Apify vs Bright Data: search and web data API pricing compared
Updated 2026-11-10 · listed A to Z, not ranked
Apify runs “Actors”: ready-made scrapers and automation tools from its store, or your own code. A monthly plan gives you prepaid usage to spend on Actors, and anything beyond it is billed as you go. On top of the plan, each store Actor is priced by its own model.
Bright Data sells web data products, proxies and scraping APIs. Its Web Scraper API returns structured records (for example one profile or product per record) and bills only for successful deliveries.
Listed A to Z, from apify.com and brightdata.com. Every figure below is quoted from those pages.
- Main price table
- Starter, Scale, Business, Enterprise
- Free option
- Starter: $19 / month + pay as you go
- Published prices
- Starter $19, Scale $199 and Business $999 a month plus usage, compute units from $0.13 to $0.2, Actor pricing models, and paying over x402.
- Main price table
- Free tier, Pay as you go, Scale, Enterprise
- Free option
- Free tier: $0
- Published prices
- Free 5K records/month, pay as you go $1.5 per 1K records, Scale $499/month with 384,000 records.
How we checked: Prices quoted from each official pricing page: Apify checked Nov 10, 2026, Bright Data checked Nov 10, 2026. Taxes, usage overages and promotions can change what you pay; confirm with each provider before you buy.
How they compare
- Main price table. Apify lists 4 entries (Starter, Scale, Business, Enterprise); Bright Data lists 4 (Free tier, Pay as you go, Scale, Enterprise).
- Lowest listed paid tier. Apify: Starter $19 / mo, monthly price. Bright Data: Pay as you go $1.5. Billing terms differ (per user or flat, monthly or annual), so check what each tier includes below.
- Free option. Apify: Starter: $19 / month + pay as you go. Bright Data: Free tier: $0.
- How prices are quoted. Apify: “Paid plans”. Bright Data: “Web Scraper API plans”.
Apify plans and prices
| Plan | Monthly price | Included to spend | Compute unit | Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $19 / month + pay as you go | $19 in Apify Store or on your own Actors | $0.2 per CU | Chat support; Bronze store discount |
| Scale | $199 / month + pay as you go | $199 | $0.16 per CU | Priority chat support; Silver store discount |
| Business | $999 / month + pay as you go | $999 | $0.13 per CU | Account manager; Gold store discount |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | SLAs and a dedicated team |
A compute unit (CU) is 1 GB of RAM for one hour. Residential proxies are listed at $8 per GB on Starter, down to $7 per GB on Business; datacenter proxies from $0.6 per IP.
| Model | What you pay | Example from Apify’s page |
|---|---|---|
| Pay per event | A fixed price per result or event | Instagram Scraper: $2.30 per 1,000 results (Starter) |
| Pay per usage | Platform usage: compute units, proxy, storage | Website Content Crawler: $0.2 per CU (Starter) |
| Pay per event + usage | Both of the above | Google Trends Scraper: $1 per 1,000 results plus platform usage |
Costs vary by Actor and by run, so Apify suggests a test run and then checking usage in Billing.
From apify.com, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: Apify pricing.
Bright Data plans and prices
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | $0 | 5,000 records per month; no credit card |
| Pay as you go | $1.5 per 1,000 records | Monthly spend limits; unlimited concurrency |
| Scale | $499/month | 384,000 records included; $1.3 per 1,000 additional records |
| Enterprise | Custom | Volume discounts, account manager, premium SLA, SSO |
Proxies, unblocking and parsing are included in the record price. The page also advertised 60% off the Scraper API for 3 months with a promo code.
From brightdata.com, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: Bright Data pricing.
FAQ
How much does Apify cost?
Starter $19, Scale $199 and Business $999 a month plus usage, compute units from $0.13 to $0.2, Actor pricing models, and paying over x402. (checked Nov 10, 2026).
How much does Bright Data cost?
Free 5K records/month, pay as you go $1.5 per 1K records, Scale $499/month with 384,000 records. (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Do Apify and Bright Data have a free option?
Apify: Starter: $19 / month + pay as you go. Bright Data: Free tier: $0.
What is the cheapest paid plan, Apify or Bright Data?
Lowest listed paid tier: Apify Starter $19 / mo, monthly price; Bright Data Pay as you go $1.5 (as quoted on each pricing page). Billing units differ, so compare what each includes.
Which is better, Apify or Bright Data?
We do not pick a winner. The two price and package their products differently; the tables above quote each official pricing page so you can match a plan to your own usage.
Where do these prices come from?
Each vendor's own pricing page: apify.com (checked Nov 10, 2026) and brightdata.com (checked Nov 10, 2026). Prices change; confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
Sources (official pages, read 2026-11-10)
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