We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
Apify is a hosted Actor platform for ready-made scrapers and custom code. Its listed starting price is $19, with a free plan, and its usage costs and concurrency limits need planning. Replacing it means choosing a different integration shape: Firecrawl’s open-source web-data API, hosted browser or proxy infrastructure, or a task-specific data service. We compare six options by developer fit, published starting prices, and the trade-offs to check before moving a production workflow.
01Why people leave Apify
Browser workloads can cost more
A Reddit user reports costs can spiral with custom code that uses heavy browser workloads and premium proxies on Apify.
Concurrency needs planning
Apify’s concurrency limits are a capacity constraint to account for when scheduling jobs or scaling collection.
Some tasks have a native data source
For Google Maps leads, a Reddit commenter recommends the official Google Maps API through an n8n workflow instead of scraping.
02The alternatives, ranked by fit
- Best open-source API
FirecrawlFirecrawlFirecrawl is an open-source API for turning live web pages into Markdown or JSON, aimed at AI agents and extraction workflows. Its listed starting price is $16, with a free plan. It is a fit if your integration needs page data rather than Apify’s broader Actor platform; expect to adapt calls and job handling when migrating.
Trade-off: You trade the Actor platform for a narrower web-page extraction workflow.
7.4/10from
$16/mofree plan - Best managed web data
Bright DataBright DataBright Data is a full web-data stack with managed proxy infrastructure, suited to teams collecting public-web data at scale. Its listed starting price is $0, with a free plan. Choose it when you want managed collection infrastructure rather than assembling custom Actors; model usage costs against your request volume before moving production jobs.
Trade-off: Managed infrastructure and usage costs remain part of the operating model.
7.0/10from
$499/mofree plan - Best hosted browser
BrowserbaseBrowserbaseBrowserbase provides hosted browser infrastructure for agents, with APIs and Search and Fetch options. That makes it a candidate when an Apify workflow depends on interactive browsing rather than a ready-made scraper. The listing includes a free plan, but no starting price; estimate usage with the vendor before migrating scheduled or high-volume jobs.
Trade-off: You depend on hosted browser infrastructure, and the starting price is not published.
7.0/10from
Freefree plan - Best proxy and API stack
OxylabsOxylabsOxylabs combines a hosted API and proxy stack, with interfaces for web-grounded AI agents and enterprise data collection. Its listed starting price is $15, with a free plan. Consider it if managed proxies are central to your Apify workload; compare usage costs at your expected volume, since the starting price alone does not establish production cost.
Trade-off: You still need to model usage and depend on a hosted service.
6.8/10from
$15/mofree plan - Best local-business data
OutscraperOutscraperOutscraper targets local-business data collection and small pay-as-you-go pulls, with CSV-first research workflows. Its listed starting price is $1, with a free plan. It may suit a Google Maps lead workflow better than maintaining custom Actors, but treat it as a data source rather than a general-purpose scraping platform and validate results for your target markets.
Trade-off: CSV-first workflows are less suited to custom crawling infrastructure.
6.8/10from
$1/mofree plan - Best REST enrichment API
Captain DataCaptain DataCaptain Data offers a REST API for B2B SaaS enrichment and people-and-company data workflows. It may fit teams replacing an Apify-based enrichment step with a focused data API. Its price is not published, so ask for a usage-based estimate before migration; Reddit users have also raised license concerns, which are worth resolving with the vendor.
Trade-off: Pricing is unpublished, and Reddit users have raised license concerns.
5.8/10from
Custom
03Side by side
| Tool | Score | From | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Apify Apify (current) | 7.7 | $19/mo | Yes | Teams needing ready-made web scrapers |
| Firecrawl Firecrawl | 7.4 | $16/mo | Yes | AI agents that need live web data |
| Bright Data Bright Data | 7.0 | $499/mo | Yes | Teams collecting public-web data at scale |
| Browserbase Browserbase | 7.0 | Free | Yes | Agents that need interactive browser access |
| Oxylabs Oxylabs | 6.8 | $15/mo | Yes | Teams building web-grounded AI agents |
| Outscraper Outscraper | 6.8 | $1/mo | Yes | Local-business data collection |
| Captain Data Captain Data | 5.8 | Custom | No | B2B SaaS enrichment workflows |
Questions people ask
Is there a free version of Apify?
Yes. Apify has a free plan, and its listed starting price is $19. Check Apify’s current pricing page for the free plan’s usage allowance and concurrency limits before estimating whether a production workflow will fit.
Is Apify legal?
A scraping platform does not make every collection lawful. Legality depends on the data, how it is collected and used, applicable law, and the site’s terms. Review those requirements for your use case and get legal advice where needed; changing providers does not remove that responsibility.
Which scraping service is best for developers?
It depends on the workload. Firecrawl is an open-source API for web pages and agent-ready data; Browserbase focuses on hosted browser access; Bright Data and Oxylabs offer managed data and proxy infrastructure. For local-business data, compare Outscraper. Match the integration and expected usage cost to the job.