Apify
Apify is a web scraping and automation platform; 2026 adds MCP connectors and agentic x402 payments, with plans from free to $999/month plus usage.
About Apify
What is Apify (2026 update)
Apify is a full-stack platform for web scraping, data extraction, and browser automation, built around reusable cloud programs called Actors. Developers use it to run pre-built scrapers from the Apify Store or deploy their own, without managing proxies, browsers, or scaling infrastructure themselves.
What is new in 2026
Apify launched MCP connectors, which let an Actor securely connect to external apps like Notion, GitHub, or Slack using the open Model Context Protocol, reading and writing through a proxy in a single run so the Actor never sees the underlying credentials. Apify also expanded its MCP server for AI agents, growing from roughly 2,000 tools payable over the x402 protocol to more than 20,000 Apify Actors now live on it, letting AI agents discover and run Actors, access storage and results, and pull Apify documentation directly. A related update, agentic payments, lets AI agents run and pay for eligible Actors in USDC on the Base network with no Apify account, billing setup, or API key required. Apify also simplified Actor creation, guiding builders to the most relevant template based on what they want to build and their preferred language.
Key features
- Thousands of ready-made Actors (scrapers and automations) in the Apify Store
- MCP server and MCP connectors for plugging Actors into AI agents and external apps
- Agentic payments via the x402 protocol, letting AI agents pay per Actor run in USDC
- Built-in proxy management and browser automation for scraping at scale
- Storage, scheduling, and monitoring for long-running or recurring scrape jobs
- SDKs and APIs for building and deploying custom Actors
Pricing in 2026
Apify uses a subscription-plus-usage model. Each paid plan includes a monthly platform credit equal to the plan price, and usage beyond that credit is billed on top; unused credit does not roll over to the next billing cycle. Annual billing saves roughly 10 percent on every paid tier.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | $5 in monthly platform credits, community support |
| Starter | $19/month ($17/month billed annually) | $19 in monthly platform credits, chat support |
| Scale | $199/month ($179/month billed annually) | $199 in monthly platform credits, priority chat support |
| Business | $999/month ($899/month billed annually) | $999 in monthly platform credits, a dedicated account manager |
Compute is billed by compute units, where one unit equals one gigabyte of RAM running for one hour, and proxy usage is billed separately on top of compute.
Who should use it
Apify fits developers and data teams who need to scrape or automate at scale without building and maintaining their own scraper infrastructure, proxy pool, and scheduler. Teams building AI agents that need live web data get particular value from the 2026 MCP server expansion, since an agent can now call a scraper as a tool instead of a developer wiring up a custom integration. The Free plan is enough to test a handful of Actor runs, but production scraping workloads will typically need Starter or higher once usage exceeds the included credit.
Limitations and alternatives
Some users report that the credit-based pricing model is confusing to estimate in advance, since cost depends on RAM, run time, storage, and proxy usage combined rather than a flat per-run fee, so budget for variability until you know your actual usage pattern. Unused credits expiring at the end of each billing cycle also means overbuying a plan wastes money. If you want alternatives, Bright Data and Firecrawl are commonly compared competitors for AI agent web data access, and ScraperAPI or Octoparse are worth a look if you want a simpler, narrower scraping tool rather than a full Actor marketplace.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Apify cost in 2026?
Plans range from a free $5 monthly credit to Starter at $19/month, Scale at $199/month, and Business at $999/month, each including a matching platform credit.
What are MCP connectors on Apify?
MCP connectors let an Actor securely connect to external apps like Notion, GitHub, or Slack using the Model Context Protocol, without exposing your credentials to the Actor itself.
Can AI agents use Apify without an account?
Yes, through agentic payments, AI agents can run and pay for eligible Actors in USDC on the Base network using the x402 protocol with no Apify account or API key required.
What are alternatives to Apify?
Bright Data and Firecrawl are common alternatives for AI agent web data access, while ScraperAPI and Octoparse suit simpler, narrower scraping needs.
Information last verified: September 2026.
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