Apify vs Browse AI: scrapers to run or to train
Go with Browse AI if you want to scrape or monitor a handful of sites without code: you click the fields you need, the robot learns them and sends results to Google Sheets or Airtable. Go with Apify if your targets are big platforms like Google Maps or Amazon, or if you need volume, because its store of maintained Actors and pay-as-you-go usage scale further. Browse AI wins on ease for small monitoring jobs. Apify wins on reach and on what a developer can build.
Which one to pick
Apify is the pick for bulk data from large platforms, scheduled runs at scale, or custom scrapers your developer writes in JavaScript or Python.
Browse AI is the pick for a founder or marketer who wants to track prices, listings or competitor pages and get alerts and rows in a sheet without writing code.
Side by side
Questions
How do the free plans compare?
Apify's free plan gives $5 of platform usage every month. Browse AI's free plan gives 50 credits a month on 2 websites with up to 3 users. Both are enough to try your first job, but Browse AI's limit is tighter if you check pages often. Test the site you care about on each before you pay.
What do the paid plans cost?
Apify Starter costs $19 a month, with usage beyond the included credit billed on top. Browse AI Personal costs $19 a month billed annually or $48 billed monthly, and Professional costs $69 a month billed annually. Both bill in US dollars. Check how many pages you need each month, since that drives the bill on both.
Can either one watch a page and tell me when it changes?
Monitoring is central to Browse AI: a trained robot checks a page on a schedule and flags new or changed data. Apify can run any Actor on a schedule too, but you compare the results yourself or add a step for it. For price or stock alerts with no setup, Browse AI is the shorter path.
Where do the results go?
Browse AI sends data to Google Sheets, Airtable, Zapier, Make, webhooks or its REST API. Apify stores each run as a dataset you export as CSV or JSON, or pull through its API and integrations. Both fit a no-code stack, but Browse AI has fewer steps to a live spreadsheet.
Do I need a developer?
Browse AI is built for people who do not code: you train robots by clicking on the page. Apify's ready-made Actors also run from a simple form. You only need a developer on Apify if you want to write your own Actor, which is where it goes further than Browse AI.