Compare / Apify Alternative
Apify Alternative
Apify is a powerful scraping platform - but if you just need to render pages and get HTML back, you are paying for compute units, residential proxy bandwidth, actor fees, and platform storage that you do not need. Browser7 does one thing: renders a page in a real browser with residential proxies and returns the HTML. $0.01 per page, everything included, no platform to learn.
Four layers of billing
Apify's cost per page is not a single number. It is the sum of up to four separate billing layers, each with its own pricing model:
| Cost layer | What it is | Billed by |
|---|---|---|
| Compute units | CPU time and memory to run the browser | GB of RAM x hours |
| Proxy traffic | Residential proxy bandwidth | Per GB ($7-8/GB) |
| Actor fees | Per-result or rental fees for marketplace actors | Per result, per event, or monthly |
| Platform costs | Storage, extra concurrency, extra RAM | Per GB/month, per slot |
Apify's own documentation recommends: "Run a small sample (10-50 records), look at actual CUs consumed, then extrapolate. Add a 2x safety buffer." If you need a safety buffer to estimate your costs, the pricing model is not simple.
On Browser7, the cost is $0.01 per page. Compute, proxies, and rendering are all included. There is nothing to estimate.
What browser rendering actually costs on Apify
Apify's browser-based scraping (Playwright/Puppeteer) averages about 300 pages per compute unit. At $0.25-$0.30 per CU, that works out to roughly $0.001 per page - but that is only the compute cost. If you need residential proxies (and you do, for protected sites), you pay separately per GB of proxy bandwidth:
| Page bandwidth | Compute cost | Proxy cost ($7.50/GB) | Total on Apify | Browser7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 KB (light page) | $0.001 | $0.0023 | $0.0033 | $0.01 |
| 1 MB (typical JS page) | $0.001 | $0.0075 | $0.0085 | $0.01 |
| 1.5 MB (avg rendered page) | $0.002 | $0.0113 | $0.0133 | $0.01 |
| 2.5 MB (heavier page) | $0.003 | $0.0188 | $0.0218 | $0.01 |
For light pages, Apify's total cost can be lower than Browser7. But once page bandwidth exceeds about 1 MB - which is typical for JavaScript-rendered pages - Apify's combined compute and proxy costs approach or exceed $0.01. For heavier pages, Browser7 is significantly cheaper.
The fundamental problem is the same as per-GB billing on any platform: your cost per page depends on the size of every page you scrape, and you will not know the actual number until you get the bill.
A platform when you need an API
Apify is a full scraping platform with 24,000+ marketplace actors, scheduling, orchestration, storage, and monitoring. If you need all of that, it can be a good choice. But if you just need to render a URL in a browser and get the HTML back, you are paying for an entire platform you will not use.
| What you get | Browser7 | Apify |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first rendered page | One API call | Choose actor, configure run, set memory, select proxy, start job |
| Concepts to understand | API key + URL | CUs, actors, proxy tiers, memory, storage, scheduling |
| Billing variables | 1 | 4+ |
| Can you predict cost before scraping? | Yes | "Run a sample, add a 2x safety buffer" |
Browser7 is a single endpoint. Send a URL, get rendered HTML. There are no actors to choose, no memory to configure, no proxy tiers to select, and no compute units to track. If your goal is rendered pages, the simpler tool is the better tool.
Browser7 vs Apify
A direct comparison for the use case of rendering pages in a browser and getting HTML back.
| Feature | Browser7 | Apify |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat per-page | Compute units + proxy per GB + actor fees |
| Cost per rendered page | $0.01 always | $0.003 - $0.02+ (depends on page size and proxy) |
| Residential proxies | $7-8/GB extra | |
| CAPTCHA solving | Depends on actor | |
| Anti-bot bypass | Depends on actor and proxy tier | |
| Geo-targeting | ||
| Proxy cost included | Yes - residential always | No - billed per GB separately |
| Cost varies by page size | No | Yes - proxy billed per GB |
| Memory configuration needed | No | Yes - affects CU cost directly |
| Billing model | Prepaid, never expires | Monthly subscription |
| Unused credits | Never expire | Expire monthly |
| Free trial | 100 renders, no card required | $5 credit (~1-2 browser runs) |
Things to watch out for with Apify
Proxy cost is separate and billed per GB
Apify's compute unit costs look low in isolation, but residential proxies are billed separately at $7-8 per GB. Apify's own documentation notes that "proxy cost often exceeds CU cost at moderate to high volume." For a typical JavaScript-rendered page transferring 1-2 MB through the proxy, the proxy cost alone is $0.0075-$0.015 per page - before compute units are added.
