# Alternatives to Apify

> Source: https://theagentsindex.com/apify/alternatives/ (re-verified)
> Updated: 29 October 2026

## At a glance

| Name | Best for | Starts at | Better than Apify at | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Apify](https://theagentsindex.com/apify.md) | Developers and data teams that need maintained web scrapers instead of building their own | Free, then $19 a month | — | 26 October 2026 |
| [Exa](https://theagentsindex.com/exa.md) | Developers grounding AI agents and assistants in live web, company and people data | Free, then $4 per 1000 requests | — | 26 October 2026 |
| [Bright Data](https://theagentsindex.com/bright-data.md) | Data and AI teams that need blocked public web pages returned reliably at scale | Free, then $1.50 per 1000 requests | — | 28 October 2026 |
| [Oxylabs](https://theagentsindex.com/oxylabs.md) | AI teams grounding agents on live web data and firms scraping search at scale | From $30 a month | — | 28 October 2026 |

The ones people open most here come first, then the closest matches.

## Shortlist

### 1. ProofFetch

Paid web extraction API returning cited paragraphs, SHA-256 receipts and prompt-injection indicators.

**Where it improves on Apify:**

**Trade-offs against Apify:**
- [Agent permissions: partial — The fetch surface is tightly bounded by the vendor rather than configurable by you: public HTTP(S) only, no credentials, cookies, private networks or browser actions, and the paid tool is gated behind a key or a payment challenge.](https://prooffetch.tryneverclosed.com/llms.txt)
- [Self-hosted: no — Both the REST API and the MCP transport point only at the vendor's own hosted endpoint; no self-hosted, on-premise or bring-your-own-infrastructure option is offered on any tier.](https://prooffetch.tryneverclosed.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json)
- [Pooled budget: partial — A card-pack key carries one shared balance of 500 extractions that anything holding the key can spend, and the vendor documents no per-user or per-agent sub-allocation of that balance.](https://prooffetch.tryneverclosed.com/policies/terms)

[View ProofFetch](https://theagentsindex.com/prooffetch)

### 2. Exa

Web search, contents and agentic research APIs built for AI agents, billed per request.

**Where it improves on Apify:**

**Trade-offs against Apify:**
- [Agent permissions: partial — You constrain a run rather than approve steps: effort modes set a flat price or a per-run spend cap ($5 on auto, $20 on ultra), includeDomains and excludeDomains restrict sources, and an API key can carry its own budget; no step-level human approval is documented.](https://exa.ai/pricing)
- [Admin controls: partial — Admins control spend and throughput rather than behaviour: a key can be given a lower rate limit and a budget that returns 402 when reached, invites carry roles, but no policy engine over what the agent may retrieve is documented.](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/billing.md)
- [Single sign-on: partial — Single sign-on is an Enterprise arrangement rather than a self-serve setting: Exa says Enterprise plans offer SSO and SCIM directory sync across several teams grouped in an organisation, and tells buyers to contact support to set it up.](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/team-management.md)

[View Exa](https://theagentsindex.com/exa)

### 3. Bright Data

Web unlocking, SERP and 1,200+ pre-built scrapers on a 400M-IP proxy network, billed per successful record.

**Where it improves on Apify:**

**Trade-offs against Apify:**
- [Single sign-on: partial — SSO is listed as an Enterprise entitlement on the scraper, SERP and unlocker plan cards, so self-serve buyers on the free, pay as you go and Scale plans do not get it.](https://brightdata.com/pricing/serp)
- [Getting out: partial — Results can be pushed out to a webhook or S3 and customer data deletion is offered on request, but unused free credits are forfeited at the start of each month rather than carried over.](https://docs.brightdata.com/general/account/billing-and-pricing/free-tier)

[View Bright Data](https://theagentsindex.com/bright-data)

### 4. Oxylabs

Live web search, page scraping and a cloud browser on one 177M-IP proxy network, with MCP servers for agents.

**Where it improves on Apify:**

**Trade-offs against Apify:**
- [Agent permissions: partial — The MCP server's tools are read-only and run without prompting, but structured extraction asks for approval by default and a spend cap must be switched on by the operator rather than being set out of the box.](https://github.com/oxylabs/web-api-mcp)
- [Tracing and evals: partial — A Dashboard API returns request counts and traffic grouped by day, target and instance, and Agent Browser sessions can be watched live or recorded, but the usage endpoints cover only some products and the key is issued by support.](https://developers.oxylabs.io/dashboard/dashboard-api)
- [Admin controls: partial — The only documented control is a two-role split where members cannot touch subscriptions or invites, plus spending alerts; no per-member quota, target allowlist or granular permission set is described.](https://developers.oxylabs.io/dashboard/team-and-account-settings)

[View Oxylabs](https://theagentsindex.com/oxylabs)