Free
$0
Free
$5 of platform usage a month, compute units $0.20, 16 GB RAM, 5 concurrent runs (the limits docs say 25).
API included
Plan details
Blocked, not billed, when the $5 is used.
Comparison
Apify vs Bright Data
Apify is a marketplace of ready-made scrapers, mostly from third-party developers, that you run by API on monthly plans from $19, paying per compute unit or per result as each scraper sets. Bright Data sells vendor-maintained scraper APIs at $1.50 per 1,000 records, plus proxies, unblocking and SERP APIs, from a prepaid wallet. Both give free monthly usage and an MCP server.
Pick Apify if
- A ready-made scraper for your site already exists in the Apify Store
- You want a low monthly entry price: Starter at $19, or $5 of free usage a month
Pick Bright Data if
- You need structured records from large platforms from scrapers the vendor maintains
- You want a flat price per record: $1.50 per 1,000 on pay as you go
Apify
Scraping, Data platform
Bright Data
Scraping, Data platform
At a glance
Apify
- From
- $19/moStarter monthly, $17 annual
- Free plan
- Yes$5 usage/mo, no card
- Cost per unit
- $0.20/unitSet per Actor; compute
- MCP server
- Official
Bright Data
- From
- $499/moPrepaid wallet, Scale plans from
- Free plan
- Yes5,000 credits/mo (about $7.50), no card
- Cost per unit
- $1.50per 1,000 records, pay as you go
- MCP server
- Official
Where they differ
15 points side by side. Open a value for the full detail.
| What | Apify | Bright Data |
|---|---|---|
| Scraper marketplace and cloud platformA cloud platform and marketplace of ready-made scrapers (Actors) that you run by API, with built-in storage, proxies, schedules, webhooks and an MCP server. You can also run your own scraper code. | Proxies, unblocking and scraper APIsA web data platform: proxy networks, unblocking, SERP and browser APIs, vendor-maintained scraper APIs for large sites, a dataset marketplace, a beta people and company search API and an MCP server. | |
| Starter $19/mo monthly, $17 annualMonthly plans that include the same amount of platform usage: Starter $19, Scale $199, Business $999 a month billed monthly, or $17, $179 and $899 billed annually. Usage above that is billed on the next invoice up to your limit. Prepaid usage does not roll over. Verified 2026-10-25. | Prepaid wallet, Scale plans from $499/moA prepaid wallet with pay-as-you-go rates per product, or monthly Scale plans from $499 per product. An unfunded account stops at the free tier. Verified 2026-10-25. | |
| $5 usage/mo, no cardFree plan: $5 of platform usage a month, no card. When it runs out, the account is blocked until the next cycle. 7-day data retention. Concurrent runs: 5 on the pricing page (and on our account), 25 in the limits docs. | 5,000 credits/mo (about $7.50), no card5,000 credits a month (about $7.50), no card, shared across Web Unlocker, SERP, Scraper API, Scraper Studio, Browser API and MCP. Resets on the 1st with no rollover. Proxies are excluded: a $2 trial credit, plus $5 when you add a payment method. | |
| Set per Actor; compute $0.20/unitSet by each scraper's developer: pay per result or event, or pay for the compute it uses. Compute units cost $0.20 on Free and Starter, $0.16 on Scale and $0.13 on Business. | $1.50 per 1,000 records, pay as you goScraper API: $1.50 per 1,000 records on pay as you go, or $499 a month for 384,000 records, then $1.30 per 1,000. Records are billed only when delivered. | |
| Mostly third-party developersMostly third-party developers in the Apify Store, plus Apify's own Actors. Actors can change or break without notice, and each sets its own price. | Bright Data maintains its Scraper APIsBright Data maintains its Scraper APIs, covering 120+ domains such as LinkedIn, Amazon, Instagram, Google Maps and Crunchbase. | |
| SERP $2.50/1,000; Unblocker $1.50/1,000Google SERP proxy at $2.50 per 1,000 on Free and Starter ($1.70 on Business). Unblocker at $1.50 per 1,000 requests on Free and Starter ($1 on Business). | $1.50 per 1,000 requests, pay as you goWeb Unlocker and SERP API at $1.50 per 1,000 requests on pay as you go, or $499 a month for about 380,000, then $1.30 per 1,000. | |
