Browse AI vs Apify
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Browse AI and Apify.
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Verdict: Apify wins
Apify scores 4.3/5, edging out Browse AI at 3.8/5. Developers and data teams who need web data as a recurring pipeline — prebuilt scrapers to start, custom Actors and proxy infrastructure as they scale.
Browse AI Train an AI robot to scrape websites | Apify Web scraping and automation platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 3.8 (1 review) | 4.3 (1 review) |
| Pricing Model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting Price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best For | Operations, research and growth teams that need recurring web data or change alerts without writing or maintaining scraper code. | Developers and data teams who need web data as a recurring pipeline — prebuilt scrapers to start, custom Actors and proxy infrastructure as they scale. |
| Free Tier | ||
| API Access | ||
| Team Features | ||
| Open Source | ||
| Tags | no codefree tier | free tierapi accessopen source |
| Visit Browse AI → | Visit Apify → |
Browse AI
Pros
- + Record-and-train workflow: I had a login-gated listing extraction trained and running on a schedule in under ten minutes, no selectors touched
- + Credit accounting matches the documentation — 1,000 rows billed at exactly 100 credits in my runs, so budgeting is predictable
- + Monitoring with change detection and native push to Google Sheets/Zapier closes the loop from scrape to action without glue code
- + Annual plans deliver the full year's credits up front (60,000 on Professional) rather than a monthly reset, which suits bursty extraction work
- + Security posture is documented: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR/CCPA, encrypted inputs unreadable even to support staff
Cons
- - Monitors spend credits every run regardless of change — one hourly monitor can consume most of a Personal plan's 2,000-credit pool
- - Sites classed as 'premium' cost 2–10 credits per task, a multiplier disclosed only in the help centre, not on the pricing page
- - No self-serve tier between $87/month Professional and the $500/month managed Premium plan
- - No scripting or custom-proxy escape hatch when the recorder misreads a page pattern
- - Unused credits reset each cycle and do not carry over
Apify
Pros
- + Genuine free sandbox: $5 monthly credit covers real test runs of store Actors, not just a feature tour
- + Store breadth — flagship scrapers (Google Maps, Instagram, SERP) show 4.6–4.7 ratings across hundreds of reviews in their own store stats
- + Billing is itemized per compute unit, proxy GB and storage operation, so I could attribute a run's cost down to cents
- + First-class developer tooling: Crawlee (open source), Python and JS SDKs, CLI deploys, scheduling, webhooks, REST API
- + Proxy network (datacenter, residential, Google SERP) is integrated rather than a third-party add-on, with country-level rates published
Cons
- - Real cost is a stack of meters (Actor per-event price + compute units + proxy GB + storage) and is hard to forecast without test runs
- - Store catalog is noisy with heavy duplication — one reviewer counted 12,000+ job scrapers alone; long-tail quality is unvetted
- - Anything past running a prebuilt Actor requires coding skills and proxy knowledge
- - SSO is Enterprise-only; personal training is $150/hour; support is community-only below the $19 tier
- - Vendor's headline customer and catalog counts are self-reported and undefined — I could not verify them independently
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Browse AI or Apify?▼
Apify scores higher at 4.3/5 vs 3.8/5 for Browse AI, making it the better-rated option in our comparison.
What is the difference between Browse AI and Apify?▼
Browse AI: Browse AI extracts data from any website and monitors pages for changes without code, turning sites into a data feed or API. Apify: Apify is a marketplace and platform of ready-made web scrapers and automation actors, with tooling to build and host your own.
Is Browse AI or Apify more affordable?▼
Browse AI starts at €0/mo, Apify starts at €0/mo. Check the comparison table above for current pricing.
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