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
Most buyers should pick Apify.
Choose Apify if you want a marketplace of ready-to-run Actors, custom deployments, and AI-agent connections, with a $19 Starter plan and published compute and concurrency limits. Choose Bright Data if you need scraper APIs, datasets, web archives, or proxy products under one provider; its free tier includes 5,000 monthly credits or requests, while paid usage can scale by product. Bright Data has a $0-base pay-as-you-go option, but usage rates vary. Price both against expected collection volume before switching.
01Side by side
| Apify | Bright Data | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Starter $19/month ($17.10 billed annually) | Free; pay-as-you-go has a $0 monthly base |
| Free plan | $5 monthly usage; 16 GB RAM; 5 concurrent runs | 5,000 credits/requests; 5,000 Scraper API records monthly |
| Best for | Teams building flexible Actor-based collection workflows | Teams sourcing web data, scraping, or proxy access |
| Core strength | Actor marketplace and custom Actor deployment | Scraper APIs, datasets, archives, and proxies |
| Learning curve | Review ease score: 7/10 | Review ease score: 6.5/10 |
| Integrations/data | MCP, CLI, Skills, APIs, and data exports | Scraper APIs, datasets, web archives, and proxies |
| Team/seat costs | Starter: 32 runs; extra run $5; extra GB RAM $1 | Unlimited concurrency; Enterprise includes unlimited seats |
| Support | Chat, priority chat, or account manager by plan | Plan-level support details not published |
Apify Choose Apify if
- Choose Apify if ready-made Actors cover your collection needs.
- Choose Apify if you want to build and deploy custom Actors.
- Choose Apify if MCP, CLI, or Skills agent connections matter.
Bright Data Choose Bright Data if
- Choose Bright Data if you need proxies alongside scraping tools.
- Choose Bright Data if structured datasets or web archives matter.
- Choose Bright Data if usage-based pricing fits your collection volume.
02Pricing compared
Apify’s Free plan includes $5 in monthly prepaid usage, then charges $0.20 per compute unit. Starter is $19/month, including $19 in prepaid usage, 64 GB Actor RAM and 32 concurrent runs. Scale is $199/month with $0.16 per compute unit. Annual billing is 10% cheaper, and unused prepaid credits expire each billing cycle. Extra concurrent runs cost $5 each.
Bright Data has a free tier with 5,000 monthly credits or requests, plus a $0-base pay-as-you-go option. Rates include $1.50 per 1,000 Web Unlocker, SERP or Crawl API requests and $0.75 per 1,000 Scraper API records. Its published Scale tier is $499/month, but product limits differ. Annual prices are not published. Compare the specific API, proxy or dataset costs you expect to use; the base price alone won’t settle the bill.
03Features and depth
Apify centers on Actors: ready-made tools in its marketplace for scraping sites such as social media, maps and e-commerce, plus custom Actors users can build and deploy. It also lists API access, data exports, cloud infrastructure, proxies, monitoring and data processing. For AI workflows, agents can connect through MCP, CLI or Skills. Creators can publish Actors, with Apify handling billing, taxes and invoicing.
Bright Data covers a wider set of data-access products under one provider: pre-built or custom scraper APIs, structured datasets, a web archive, AI Scraper Studio, web access APIs and residential, datacenter and ISP proxies. Its web access APIs support search, crawling and navigation, including JavaScript rendering and remote browsers; proxy targeting includes country, city, carrier and ASN. Datasets are available in real-time, pre-collected or historical formats. The fit depends on what you need: Apify emphasizes reusable Actors and deployment control, while Bright Data lists more distinct access, proxy and dataset products. Check usage limits and data-access rules before committing.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Apify’s ready-made Actors give teams a place to start without building every scraper from scratch, while custom Actors, templates and guides leave room to code and deploy your own. Its pricing also makes capacity visible through compute-unit rates, Actor RAM and concurrent-run caps. Those options still require choosing the right Actor and tracking usage.
Bright Data offers pre-built scraper APIs and a free tier, but its pricing is split across APIs, browser access, proxies and datasets. The listed limits and overage rates vary by product, so estimating spend means mapping your workload to the right service. We’d shortlist based on the workflow you need, then price a representative volume before switching; neither product’s published plan details remove that step.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, Apify or Bright Data?
It depends on the workload. Apify Starter is $19/month and includes $19 in prepaid usage, with compute charged at $0.20 per unit. Bright Data has a $0-base pay-as-you-go option, but charges vary by product, such as $0.75 per 1,000 Scraper API records. Estimate your expected volume first.
Does Apify include proxies?
Apify lists proxies as part of its cloud infrastructure, and its pricing lists datacenter proxies from $0.60 per IP. The listed price does not cover every proxy type or usage scenario. Bright Data lists residential, datacenter and ISP proxies, with rates and included traffic depending on the plan.
Can I use Apify or Bright Data for AI data workflows?
Apify lists AI-agent connections through MCP, CLI or Skills, alongside Actors that collect web data. Bright Data lists AI Scraper Studio, which turns websites into data pipelines, as well as web access APIs and datasets. Compare the specific workflow and usage limits you need before choosing.
What should I check before switching from one to the other?
Map your current collection jobs to the replacement’s products, then compare expected usage costs and limits. Apify lists compute-unit rates, RAM and concurrency caps; Bright Data’s allowances and overages vary by product. Also review Bright Data’s data-access rules and whether you rely on Actors, APIs, proxies or datasets.