| Residential $8/GB on Free and StarterResidential proxy at $8 per GB on Free and Starter ($7 on Business). Datacenter IPs included: 5 on Free, 30 on Starter, then $1 per IP. | Residential $8/GB, 195 countriesResidential proxies in 195 countries at $8 per GB list on pay as you go, or $499 a month for 141 GB. ISP proxies from $1.30 to $3.50 per IP a month, or $8 per GB. Immediate-access residential and mobile proxies were retired on 19 Oct 2026. | |
| Bearer token or ?token= parameterBearer token in the Authorization header (recommended) or a ?token= query parameter. A default token is created at signup. | Bearer API keyBearer API key. A default key is created at signup; more keys are admin only, one per user, each shown once. Proxies use a username and password. | |
| 250,000 requests/min per user250,000 requests a minute per user overall, and 60 a second per resource by default (400 for starting runs). Free plan: 5 concurrent runs on the pricing page, 25 in the limits docs; Starter 32, Scale 128, Business 256. | 5,000 running jobs per datasetUp to 5,000 running jobs per dataset. 25 HTTP 429 responses within 5 minutes blocks your IP on every API call until support clears it. Unfunded free-tier accounts: 1,000 requests a minute. | |
| Sync runs time out at 300 secondsSynchronous runs time out at 300 seconds with HTTP 408. For anything slower, start an async run, get a webhook, then read the dataset. | Sync waits 1 minute, then pollSynchronous /scrape waits 1 minute, then returns HTTP 202 with a snapshot id to poll. Async /trigger takes up to 1 GB of input per job. | |
| Run and build event webhooksWebhooks on run and build events (succeeded, failed, aborted, timed out and others), including ad hoc webhooks passed when you start a run. | Results pushed to your endpointPass an endpoint on /trigger to receive results. Your endpoint must return 200 within 30 seconds; payloads up to 1 GB. | |
| 7 days on Free unless namedUnnamed storages are deleted after the plan's retention period (7 days on Free). Name a storage to keep it. | Snapshots deleted after 30 daysSnapshots are deleted 30 days after the job completes; deliver to storage or a webhook to keep them. | |
YesOfficial, at https://mcp.apify.com, Streamable HTTP with OAuth or a Bearer token. 29 tools to search, run and read Actors; docs-search tools work without a token. | YesOfficial, at https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp, with 32 tools for search, scraping, scraper runs and browser control. Its free 5,000 requests a month come from the shared free credit pool. | |
| None sold, scraped liveNone sold; data is scraped live when you run an Actor. | 190+ datasets, from $2.50/1,000 recordsA marketplace of 190+ datasets (LinkedIn people and companies, Crunchbase, Google Maps, jobs and more), from $2.50 per 1,000 records; monthly refresh saves 80%. | |
| SOC 2 Type II, GDPR pageSOC 2 Type II, with the report through its trust site, and a GDPR information page. | ISO 27001, ISO 27701, SOC 2 Type IIGDPR, CCPA, UK DPA and Virginia privacy law listed; ISO 27001:2022, ISO 27701 and CSA STAR; SOC 2 Type II report on request and a public SOC 3 report. |
No row matches in this view.
Pricing, plan by plan
US dollars as each vendor's page showed them on 25 Oct 2026. One panel per tool; switch each between monthly and annual billing (an annual price is the monthly rate when you pay for the year up front).
Apify
6 plans · API reviewStarter
$19/mo
billed monthly
$17/mo
billed annually
$19 of platform usage a month, compute units $0.20, 64 GB RAM, 32 concurrent runs, Bronze Store discount.
API included
Plan details
Extra usage billed on the next invoice.
Scale
$199/mo
billed monthly
$179/mo
billed annually
$199 of platform usage a month, compute units $0.16, 256 GB RAM, 128 concurrent runs, Silver Store discount.
API included
Business
$999/mo
billed monthly
$899/mo
billed annually
$999 of platform usage a month, compute units $0.13, 512 GB RAM, 256 concurrent runs, Gold Store discount, account manager.
API included
Show all 6 plansShow fewer plans
Creator
$1/mo
billed monthly
$1/mo
monthly billing only
For building and publishing your own Actors: a one-time $500 of platform usage for the first 6 months; Store limited to universal Actors.
