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Apify vs Firecrawl: Web Scraping Platforms Compared

Apify and Firecrawl both collect web data, but they suit different jobs. Apify is a platform for running scrapers ("Actors") in the cloud; Firecrawl is an API that returns page content as Markdown or structured data. This comparison uses each vendor's official documentation and pricing pages, last checked on 24 October 2026; it is research-based and not the result of hands-on testing.

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Who this is for

Developers and data teams choosing between a platform for running scrapers and an API that returns clean page content for AI applications.

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Apify vs Firecrawl: Web Scraping Platforms Compared: criteria compared across 2 products
Criterion
Apify logoApify
Firecrawl logoFirecrawl
Pricing (verified)From each tool's verified plans, with the date SIDAN checked them.Free plan available; paid plans from USD 17 per month, billed annuallyChecked October 24, 2026Free plan available; paid plans from USD 16 per month, billed annuallyChecked October 24, 2026
Pricing modelSubscription tiers whose price equals the included platform usage; compute is billed per unit (see the verified pricing row)Credit-based plans with concurrency limits; annual billing is cheaper per month (see the verified pricing row)
Free planYes, with a monthly usage credit (per the official pricing page)Yes: 1,000 credits per month and 2 concurrent requests (per the official pricing page)
Best forDevelopers, data teams and businesses that collect web data on a schedule or via an APIDevelopers building AI applications or data pipelines that need clean Markdown or structured data from web pages
Typical useRunning ready-made or custom Actors in the cloudTurning URLs, sites and search results into Markdown or structured data through an API
Main limitationUnused platform usage expires each billing cycle; Store Actors from third parties have their own pricingCredits and concurrent requests are capped per plan

Strengths, weaknesses and best fit

Apify

Cloud platform for web scraping and browser automation built around Actors, which are programs that run on Apify's infrastructure and save structured results. Includes a store of ready-made Actors, proxies and an MCP server.

Strengths

Free plan with monthly usage credit and no credit card at sign-up; ready-made Actors in the Apify Store

Weaknesses

Unused platform usage expires each billing cycle; third-party Actors have their own pricing

Best for

Scheduled or API-driven data collection with ready-made or custom Actors

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Firecrawl

API for searching the web, scraping pages and crawling sites, returning clean Markdown or structured data for AI applications. Offers SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server; plans are credit-based.

Strengths

Simple API that returns Markdown or structured data; SDKs and an MCP server

Weaknesses

Credits and concurrency are capped per plan

Best for

Feeding clean web content into AI applications and data pipelines

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Which to choose, by scenario

You need many ready-made scrapers or want to run your own on a schedule: Apify's Actor model and Store fit; its free plan includes a monthly usage credit with no card at sign-up.

You mainly need clean Markdown or structured data from URLs for an AI app or data pipeline: Firecrawl's API, SDKs and MCP server are built for exactly that; its free plan (1,000 credits a month, 2 concurrent requests) is enough to prototype.

You expect high volume: compare Apify's compute-unit rates and concurrency limits against Firecrawl's credit and concurrency caps for your actual workload; neither is cheaper in general.

Conclusion

Choose Apify when you want ready-made or custom scrapers running on a schedule with a marketplace to draw from. Choose Firecrawl when you mainly need clean content for an AI application through a simple API. Check each vendor's pricing page before buying, because plans and limits change.

How we compared

Research-based comparison. Figures come from each vendor's official pricing and documentation pages recorded as verified plans in the SIDAN Stack catalog (with check dates); the pricing row is generated from those records. No hands-on testing. Vendor claims are attributed. Both vendors show prices with a "$" sign on their US pages; they are recorded as USD with that note.

This comparison is research-based: it is built from the vendors' official pages, documentation and the sources listed below. SIDAN Stack has not tested these products hands-on unless the text says so, and nothing here is scored or ranked. How we research.

Alternatives and related guides

Tutorial

How to Evaluate a Software Free Plan Before You Depend on It

To evaluate a software free plan, first decide whether it is a permanent plan, a time-limited trial or a credit grant; then convert its caps into your expected usage, check seat limits, find out what happens when you exceed a limit, review history retention and export, read the terms of use, map security features to tiers and price the first paid tier. This guide applies those steps to free plans recorded from official pages on 24 October 2026, including Firecrawl, Apify, Zapier, Supabase, Vercel, Notion, GitHub Copilot and Cursor.

· SIDAN Editorial

Sources

  1. Apify pricingPricing pageApify plans, platform usage credit, compute-unit rate, concurrencyChecked
  2. Apify documentationDocumentationActors, Store, proxyChecked
  3. Firecrawl pricingPricing pageFirecrawl plans, credits and concurrency limitsChecked
  4. Firecrawl documentationDocumentationScrape, crawl, map and search endpoints; SDKs and MCP serverChecked

Last verified . Vendors change their products and prices; confirm details on the official pages before buying.