TL;DR
Compare measured actor costs with the development, hosting, proxy, and maintenance work your own scraper would require. The break-even point depends on the workload.
The Real Question
Should you use Apify or build scrapers yourself? The answer depends on math, not preference.
Let's run the numbers.
Cost of Building Your Own
Development Time
A production scraper takes time to build:
| Task | Simple Site | Complex Site |
|---|---|---|
| Initial scraper | 4-8 hours | 20-40 hours |
| Error handling | 2-4 hours | 8-16 hours |
| Proxy integration | 2-4 hours | 8-16 hours |
| Anti-bot bypass | 0 hours | 20-60 hours |
| Testing | 2-4 hours | 8-16 hours |
| Total | 10-20 hours | 64-148 hours |
At $75/hour developer cost: $750-$1,500 for simple sites, $4,800-$11,100 for complex sites.
Infrastructure Costs
Running scrapers requires servers:
- VPS hosting: $20-100/month
- Proxy service: $50-500/month
- Database: $10-50/month
- Monitoring: $10-50/month
Monthly infrastructure: $90-700/month minimum.
Maintenance
Sites change. Scrapers break. Expect:
- 2-4 hours/month for simple sites
- 8-20 hours/month for complex sites
At $75/hour: $150-$1,500/month in ongoing maintenance.
Cost of Using Apify
Platform Fees
| Plan | Monthly Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $5 monthly credit |
| Starter | $19 | $19 platform credit + features |
| Scale | $199 | $199 credit + priority support |
Usage costs
Compare current actor charges with your measured workload. Events, proxies, and platform usage can change the total. See Apify pricing before estimating a budget.
When to Build Your Own
- You scrape 100,000+ pages monthly from simple sites
- You have in-house developers with scraping experience
- You need custom logic that pre-built actors cannot handle
- You already have proxy and hosting infrastructure
When to Use Apify
- You scrape complex sites with anti-bot protection
- You need results fast (days, not weeks)
- Developer time costs more than platform fees
- You want to avoid infrastructure management
- A pre-built actor already does what you need
The Hybrid Approach
Many teams use both. Pre-built actors for common sites. Custom actors on Apify's platform for unique needs. Best of both worlds.
Try Before You Decide
Apify's free tier includes $5/month. Test the platform with no commitment.
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