API included
Enterprise
Custom quote
Custom.
API included
Bright Data
10 plans · API reviewFree tier
$0
Free
5,000 credits a month (about $7.50) across Web Unlocker, SERP, Scraper API, Scraper Studio, Browser API and MCP; no card; no rollover.
API included
Plan details
Proxies: $2 trial credit, plus $5 on adding a payment method.
Web Scraper API, pay as you go
Usage-based
$1.50 per 1,000 records, from a prepaid wallet.
API included
Web Scraper API Scale
$499/mo
billed monthly
384,000 records a month, then $1.30 per 1,000.
API included
Web Unlocker Scale
$499/mo
billed monthly
383,000 requests a month, then $1.30 per 1,000.
API included
Plan details
Pay as you go $1.50 per 1,000.
Show all 10 plansShow fewer plans
SERP API Scale
$499/mo
billed monthly
380,000 requests a month, then $1.30 per 1,000.
API included
Plan details
Pay as you go $1.50 per 1,000.
Browser API Scale
$499/mo
billed monthly
71 GB a month.
API included
Plan details
Pay as you go $8 per GB.
Crawl API tiers
$499/mo
billed monthly
380,000 requests a month ($999 for 900,000, $1,999 for 2,000,000), then $1.30, $1.10 or $1 per 1,000.
API included
Plan details
The docs say Crawl API is now the Fetch API, billed per record.
Residential proxies
$499/mo
billed monthly
141 GB a month ($999 for 332 GB, $1,999 for 798 GB).
API included
Plan details
Pay as you go $8 per GB list; a 50% promo code was shown on the page.
ISP proxies, pay per GB
$499/mo
billed monthly
71 GB a month ($999 for 166 GB, $1,999 for 399 GB).
API included
Plan details
Pay as you go $8 per GB. Per-IP plans from $1.30 (shared) to $3.50 (dedicated) per IP a month.
Enterprise
Custom quote
Custom.
API included
Which one to pick
Choose Apify if
- A ready-made scraper for your site already exists in the Apify Store.
- You want a low monthly entry price: Starter at $19, or $5 of free usage a month.
- You want to run your own scraper code without managing servers or proxies.
- You want an AI agent to search for and run scrapers through MCP.
Choose Bright Data if
- You need structured records from large platforms from scrapers the vendor maintains.
- You want a flat price per record: $1.50 per 1,000 on pay as you go.
- You also need proxies, unblocking or SERP results from the same account.
- You would rather buy a pre-collected dataset than scrape it yourself.
- You need published certifications such as ISO 27001 and a SOC 3 report.
If neither fits: If you only need to search the web or read a few pages for an AI agent, a search API that returns page contents may be simpler than running scrapers.
Want us to build it for you?
Choosing between Apify and Bright Data, or moving from one to the other? Tell us your setup. We will show you how we would run it, and what we would check first.
Questions people ask
What is the role of Apify and Clay in outbound list building?
Apify runs scrapers for sites with no API, such as LinkedIn, Instagram or Google Maps, and returns the results as a dataset you can load into a table. Clay lists Apify among its integrations. Bright Data does the same job with its own maintained scraper APIs at $1.50 per 1,000 records, or with pre-collected datasets.
Is Apify or Bright Data cheaper?
It depends on the scraper. On Apify each Store Actor sets its own price per result or per compute unit, on top of a plan from $19 a month. Bright Data's Scraper API costs $1.50 per 1,000 records on pay as you go, with no plan needed. Compare the Actor's listed price with $1.50 per 1,000 for your target site. Verified 2026-10-25.
Do Apify and Bright Data have a free tier?
Yes. Apify Free gives $5 of platform usage a month with no card, and blocks the account until the next cycle when it runs out. Bright Data gives 5,000 credits a month, about $7.50, shared across its scraping APIs and MCP; proxies get a separate $2 trial credit.
Can I use Apify or Bright Data from Claude?
Yes. Apify's MCP server is at https://mcp.apify.com with 29 tools to find and run Actors. Bright Data's is at https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp with 32 tools for search, scraping and browser control, and its 5,000 free monthly requests come from the shared free credit pool.
Related
Read from apify.com/pricing.md, brightdata.com/pricing/web-scraper and each tool's API docs. Verified 25 Oct 2026.
