Apify vs Scrape.do: Which Web Scraping Platform Should You Choose?
Apify and Scrape.do solve different layers of web data collection. Apify is a programmable cloud platform for ready-made or custom “Actors,” schedules, storage, and integrations. Scrape.do is a focused retrieval API that handles proxies, browser rendering, headers, retries, and anti-bot friction behind one endpoint.
Choose Apify for an end-to-end scraping and automation environment. Choose Scrape.do when your application already handles parsing and orchestration and mainly needs pages delivered reliably. This comparison uses current public documentation; it does not treat credits, compute units, and Actor results as equivalent.
Apify wins on workflow depth; Scrape.do wins on retrieval simplicity
Apify is our overall pick for teams building reusable data products. Its Actor ecosystem, code support, schedules, webhooks, storage, and integrations cover the full pipeline. Scrape.do is cleaner for developers who want one fetching endpoint: every plan includes core proxy, geo-targeting, JavaScript-rendering, and browser features, with credits consumed by successful responses.
Do not choose on sticker price. Compare cost per accepted record—including development and maintenance.
Table of Contents
At a glanceApify vs Scrape.do Comparison
| Category | Apify | Scrape.do | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product | Actors, cloud execution, storage, proxies, integrations | Managed scraping API and HTTP(S) proxy mode | Workflow-dependent |
| Free | $5 monthly platform usage | 1,000 credits, 5 concurrent, all core features | Different units |
| First paid | $19/mo + overage | $29/mo, 250,000 credits | Apify entry fee |
| Ready-made tools | 70,000+ advertised; quality/pricing varies | Selected ready APIs plus general API | Apify |
| Custom logic | Hosted JavaScript/Python Actors | Your app owns logic; API parameterizes access | Apify |
| Rendering | Browser automation inside Actors | render=true; 5 standard credits, 25 with residential/mobile | Scrape.do simplicity |
| Storage | Datasets, key-value stores, queues | Temporary async results; bring durable storage | Apify |
| Billing | Resources plus Actor event/result pricing | Credits per successful response; multipliers vary | Scrape.do modeling |
Deciding differencePlatform vs Retrieval API
You need the pipeline
An Actor can crawl, parse, transform, and store data. Run it manually, as a task, through REST API, on a schedule, via webhook, or from another Actor. The Store can accelerate a prototype, but each listing has its own schema, quality, maintenance, and pricing. Test the exact Actor.
See our Apify review and web scraping tools guide.
You own the application
Scrape.do accepts a target URL and handles network identity, retries, WAF/CAPTCHA friction, geo-location, and optional rendering. Your code owns discovery, extraction, validation, deduplication, storage, and downstream jobs.
Proxy mode helps existing proxy-based software, but documentation says the client must trust Scrape.do’s CA certificate or disable SSL verification. Review that security implication. See our Scrape.do review.
Costs decodedPricing and Plan Limits
| Plan | Monthly | Included | Published parallel limit | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apify Free | $0 | $5 usage | 5 runs | $0.20/CU; community |
| Apify Starter | $19 + overage | $19 usage | 32 runs | $0.20/CU; chat |
| Apify Scale | $199 + overage | $199 usage | 128 runs | $0.16/CU; priority chat |
| Apify Business | $999 + overage | $999 usage | 256 runs | $0.13/CU; account manager |
| Scrape.do Free | $0 | 1,000 credits | 5 requests | All core features |
| Scrape.do Hobby | $29 | 250,000 | 10 requests | Email support |
| Scrape.do Pro | $99 | 1.25M | 50 requests | Priority email |
| Scrape.do Business | $249 | 3.5M | 100 requests | Teams; dedicated support |
| Scrape.do Advanced | $699 | 10M | 200 requests | Custom WAF, SLA, Slack |
Scrape.do advertises annual billing at ten months’ price. Its current pricing page supplies limits above, but the async-API page still shows older 5/15/40 limits for Hobby/Pro/Business. Confirm account limits when throughput is contract-critical.
Monthly prices on one $0–$999 scale
Commitment only—not equivalent workload.
Standard Scrape.do credits per successful response
Untargeted domains; named difficult domains may cost 10–200 credits.
Hobby’s 250,000 credits equal up to 250,000 normal successful responses, 50,000 rendered datacenter responses, 25,000 residential/mobile responses, or 10,000 residential/mobile rendered responses. Scrape.do counts 2XX, 400, 404, and 410 as successful; inspect its response-cost header and validate content.
