Apify vs Bright Data SERP API (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Apify if

• Fits if you'd rather run a ready-made Google or Maps scraper than write one
• Works for developers who want their own scrapers hosted, scheduled and monitored

Look elsewhere if

• Watch out: each store Actor sets its own price, usually per result or per event, so two jobs that look alike can cost different amounts
• Tight if you're on Free, where Actors stop once the month's $5 of usage is spent
• Watch out: prepaid usage you don't spend expires each billing cycle, and use beyond it lands on the next invoice
• Pricey if you need residential proxies at $7 to $8 per GB or Google SERP proxies at $1.70 to $2.50 per 1,000 searches
• Pricey if you outgrow Starter, since the next plan is Scale at $199 a month

Pick Bright Data SERP API if

• Fits if you already buy Bright Data proxies or scrapers and want search data on the same account
• Works for rank checks across many countries and cities that can wait for async batches

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you want a plan, as the cheapest is $499 a month for 380,000 requests
• Skip it if you need SSO, volume discounts or a premium SLA without a sales call, as all three are Enterprise only
• Watch out: proxies, scrapers, datasets and the Unlocker API are separate products with their own prices
• Watch out: the Ultra Fast endpoint, with results in about a second, is sold only through sales

Apify

• Store Actors set their own prices, so the cost of a job depends on which Actor runs it and how many results it returns.
• Use beyond a paid plan's prepaid amount is added to the next invoice; on the free plan, Actors stop until the next month.
• Prepaid usage that is not spent expires at the end of each billing cycle.
• Residential proxies cost $7 to $8 per GB and Google SERP proxies $1.70 to $2.50 per 1,000 searches, depending on plan.

Bright Data SERP API

• Pay as you go is $1.50 per 1,000 requests with monthly spend limits; Scale plans lower the rate to $1.30, $1.10 or $1 per 1,000.
• Every API call counts as a request; in async mode only sending the request is counted.
• Volume discounts, SSO and the premium SLA come only with the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
• Proxies, web scrapers, datasets and the Unlocker API are separate Bright Data products, each with its own prices.

Apify

Apify Store

Nearly 97,000 ready-made Actors for sites such as Google, Google Maps, TikTok and Instagram. Each sets its own price, usually per result or per event.

Google Search Results Scraper

Apify's own Actor returns organic and paid results, People Also Ask, related queries, AI Overviews and AI Mode by country and language, from $1.80 per 1,000 pages.

Build and host your own Actors

Start from Python, JavaScript or TypeScript templates, use the open-source Crawlee library, and run, schedule and monitor the Actors on Apify.

Proxies and unblocking

Datacenter and residential proxies, Google SERP proxies priced per 1,000 searches, and an unblocker billed per 1,000 requests.

API, CLI, webhooks and MCP

Run Actors and fetch results over a REST API or CLI, get webhooks when runs finish, chain Actors together, or call them from AI agents through an MCP server.

Automation integrations

Connectors for Make, n8n, Zapier and other automation tools, and setups for coding agents such as Claude Code, Cursor and OpenAI Codex.

Bright Data SERP API

Seven search engines

Google on all its country domains, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Baidu, Yahoo and Naver, with search, shopping, maps, hotels, images, trends, reviews, news, flights, ads, videos and jobs.

Answer engines

The playground queries ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok and Microsoft Copilot, and a parameter makes Google AI Overviews more likely to appear in results.

Location and device targeting

Results from any of 195 countries with city-level targeting, desktop or mobile user agents and a choice of browser.

Async batch mode

For large batches only sending the request is billed; responses are kept for 48 hours, usually ready in 5 minutes, and can be downloaded again at no charge.

Output formats

Parsed JSON for applications, Markdown for AI models and agents, or raw HTML for your own parsing.

Fast SERP

A Fast Parser returns only Google's top 10 results with lower latency, and an Ultra Fast endpoint, sold through sales, returns Google and Bing results in about a second.

Apify

• Free$0

  $5 of usage a month at $0.20 per compute unit, 16 GB of Actor memory and 5 concurrent runs. Stops when the $5 is spent.

• Starter$19

  per month, billed monthly, with $19 of usage included

  $0.20 per compute unit, 64 GB of Actor memory, 32 concurrent runs, chat support and the Bronze Store discount. Extra usage is billed.

• Scale$199

  per month, billed monthly, with $199 of usage included

  $0.16 per compute unit, 256 GB of memory, 128 concurrent runs, priority chat support, the Silver Store discount and lower proxy rates.

• Business$999

  per month, billed monthly, with $999 of usage included

  $0.13 per compute unit, 512 GB of memory, 256 concurrent runs, an account manager and the Gold Store discount.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom scraping solutions, pricing and limits, with SLAs on data and a dedicated team. Through sales.

Bright Data SERP API

• Free Tier$0

  5,000 requests a month with expert support.

• Scale 380K$499

  per month for 380,000 requests

  Extra requests at $1.30 per 1,000, unlimited concurrency, cancel anytime.

• Scale 900K$999

  per month for 900,000 requests

  Extra requests at $1.10 per 1,000, unlimited concurrency.

• Scale 2M$1,999

  per month for 2 million requests

  Extra requests at $1 per 1,000, unlimited concurrency.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Volume discounts, an account manager, a premium SLA, priority support and SSO. Sold through sales.

Apify

• Annual discount

  Save 10% with annual billing

  Apify's pricing page shows a 10% discount for billing annually instead of monthly.

• Education

  30% off Starter and Scale for students

  Apify's pricing FAQ says students are eligible for 30% off the Starter and Scale plans.

• Nonprofit

  Personalized discount for nonprofits

  Apify's pricing FAQ says nonprofit organizations can get a personalized discount on paid plans.

• Startups

  30% off the Scale plan for startups

  Apify's pricing FAQ offers startups a 30% discount on the Scale plan.

Bright Data SERP API

• Other savings

  First deposit matched up to $500

  Bright Data's SERP API pricing says it matches a new account's first deposit dollar for dollar, up to $500.

• Startups

  Up to $20,000 in credits for AI startups

  The AI Startup Program offers up to $20,000 in platform credits to AI startups from pre-seed to Series A, after an application and a call.