Memory misconfiguration inflates your bill
Compute units are calculated as memory (GB) multiplied by runtime (hours). Many actors default to 1 GB of memory when 256 MB would be sufficient. Running at 4x the necessary memory means paying 4x the compute units. You need to understand memory allocation to avoid overpaying - and Apify's own optimization guide recommends testing and tuning memory settings for every actor you use.
Single-URL runs cost 10x more than batches
Running 1,000 separate single-URL jobs on Apify can be 10x less efficient than running one batch of 1,000 URLs. Each run has startup overhead - browser launch, environment initialization, proxy setup. If your workflow processes URLs one at a time (which is how most simple API calls work), you pay a significant efficiency penalty.
Actor fees add another billing layer
Many actors in Apify's marketplace charge per-result or per-event fees on top of compute units. Some have monthly rental fees. These costs are listed on each actor's pricing tab, but you need to check each one individually. Apify's documentation warns: "Check an Actor's Pricing tab before using it at scale."
Monthly credits expire
Apify's plan credits do not roll over. If you pay $29/month for the Starter plan and only use half your credits, the rest are lost. The next month, you pay $29 again. There is no way to pause your subscription and save credits for later.
Pricing is the #1 complaint on G2
Across 415 G2 reviews, "Pricing Issues" appears 88 times as a tagged negative - the most common complaint. "Expensive" appears 87 times, making it the second most common. Users report that costs are "unpredictable" and that "some months we'd go way over budget."
How Browser7 is different
$0.01 per page, proxies included
Browser7's price includes everything: a real Chrome browser, residential proxies, CAPTCHA solving, geo-targeting, and anti-bot bypass. There is no separate proxy bill, no compute units to track, and no per-result fees. The cost does not change based on page size, target site, or how much memory the browser uses.
One API call, not a platform
Browser7 is a single API endpoint. Send a URL, get rendered HTML back. You do not need to choose an actor, configure memory, select a proxy tier, or learn a platform. If you need the full power of Apify's marketplace and orchestration, Apify is the right tool. If you need rendered pages, Browser7 is simpler.
No subscription, no expiring credits
Browser7 uses a prepaid account balance model. Top up when you need to, use it whenever you want. There is no monthly subscription, no auto-renewal, and no credits that expire. If you scrape 5,000 pages this month and nothing next month, you pay $50 once and $0 the next month.
No optimization required
You do not need to tune memory settings, batch URLs for efficiency, or choose between Cheerio and Playwright. Browser7 handles the rendering infrastructure and charges a flat rate. Whether you send one URL or ten thousand, the cost per page is the same.
Real-world cost: 10,000 pages per month
Let's say you need to render 10,000 JavaScript-heavy pages per month with residential proxies. Average page bandwidth through the proxy is 1.5 MB - typical for a JS-rendered page with stylesheets, scripts, and fonts.
| Browser7 | Apify (Scale plan) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Compute cost | Included | ~$8 (33 CUs at $0.25) |
| Proxy cost | Included | ~$113 (15 GB at $7.50/GB) |
| Total page costs | $100 | ~$121 |
| Plan minimum | None | $199/month (Scale plan) |
| Actually billed | $100 (one-time) | $199/month (plan minimum) |
| Unused credits | Carry over forever | ~$78 expires monthly |
| Annual cost | $1,200 | $2,388 |
| Annual savings with Browser7 | - | $1,188 saved |
Even though Apify's compute cost is low, the residential proxy bandwidth for 10,000 pages at 1.5 MB each adds roughly $113/month. Combined with compute, the per-page cost is about $0.012 - above Browser7's $0.01. But the real gap is the plan minimum: the Scale plan costs $199/month regardless of usage, meaning roughly $78/month in credits expire unused. Over a year, Browser7 saves $1,188.