Apify vs Browserless: Which is Better in 2026?
Choosing between Apify and Browserless? Both are popular web scraping & data extraction tools. Below we compare them on pricing, free tiers, features, and pros & cons so you can pick the right fit for your stack.
Quick verdict
Both are solid web scraping & data extraction options. Apify is cheaper to start, but the right choice depends on the specific features and integrations you need.
Apify vs Browserless — Side by Side
| Apify | Browserless | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Web Scraping & Data Extraction | Web Scraping & Data Extraction |
| Pricing | Free · paid from $19/mo | Free · paid from $25/mo |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Free tier | ||
| Rating | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Best for | Web Scraping & Data Extraction — actors, crawlee | Web Scraping & Data Extraction — headless-browser, puppeteer |
Pros & Cons
- Thousands of prebuilt, maintained scrapers
- You can deploy your own code too
- Crawlee is free and open source
- Compute-unit pricing scales down as well as up
- Prepaid credit model is easy to overspend
- Actor quality varies by author
- Compute units are hard to estimate up front
- Keep your existing Puppeteer/Playwright code
- Stealth and CAPTCHA solving included
- Session recording and debugging tools
- No browser fleet to patch
- Annual billing on every paid tier
- Unit accounting is opaque at first
- Self-hosting is enterprise-licensed only
Key Features Compared
Apify
- 64 GB RAM per Actor
- 32 concurrent runs
- Chat support
Browserless
- 20,000 units / month
- 10 concurrent browsers
- 15 min sessions
Choose Apify if…
- You want a free tier to validate before paying.
- Budget is tight — paid plans start lower ($19/mo vs $25/mo).
- Thousands of prebuilt, maintained scrapers
- You can deploy your own code too
Choose Browserless if…
- You want a free tier to validate before paying.
- Keep your existing Puppeteer/Playwright code
- Stealth and CAPTCHA solving included
- Session recording and debugging tools
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Apify better than Browserless?⌄
Both are solid web scraping & data extraction options. Apify is cheaper to start, but the right choice depends on the specific features and integrations you need.
What is the difference between Apify and Browserless?⌄
Apify — Marketplace and runtime for 'Actors' — thousands of prebuilt scrapers you can rent, plus a platform to deploy your own. Browserless — Hosted headless Chrome you connect Puppeteer or Playwright to over WebSocket, with stealth, proxies and CAPTCHA solving built in. Both are web scraping & data extraction tools; the comparison table above breaks down pricing, free tiers, and what each is best for.
Apify vs Browserless: which is cheaper?⌄
Apify pricing: Free · paid from $19/mo. Browserless pricing: Free · paid from $25/mo. Confirm current pricing on each tool's official site, as plans change.
Which is rated higher, Apify or Browserless?⌄
In our catalog, Apify rates 4.5 out of 5 and Browserless rates 4.4 out of 5, so Apify has a slight edge on reviews.
See more options in our guide to the best web scraping & data extraction tools for startups.
Still not sure which to pick?
Get a free, AI-powered tech stack — including the best web scraping & data extraction pick for your budget and team — in 60 seconds.
Build my stack free