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It's a split decision.
Choose Apify for collecting web data across sites, running ready-made Actors, or building your own; its pricing page lists a $19/month plan with $19 in prepaid usage, then pay-as-you-go. Choose SpyFu for competitor SEO and Google Ads research: its annual rate starts at $29/month, while monthly Basic is $39. These are different jobs, not clean substitutes. Apify costs can rise with compute and proxies; SpyFu’s higher tiers add more tracking, audit capacity, exports, and seats.
01Side by side
| Apify | SpyFu | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $19/month, with $19 prepaid usage, then pay-as-you-go | $29/month annually; $39/month on Basic monthly |
| Free plan | Yes; $5 monthly prepaid usage | No free plan listed |
| Best for | Web data collection and AI workflows | Google Ads and SEO competitor research |
| Core strength | Ready-made and custom web-scraping Actors | Competitor keywords, ads, backlinks, and rankings |
| Learning curve | Custom Actors require code; ready-made Actors are available | Learning-curve details not published |
| Integrations/data | MCP, CLI, Skills, API, and data exports | SpyFu GPT, exports, and included API credits |
| Team/seat costs | Seat pricing not published; concurrency and RAM add-ons cost extra | Extra seats: $15/month Basic; $30/month Pro or Team |
| Support | Community support through account manager, depending on plan | Support terms not published |
Apify Choose Apify if
- Choose Apify if you need web data collection across many sources.
- Choose Apify if you want to build or deploy custom Actors.
- Choose Apify if MCP, CLI, or API workflows matter.
SpyFu Choose SpyFu if
- Choose SpyFu if competitor Google Ads research is your priority.
- Choose SpyFu if you need competitor SEO keywords and backlinks.
- Choose SpyFu if you want daily rank and ad tracking.
02Pricing compared
Apify’s Free plan includes $5 in monthly prepaid usage; Starter costs $19/month and includes $19 in usage before pay-as-you-go charges. Annual billing lowers Starter to $17.10/month. Compute costs vary by plan, and proxies, extra RAM, or concurrent runs can add charges. Unused prepaid credits expire at the end of each billing cycle, according to the pricing page.
SpyFu’s Basic plan is $29/month billed annually or $39 month to month. Pro + AI is $89/month annually; its monthly plan costs $59 for the first month, then $119/month. Team / Agency is $187/month annually or $249 monthly. SpyFu’s annual rates are advertised as 25% cheaper. These prices cover different jobs, so compare Apify’s usage costs with SpyFu’s plan limits before choosing.
03Features and depth
Apify is for collecting web data and putting it to work in other systems. Its marketplace offers ready-made Actors for websites, social media, maps, and e-commerce; users can also build and deploy custom Actors. Apify supports agent connections through MCP, CLI, or Skills, plus APIs and data exports. Its cloud services include proxies, unblocking, deployment, monitoring, and data processing. That flexibility comes with compute and infrastructure costs to account for.
SpyFu focuses on competitor SEO and Google Ads research. It shows competitors’ keywords, ads, backlinks, and related content; its feature list says PPC keyword and ad history has no download limits. SpyFu also offers an AI site audit with reviewable fixes, a GPT integration for recommendations, and rank and ad tracking. Plans cap items such as tracked sites, crawl pages, AI fixes, and keyword rankings. Apify and SpyFu are not direct substitutes: one collects data across the web, while the other packages competitor research and tracking.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Apify offers two routes: start with a ready-made Actor or build and deploy one using code templates and guides. The first route avoids building a tool from scratch; custom Actors require working with code, per Apify’s product description. Users connecting AI agents can use MCP, CLI, or Skills, so the setup depends on their workflow.
SpyFu is more focused: users researching competitors can work with its keyword, ad, backlink, tracking, and audit features. Its Pro + AI and Team / Agency plans offer higher limits than Basic, but the caps and extra-seat charges matter for teams. Choose based on the task: web data collection and custom workflows point to Apify; competitor SEO and PPC research point to SpyFu.
Questions people ask
Are Ahrefs and Semrush the same?
This comparison does not cover Ahrefs or Semrush, so we can’t make a grounded product-to-product comparison here. Apify is described as a web data collection platform, while SpyFu focuses on competitor SEO and Google Ads research. Neither description establishes how either compares with Ahrefs or Semrush.
How much is SpyFu?
According to SpyFu’s pricing page, Basic costs $29/month billed annually or $39 month to month. Pro + AI is $89/month annually; the monthly rate is $59 for the first month, then $119/month. Team / Agency costs $187/month annually or $249 monthly.
What are the top 3 SEO tools?
We can’t rank the top three SEO tools from the published information. This comparison covers two different products: SpyFu provides competitor keyword and PPC research, while Apify collects web data through ready-made or custom Actors. The right choice depends on whether you need research or data collection.
Is Semrush really worth it?
The information here doesn’t include Semrush’s features, limits, or pricing, so we can’t make a fair value call. For the products covered, SpyFu is worth considering for Google Ads competitor research, but its review is less positive about using it as a primary SEO keyword tool.