For Apify, one CU is 1 GB of RAM for one hour. Compute is only one cost: residential proxy traffic ($8/$8/$7.50/$7 per GB from Free through Business), transfer, storage, and Actor events/results may also consume credit.
Capability mapFeatures and Developer Experience
| Capability | Apify | Scrape.do |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Run Store Actor or build template | Send URL/token; playground creates snippets |
| Code | Hosted JavaScript/Python plus API clients | HTTP API; extraction stays in your stack |
| Browser | Actor-controlled Playwright/Puppeteer/Crawlee | Render, waits, selectors, viewport, screenshots, interactions |
| Geo/session | Actor/proxy configuration | Country, region, ZIP, sticky session, device |
| Batch | Runs, tasks, schedules, webhooks, queues | Async jobs, polling, webhooks, separate async pool |
| Output | Structured datasets and stores | Raw HTML; selected APIs/plugins return JSON |
| Governance | SOC 2 Type II documented; review third-party Actors/tokens | Review contract, retention, CA handling, and domain rules |
Editorial product-fit profile
Qualitative decision aid, not a performance benchmark.
Apify Scrape.do
No invented benchmarkPerformance and Reliability
There is no universal faster winner. Apify might run lightweight HTTP code or a browser-heavy Actor; Scrape.do might return a datacenter response or invoke residential routing and a managed browser. Target defenses, location, rendering, retries, and parsing change results.
Scrape.do advertises 99.98% success, 150M+ IPs, and 160+ countries. These are provider-reported network-wide figures, not target guarantees. Apify publishes resources and concurrency, but Actor performance depends on code and target. We removed the old article’s unsupported 800–900 ms and fabricated response-time charts.
Best fitWhen Each Platform Makes Sense
Apify is better for
- Recurring datasets with scheduling and exports
- Multi-step browser automation and transformation
- Rapid prototypes using a suitable Store Actor
- Packaging internal scrapers behind an API
- Custom crawler control in hosted code
Scrape.do is better for
- Existing crawlers needing a retrieval layer
- Raw HTML/header/screenshot pipelines
- Country, region, ZIP, and sticky-session access
- Workloads fitting documented request classes
- Fast integration through one endpoint
Neither brand overrides target-specific testing. Respect applicable law, contracts, privacy duties, and site controls. The Robots Exclusion Protocol standardizes crawler instructions but does not grant authorization. For implementation basics, see the MDN Fetch API guide.
Buying frameworkRun a Fair Pilot
- Build a representative URL setInclude easy, rendered, geo-sensitive, paginated, and known-failure pages.
- Match outputsAdd your normal parser to Scrape.do so both routes return the same schema.
- Cap spend and retriesStart with conservative concurrency and fixed retry rules.
- Validate bodiesReject block pages, consent screens, shells, duplicates, and malformed records.
- Normalize economicsCompare all provider and engineering costs per 1,000 accepted records.
Trade-offsPros and Cons
Apify
Pros
- End-to-end workflow
- Huge Store
- Custom hosted code
- Scheduling/storage
Cons
- Steeper learning curve
- Multi-part billing
- Variable Actor quality
- Expiring monthly credit
Scrape.do
Pros
- Single endpoint
- Success-based credits
- All core features on Free
- Clear base multipliers
Cons
- Bring parsing/storage
- High domain multipliers
- Concurrency docs conflict
- Proxy CA implications
FAQCommon Questions
Is Apify cheaper?
Does Scrape.do charge failures?
Can Scrape.do replace an Actor?
Does Apify include proxies?
Which is easier?
Final verdictChoose the Architecture
Choose Apify to discover or build a scraper, execute it in managed cloud infrastructure, schedule it, store results, and connect the workflow in one platform. Control overages and inspect each Actor’s live pricing.
Choose Scrape.do when your team owns crawler logic and needs a focused retrieval layer with rotation, geo-targeting, rendering, async jobs, and success-based credits. Model difficult-domain multipliers first.
Our overall winner for a new full workflow is Apify. For reliable page access inside an existing codebase, Scrape.do is more direct.
Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices change; verify checkout and test your targets. Provider-wide claims were not independently benchmarked.
Sources & comparison methodology
Checked September 17, 2026. We used current public pricing/docs, normalized only shared units, and removed unsupported benchmark and user-review claims. No paid checkout, contract review, or controlled cross-provider test was performed.
- Apify pricing; Store; Actor pricing; storage; security.
- Scrape.do pricing; request costs; async API; browser; proxy mode.
Price bars show commitment only. Credit-capacity examples divide included credits by standard request cost. The radar is an editorial fit aid, not measured performance.
