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By Brody Babb, Workflow Dynamics LLC · Updated Oct 9, 2026 · This Apify tutorial checks prices and ratings against Apify’s pricing page, G2 and Trustpilot on that day. Brody has used Apify Store Actors for competitor research. He hasn’t tested Apify’s paid plans, proxies or MCP server hands-on.
Apify Tutorial: How to Run Your First Scraper (2026)
This Apify tutorial walks through the no-code path: find a ready-made Actor in the Apify Store, run it, and export structured data you can use. Building your own Actor is covered at the end, briefly.
- Pre-built Actors from the Apify Store, run from the browser
- A free plan with $5 of monthly usage and no card required
- Results exported as CSV, JSON or Excel from the run’s dataset
Table of Contents
The short version
Apify runs small programs called Actors in its cloud. You pick one, give it a target, let it run, and export the results as a dataset. It suits solopreneurs and small teams that need public web data without writing a scraper. It’s a weaker fit for large proxy-based collection, which is where a tool like Bright Data earns its place. Everything in this Apify tutorial covers the steps and the billing details that catch people out.
How we wrote this Apify tutorial
We checked Apify’s pricing page on Oct 9, 2026. The same day we confirmed the ratings on G2 (4.7 out of 5, 652 reviews) and Trustpilot (4.8 out of 5, 781 reviews). Brody has used the YouTube Scraper, a comment scraper and Website Content Crawler from the Store for competitor research, and the Store steps reflect that. He has not tested Apify’s paid plans, proxies or MCP server, so we describe those only as Apify publishes them. We don’t give Apify a numeric score of our own. Actor inputs change, so check the Actor’s page before you run anything.
What you need before you start
Before you start this Apify tutorial, have these ready:
- An Apify account. The free plan needs no card and includes $5 of prepaid usage each month.
- A public target: a website, a list of URLs, or a search you want results from.
- For the custom Actor section only: Node.js or Python, plus the Apify CLI.
Step 1: Find an Actor in the Apify Store
The first step in any Apify tutorial is finding the right Actor. Open the Store from the Apify Console and search by the source you want, such as YouTube comments, website text or a Google Maps listing. Use plain words, because Actor names are often generic.
Open each Actor’s page before you run it. Read the input options and look at the example output. If the example doesn’t show the fields you need, move on. Checking the output shape first costs nothing, and it stops you paying for a run that returns the wrong columns.
Step 2: Set inputs and run the Actor
Most Actors need a target URL or a list of them, plus optional limits such as a result cap or a date range. Start with a small cap, around 20 results, so a bad setting costs little. Then click Start. The run happens in Apify’s cloud, so you can close the browser while it works.
Our competitor research runs in two stages: a cheap metadata scrape across many items, then a heavier scrape only on the results that look worth a closer look. The same pattern works for most scraping jobs, including the ones covered in this Apify tutorial. Test small first, then scale once the output looks right.
Step 3: Export your data
When the run finishes, its results sit in a dataset attached to that run. You can view the dataset as a table in the Console, then export it as CSV, JSON or Excel. For recurring work, you can schedule a run or send results to another tool with a webhook, so new data arrives without a manual export. That closes the core steps in this Apify tutorial.
What it costs to run (verified Oct 9, 2026)
Apify’s pricing page lists these plans. Check the page before you buy, since plans change.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $5 of prepaid usage each month, no card. Unused usage doesn’t roll over. |
| Starter | $19/mo | Entry paid plan |
| Scale | $199/mo | Higher usage tier |
| Business | $999/mo | Highest listed tier |
A plan price doesn’t tell you what a job costs. Usage depends on the Actor and on how much browser rendering it needs, so test a small batch and check what that run used before you scale.
Settings that are easy to miss
- Browser-based Actors use more usage. A scraper that renders full JavaScript pages uses more than one that parses plain HTML, even on the same pages.
- Unused usage doesn’t roll over. If you’re on a paid plan, time large jobs so you use the capacity you’re paying for.
- Overlapping runs create duplicates. If you run an Actor twice on overlapping inputs, dedupe the rows in your sheet or CRM.
- Protected sites may need proxy or stealth settings. Many Store Actors expose these options. We haven’t tested them on heavily protected sites, so check the Actor’s documentation first.
- MCP is possible but untested by us. Apify offers an MCP server so AI tools can run Actors. We haven’t set one up, so we won’t walk through it here. Apify’s docs are the place to start.
Optional: Build your own Actor
If no Store Actor covers your source, Apify supports custom scrapers built with the Crawlee framework in Node.js or Python. At a high level:
- Install the Apify CLI and log in with
apify login. - Scaffold a project with
apify create my-actor, picking a template that fits the site. A Cheerio template suits plain HTML, and a Playwright template suits pages that need JavaScript. - Write your scraping logic in the generated project.
- Test locally with
apify run. - Deploy with
apify push.
After deploying, add an INPUT_SCHEMA.json file and a clear README so the Actor is usable from the Console. You’ll need both if you plan to publish it to the Apify Store. For the full build guide, Apify’s developer documentation is the natural next step after this Apify tutorial: Apify’s developer docs.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Apify tutorial based on hands-on use?
Partly. Brody has used Store Actors for competitor research, and the Store steps come from that work. Apify’s paid plans, proxies and MCP server come from Apify’s published information, and we say so where it matters.
Do I need to code to use Apify?
No. Running a Store Actor needs a browser and the inputs the Actor asks for. Building a custom Actor needs code.
Is there a free Apify plan?
Yes. Apify’s pricing page lists a free plan at $0, with $5 of prepaid usage each month and no card, as checked on Oct 9, 2026.
Should I pick Apify or Bright Data?
It depends on scale and on how hands-on you want to be. If you’re following this Apify tutorial for a small set of scrapes, start with Apify, since you can run them yourself. Compare Bright Data if you need proxy-based collection at volume. Our Apify vs Bright Data comparison covers the differences.
Related reading
Apify vs Bright Data comparison · Bright Data review · Data, Tools & Digital Infrastructure hub · Affiliate disclosure
Our recommendation
Work through this Apify tutorial with one Store Actor and one small target before you commit to a plan. Stay on the free plan, check the output shape, and only then decide whether a paid plan makes sense.
Sources
Checked Oct 9, 2026: Apify’s pricing page and its developer docs. G2 and Trustpilot ratings were confirmed the same day on G2 and Trustpilot.
Free plan: $5 monthly usage, no card
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