Provider-source comparison
webclaw vs Apify
Apify is a hosted platform for running Actors, including general-purpose website crawling and site-specific data tools. Crawlee is its separate open-source crawling library.
Hosted API + AGPL-3.0 open-source core
Standard page operations cost one credit per successful page. Search is metered per result, and Research has a separate allowance. The local open-source core does not include all managed services.
Actors and Crawlee
Crawlee: Apache-2.0; MCP: MIT; hosted platform separate. Crawlee and local Actors; hosted platform is separate.
Looking for a Apify alternative?
Apify supports LLM workflows through Website Content Crawler and an official MCP server. Compare the Actor’s input, output and pricing with Webclaw’s endpoint contracts; neither product requires you to build Markdown conversion from scratch.
Read the deep dive: Apify alternative for LLM workflowsFeatures
webclaw vs Apify feature comparison
Documented capabilities, with a source for each entry. This is a documentation review, not a comparative performance test. An undocumented capability is not treated as unavailable.
Sources and deployment scope
Reviewed 2026-09-15. Maintained by Webclaw. Open-source licenses apply to the named repository, not automatically to a vendor’s entire hosted service.
Pricing
Compare plans for your workload.
Selected public offers in USD, reviewed 2026-09-15. Monthly billing unless explicitly marked annual. These rows are not equivalent workloads or a complete plan catalog; credit definitions, add-ons and taxes differ.
Provider reference checked 2026-09-15. Check current Apify pricing and terms. Unverified capabilities are not treated as unavailable.
| Offer | webclaw | Apify |
|---|---|---|
| Free option | 500 credits/month, no card; plus open source (self-host) | Free: $5/month platform usage |
| Entry paid offer | Starter: $19/month · 5,000 credits | Starter: $19/month plus usage |
| Another paid offer | Growth: $49/month · 25,000 credits | Scale: $199/month plus usage |
| Higher-volume offer | Pro: $99/month · 100,000 credits | Business: $999/month plus usage |
webclaw credit model
Page operations use credits; Research has a separate allowance. A standard scrape or extract uses one credit. Check the pricing page for operation rates and plan limits.
Apify credit model
Actor pricing varies: pay per event or resource usage. Compute, storage, transfer and proxies may apply. Some per-event Actors include platform costs; others charge them separately.
Apify strengths
- General-purpose crawling for RAG as well as site-specific Actors
- Hosted scheduling, datasets and an official MCP integration
Apify considerations
- Capabilities and output contracts differ between Actors
- Cost depends on the Actor and its resource or event pricing
Verdict
Which one should you use?
Use webclaw when
You want the Webclaw API and dashboard with page-credit billing, or its AGPL-3.0 CLI, MCP and self-hosted core. Managed features and local capabilities differ; test the deployment you intend to use.
Use Apify when
An existing Actor, custom workflow, scheduling or dataset storage fits your application.
Apify supports LLM workflows through Website Content Crawler and an official MCP server. Compare the Actor’s input, output and pricing with Webclaw’s endpoint contracts; neither product requires you to build Markdown conversion from scratch.
Get started
See how it stacks up.
Cancel anytime. Run the same job on webclaw and Apify and compare for yourself.