Apify

Apify is a cloud platform and marketplace built around 'Actors' — serverless programs that scrape websites, automate browser workflows, or process data, and can be run manually, on a schedule, or through an API. Thousands of pre-built Actors are available for scraping specific sites and platforms such as social media, e-commerce, search engines, and maps, and developers can also build and publish their own. Anyone can publish an Actor for free; creators are paid when others run it, and new creators receive $500 in free platform credits to start. The platform includes proxy services and anti-blocking measures for sites that resist scraping, cloud storage for the structured output, and scheduling and monitoring tools for ongoing data pipelines. Apify also offers an MCP server so AI agents built with tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor can call its scrapers directly, positioning it as a data layer for LLM and agent workflows in addition to traditional scraping use cases. Apify targets developers, businesses doing market research or lead generation, and teams building AI applications that need real-world web data. Pricing is usage-based around compute units and proxy consumption, with a free tier, and discounts for startups, students, and nonprofits. A REST API and JavaScript/Python SDKs are available for full programmatic access.