19/mo monthly, or $17/mo billed annually | $19 prepaid usage/mo; $0.2 per CU; 64 GB max RAM; 32 concurrent runs; residential $8/GB; 30 datacenter IPs, then $1/IP; chat support |
| Scale | $199/mo monthly, or $179/mo billed annually | $199 prepaid usage/mo; $0.16 per CU; 256 GB max RAM; 128 concurrent runs; residential $7.5/GB; 200 datacenter IPs, then $0.8/IP; priority chat |
| Business | $999/mo monthly, or $899/mo billed annually | $999 prepaid usage/mo; $0.13 per CU; 512 GB max RAM; 256 concurrent runs; residential $7/GB; 500 datacenter IPs, then $0.6/IP; account manager |
| Enterprise | Custom (contact sales) |
Apify usage and proxy pricing
| Apify product | Price as listed on Oct 15, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Residential | $8/GB on Free and Starter, $7.5/GB on Scale, $7/GB on Business |
| Datacenter (shared) | Per IP, not per GB: 5 to 500 IPs included by plan, extra IPs $1 to $0.6 each |
| Datacenter (dedicated) | From $7 per IP, on request |
| Google SERP | $1.70 to $2.50 per 1,000 SERPs depending on plan ($2.50 on Free and Starter, $2 on Scale, $1.70 on Business) |
- Apify's paid plans include prepaid usage equal to the plan price, and annual billing costs about 10% less. Compute is $0.2 per CU on Free and Starter, $0.16 on Scale, and $0.13 on Business.
- Scrape.ly also bills compute in compute units (memory × duration). Proxy traffic is the clearest difference: Scrape.ly charges per GB for both pools, while Apify charges per GB for residential and per IP for shared datacenter proxies.
Feature by feature
Where Scrape.ly and Apify overlap, and where they take different approaches.
Actors, SDKs, and the API
The JavaScript SDK is API-compatible with the Apify SDK, and parts of it are derived from the Apify SDK (Apache-2.0); the Python SDK mirrors the Apify Python SDK on Crawlee for Python. Builds accept apify/actor-* base images, and the JS and Python API clients export ApifyClient as an alias, so existing client code needs only a new import, base URL, and token.
Apify defined the Actor model: serverless programs that take JSON input and return structured output. It maintains the Apify SDKs for JavaScript and Python, apify-client, a REST API, a CLI, and the open-source Crawlee library.
Proxies and anti-blocking
Every run can use a managed residential ($2–$4 per GB) or datacenter ($0.75–$1 per GB) proxy with per-run credentials. The settings are also exposed as APIFY_PROXY_* variables, so existing proxy code works. For sites that block headless browsers, the Scrapely browser adds anti-bot fingerprints and Cloudflare Turnstile solving.
Apify Proxy offers residential traffic from $8 per GB (lower on bigger plans), shared datacenter IPs included per plan and sold per IP, dedicated datacenter IPs from $7 each, and a Google SERP proxy priced per 1,000 results.
Store and creator earnings
Creators set pay-per-event prices in the Scrape.ly Store and earn 80% of what users pay with purchased credits. The run’s platform usage is billed to the user, not the creator. Payouts go out on request by crypto or PayPal from $25, or bank transfer from $500.
Apify Store lists thousands of tools, mostly from independent creators. On pay per event, developers receive 80% of revenue minus the Actor's platform usage costs. Payouts are monthly, from $20 via PayPal or Wise or $100 by other methods, and KYC is required.
AI agents and MCP
A hosted MCP server lets Claude, Cursor, VS Code, and other clients search the Store, run Actors, and read results, signed in with OAuth or an API token. A local stdio server is available as a Python package.
Apify runs a hosted MCP server at mcp.apify.com.
Billing and spending control
Usage draws from a prepaid balance, and you can set a maximum charge per run that stops the run when it is reached.
Plans include prepaid usage. On the free plan, unused usage expires at the end of the cycle and access is blocked once the allowance is used until the next cycle.
How to switch from Apify
Moving from Apify is mostly configuration. Your Actor code, Dockerfile, and input schema stay the same.
// Before: import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
import { ApifyClient } from 'scrapely-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({
token: process.env.SCRAPELY_TOKEN, // a Scrape.ly token
baseUrl: 'https://api.scrape.ly',
});
const startUrls = [{ url: 'https://example.com' }];
const run = await client.actor('username/my-actor').call({ startUrls });
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();- 01
Install the CLI and log in
Install the scrapely CLI and log in with your Scrape.ly account. Apify tokens do not work on Scrape.ly.
Quick start → - 02
Push your Actor unchanged
Run scrapely push in the Actor folder. Builds accept your apify/actor-* base image; switch to the matching scrapely/actor-* image when you want to publish in the Store.
