Spicrawl vs Apify: a scraping API or a scraping platform?
Choose Spicrawl for one-call page-to-Markdown at a predictable per-request cost. Choose Apify for ready-made scrapers, site crawling or running your own code.
Apify is a platform: a marketplace of ready-made scrapers called Actors, plus tools to run your own crawlers in its cloud. Spicrawl is a single API: send a URL, get Markdown or JSON back. They solve different problems, so the right choice depends on whether you need one page of clean data or a whole scraping workflow.
Ready-made scrapers
Crawl a whole site
Scraping one URL
Facts about Apify were checked against its own website and docs on 29 September 2026. See sources.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Spicrawl if you
- want one request that turns a URL into Markdown
- want a predictable cost per request
- want failed requests and cache hits to cost nothing
- want a free beta, no credit card
Choose Apify if you
- need a ready-made scraper for a specific site
- need to crawl whole sites or follow links
- want to run your own scraping code in the cloud
- need managed proxies or open-source Crawlee
Spicrawl vs Apify at a glance
marks the stronger option for that row. No mark means it is even, or it depends on your needs.
| Feature | Spicrawl | Apify |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | SpicrawlA scraping APIA web scraping API. You send a URL and get the page back as Markdown, HTML, text, PDF or JSON. | ApifyA scraper platformA platform of serverless programs called Actors. The Apify Store lists tens of thousands of them, and you can run your own. |
| Price today | SpicrawlFree during betaFree while in beta, with no credit card. Prices after the beta have not been announced. | ApifyFree $5; from $19/moA free plan with $5 of usage and no credit card. Paid plans are $19, $199 and $999 a month, plus a custom Enterprise plan. |
| How you are billed | SpicrawlPer successful requestPer successful request, by the engine that ran: 1 credit for a plain request, 3 for browser rendering, 8 for full Chromium. | ApifyVaries by ActorDepends on the Actor. Some charge per result or event; others charge only for platform usage: compute units, data transfer, storage and proxies. |
| Failed and blocked requests | SpicrawlFree, incl. 403sErrors, bot challenges and timeouts cost 0. A page that answers with a status such as 403 also costs 0. | ApifyVaries by ActorDepends on the Actor and its pricing model. |
| Cached results | SpicrawlFreeFree. The cache is on by default and keeps results for up to 48 hours. | ApifyVaries by ActorNot a general platform feature. It depends on the Actor. |
| Scraping one URL | SpicrawlOne POST, body = MarkdownOne POST request. The response body is the Markdown itself. | ApifyRun an Actor (300s cap)Run an Actor through the API. The synchronous endpoint returns the Actor’s dataset items and times out after 300 seconds. |
| Crawl a whole site | SpicrawlNoNo. Spicrawl does not follow links for you: you send the URLs, up to 10,000 per batch call. | ApifyStronger option: YesYes. The Website Content Crawler Actor follows links, uses sitemaps and has page and depth limits. |
| Ready-made scrapers | SpicrawlNoNo. It is one general-purpose API. | ApifyStronger option: Yes, thousandsYes. Thousands of Actors in the Apify Store, for specific sites and tasks. |
| Run your own code | SpicrawlNoNo. Spicrawl runs requests, not programs. | ApifyStronger option: YesYes. Deploy your own Actors with the Apify SDK and CLI, or build crawlers with the open-source Crawlee library. |
| JavaScript rendering and actions | SpicrawlYes, up to 50 stepsYes. mode=auto tries a plain request first and uses a browser only when needed, with click, type and scroll actions up to 50 steps. | ApifyYes (Playwright)Yes. Actors can use Playwright with Chrome or Firefox, or fast HTTP scraping with Cheerio. |
| Proxies | SpicrawlBYO, no surchargeBring your own proxy with no surcharge. Managed proxies are coming soon. | ApifyStronger option: Managed + BYODatacenter, residential, Google search and Unblocker proxies with country selection, billed separately, and you can use your own proxies. |
| Staying logged in | SpicrawlSessionsSessions keep cookies, browser storage and the same exit IP between requests. | ApifySession pool (Crawlee)Crawlee’s session pool keeps cookies and rotates IPs together, and some Actors accept cookies for logged-in pages. |
| AI agents | SpicrawlMCP, 25 tools + skillHosted MCP server with 25 tools, an agent skill, and one-command setup for Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. | ApifyMCP: run ActorsOfficial MCP server that lets agents discover and run Actors from the Apify Store. |
| SDKs and CLI | SpicrawlJS/TS SDK + CLIJavaScript and TypeScript SDK, a CLI, and HTTP examples in cURL, Python and TypeScript. | ApifyStronger option: JS + Python SDKs, CLIAPI clients and an SDK for JavaScript and Python, plus a CLI. |
| Open source | SpicrawlNoNo. Spicrawl is a hosted service. | ApifyStronger option: Crawlee is open sourceCrawlee and the SDKs are open source. The hosted platform, Store and proxies are Apify’s cloud service. |
Spicrawl vs Apify: common questions
Is Spicrawl an Apify alternative?
For one job, yes: getting clean data from a page you already have the URL for. Spicrawl replaces choosing and running an Actor with a single API request. It is not a replacement for Apify’s marketplace of ready-made scrapers, site crawling or cloud runtime, so if you rely on those, Apify is the better fit.
What is the difference between Spicrawl and Apify?
Spicrawl is one API for turning a URL into Markdown, JSON or HTML, billed per successful request. Apify is a platform where you pick or build Actors, each with its own inputs and pricing, and run them in Apify’s cloud. Spicrawl is simpler for a single page. Apify covers more ground.
Is Spicrawl cheaper than Apify?
It depends on the job, and Spicrawl’s prices after the beta have not been announced, so no fair price comparison is possible yet. Spicrawl is free during the beta, and it charges nothing for failed requests, blocked pages or cache hits. Apify’s cost depends on the Actor and on compute, storage and proxy usage.
Can Spicrawl crawl a whole website like Apify?
No. Spicrawl does not discover URLs by following links. You send the pages you want, one at a time or up to 10,000 per batch call. Apify’s Website Content Crawler follows links and sitemaps for you.
How do I move from Apify to Spicrawl?
If you use an Actor to fetch known URLs and get their content, replace that call with one request to https://api.spicrawl.com/v1/scrape and set response_format to markdown or json. Actors that crawl, run custom code or depend on site-specific scrapers have no direct equivalent in Spicrawl.
Does Spicrawl have an MCP server like Apify?
Yes. Spicrawl hosts an MCP server with tools to scrape pages, run batches, manage sessions and check usage. Apify’s MCP server lets agents find and run Actors from its Store. The spicrawl init command connects Claude Code, Cursor or Codex to Spicrawl in one step.
Sources
Apify details come from these pages, checked on 29 September 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, email support@spicrawl.com and we will correct it.
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