Apify vs Firecrawl (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Apify: it is third in our ranking of SERP and SEO data APIs, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 2.6.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 24, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Apify grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Apify
Scraping platform with a store of ready-made Actors, Google included
Firecrawl
Web search, scrape and crawl API that returns LLM-ready data
Which one is for you
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 Firecrawl if
- Fits if you feed web pages into an LLM and want Markdown back
- Works for people happy to self-host the open-source core
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1,000 credits, 2 concurrent requests and low rate limits
- Watch out: JSON, Question and Highlight formats add 4 credits a page
- Watch out: Agent, Browser and the managed dashboards are Cloud only, not in the open-source version
- Pricey if you scale: $83 for 100,000 credits and $333 for 500,000, and pay-as-you-go is for paid plans only
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAApifyGood | 2.6GPAFirecrawlGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStarter is $19 a month, on the line of this category's cheaper quarter, and the $19 is all usage you can spend. Apify's own Google scraper is from $1.80 per 1,000 result pages, inside the $1 to $4 most rivals here charge. Paying yearly takes 10% off. | B$16 a month on yearly billing for 5,000 credits, inside the cheapest quarter of this category ($19). Standard jumps to $83 for 100,000. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan for good with no card: $5 of usage every month, 5 concurrent runs and 16 GB of memory. At the Google scraper's rate from $1.80 per 1,000 pages that covers a small side project, and Actors stop once the $5 is spent. | CA free plan with 1,000 credits a month and no card, but only 2 concurrent requests and low rate limits. |
| Features | BNearly 97,000 store Actors for sites such as Google, Google Maps, TikTok and Instagram; Apify's own Google scraper returns organic and paid results, People Also Ask, AI Overviews and AI Mode by country and language. You can build and host your own too. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. | BSearch, scrape, crawl, map and interact, with SDKs and an open-source core. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core scraping job. |
| Ease of use | CJudged on how fast a developer gets a first result: ready-made Actors, Python, JavaScript and TypeScript templates, and a CLI. No rating on record, and costs come as compute units, proxy traffic and each Actor's own price, which takes reading. | CNo store rating on record. It is a developer API, with keys and code to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with a REST API, a CLI, webhooks and an MCP server, plus Make, n8n, Zapier, Workato, Zoho Flow and coding agents such as Claude Code, Cursor and OpenAI Codex. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. | BWeb only, but it plugs into LangChain, Claude, ChatGPT and Ollama and has SDKs. |
| Best for | ready-made scrapers, Google results included | turning web pages into clean text for AI apps |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Apify and Firecrawl. How we grade
Price against what you get
Apify starts at $19 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Firecrawl starts at $16 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Firecrawl starts $3 a month lower. Of the other SERP and SEO data APIs on the chart, none scores higher than Apify for less, and none scores higher than Firecrawl for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Firecrawl is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Firecrawl also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| Apify | Firecrawl | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per month, billed monthly, with $19 of usage included | $16 per month for 5,000 credits, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | $5 of platform usage each month for Store Actors or your own, 16 GB of Actor memory, 5 concurrent runs and community support. No card needed. | 1,000 credits a month, no card needed, 2 concurrent requests and low rate limits. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Apify Technologies s.r.o. | Firecrawl |
| Price read from | apify.com | firecrawl.dev |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Firecrawl
- Per-page cost rises with format: JSON, Question and Highlight formats add 4 credits per page on Scrape and Crawl.
- The docs say Agent, Browser, managed dashboards, enhanced proxy paths and enterprise controls are Cloud-only.
- Pay-as-you-go (credits added in $5 steps up to a monthly limit you set) is for paid plans only.
- A page that returns an error status such as 403 or 404 still costs 1 credit.
Key features
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.
Firecrawl
- Search with page content
- Searches the web and returns full page content from the results, not only links. Costs 2 credits per 10 results.
- Scrape to Markdown or JSON
- Turns a URL into Markdown, structured JSON, screenshots or other formats. A basic scrape costs 1 credit per page.
- Crawl and map
- Crawl follows a site page by page at 1 credit per page. Map lists a site's URLs for 1 credit per call.
- Interact
- Scrapes a page, then clicks, fills forms or navigates it from AI prompts or code, at 2 credits per browser minute.
- Open-source core
- The core scrape, crawl, map and search APIs can be self-hosted with Docker Compose, per the docs.
- SDKs and shared credits
- Python, Node.js, cURL and CLI examples are shown. One credit balance is shared across all endpoints.
Plans
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.
Firecrawl
Free$0
1,000 credits a month (500 searches or 1,000 pages scraped), 2 concurrent requests.
Hobby$16
per month for 5,000 credits, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
5 concurrent requests, basic support, and extra credits at 1,000 per $5.
Standard$83
per month for 100,000 credits, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
25 concurrent requests, standard support, extra credits at 2,000 per $5.
Growth$333
per month for 500,000 credits, billed annually ($399 billed monthly)
50 concurrent requests, priority support, extra credits at 2,500 per $5.
Scale$599
per month for 1,000,000 credits, billed annually ($749 billed monthly)
100 concurrent requests, priority support, extra credits at 5,000 per $5.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom credits and concurrency, dedicated support and SLA, SSO, zero-data retention.
Ways to pay less
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.
Firecrawl
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves about 2 months
Annual prices are lower than monthly (Standard $83 against $99 a month); the homepage banner says 2 months free when billed annually.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Apify or Firecrawl?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Firecrawl is cheaper to start with: $16 a month, against $19 a month for Apify. Apify starts at $19 per month, billed monthly, with $19 of usage included, and Firecrawl starts at $16 per month for 5,000 credits, billed annually ($19 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Apify or Firecrawl?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Apify and Firecrawl have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.