CLI reference → - 03
Point apify-client at Scrape.ly
Swap the import for scrapely-client (or scrapely-client-python), set the base URL to the Scrape.ly API, and use a Scrape.ly token. ApifyClient still works as an alias.
JavaScript client →Python client → - 04
Check proxy groups
Residential and datacenter are available; other groups such as GOOGLE_SERP are refused, never rerouted or billed.
Proxy docs → - 05
Publish and earn
List the Actor in the Store with pay-per-event pricing and keep 80% of fees paid with purchased credits.
Publish & monetize →Monetize →
When to choose which
Apify is a good fit for: Teams who want the largest established Actor marketplace and ecosystem, open-source Crawlee tooling, and plans billed monthly or annually with included prepaid usage.
Choose Scrape.ly if
- You want to run existing Apify Actors and apify-client code with minimal changes.
- Proxy traffic is a large part of your bill: residential is $2–$4 per GB, datacenter $0.75–$1 per GB.
- You sell Actors and want 80% of event fees, with run usage paid by the user rather than deducted from you.
- You want payouts on request, by crypto, PayPal, or bank transfer, without a routine KYC step.
- You want a hosted anti-bot Chromium (the Scrapely browser) and an MCP server on the same account.
Choose Apify if
- You want the largest established Actor marketplace and ecosystem.
- You prefer plans that include prepaid usage equal to the plan price, or annual billing.
- You need a Google SERP proxy group or dedicated datacenter IPs.
- You rely on Apify-specific endpoints that Scrape.ly does not implement.
Worth knowing before you decide
- Scrape.ly runs Apify Actors and SDK code largely unchanged. API clients need an import and base URL change and a Scrape.ly token, because Apify tokens do not work on Scrape.ly.
- Both platforms state an 80% creator share. Apify deducts the Actor's platform usage costs from the developer's 80%; on Scrape.ly the user pays the run's usage, and creators earn 80% of the event fee paid with purchased credits.
- Apify pays creators monthly; Scrape.ly pays on request once earnings are available.
- Apify prices shared datacenter proxies per IP; Scrape.ly prices datacenter traffic per GB.
- Apify offers a Google SERP proxy group; Scrape.ly offers only residential and datacenter groups.
- Apify's paid plans include prepaid usage equal to the plan price and offer about 10% off with annual billing.
Need something custom, such as volume pricing or a managed scraper? Talk to us.
Scrape.ly vs Apify, answered
Is Scrape.ly an alternative to Apify?
Yes. Scrape.ly is an Apify-compatible Actor platform. Its JavaScript SDK is API-compatible with the Apify SDK (parts are derived from it under Apache-2.0), its Python SDK mirrors the Apify Python SDK, and its API clients are drop-in replacements for apify-client, so most Apify Actors run unchanged.
Can I run my existing Apify Actors on Scrape.ly?
Most Actors build and run without code changes, and builds accept apify/actor-* base images. Publishing to the Scrape.ly Store requires a scrapely/actor-* base image. Proxy groups other than residential and datacenter, such as GOOGLE_SERP, are not available.
Does apify-client work with Scrape.ly?
Use scrapely-client for JavaScript or scrapely-client-python for Python. Both export ApifyClient as an alias, so you change the import, set the base URL to the Scrape.ly API, and use a Scrape.ly token. Endpoints Scrape.ly does not implement return an error.
How do proxy prices compare?
Scrape.ly charges $2–$4 per GB for residential and $0.75–$1 per GB for datacenter traffic. As listed on Apify's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026, Apify charges $8 per GB for residential on Free and Starter ($7 on Business) and sells shared datacenter proxies per IP.
How do creator revenue shares compare?
Both state 80%. Apify's pay-per-event docs deduct the Actor's platform usage costs from the developer's 80%. On Scrape.ly, creators earn 80% of event fees paid with purchased credits, and the run's usage is billed to the user.
Who operates Scrape.ly?
Scrape.ly is operated by TeraShift GmbH, a Swiss company.
Sources and method
Every Apify fact on this page comes from their public website and docs, read on Oct 15, 2026. Prices change, so check the linked pages before you buy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Apify (accessed Oct 15, 2026)
Scrape.ly
- Proxy groups and per-GB prices
- Plans, prepaid credits, and billing
- Creator earnings (80%) and payouts
- Maximum charge per run
- JavaScript SDK (API-compatible with the Apify SDK)
- Python SDK
- Migrating from apify-client (JavaScript)
- Migrating from apify-client (Python)
- Scrapely browser
- MCP server
- CLI reference
- Store
- Pricing
Apify is a trademark of Apify Technologies s.r.o., used here only to identify their product. Scrape.ly is not affiliated with Apify.
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