What Apify is
Apify is a web-scraping and automation platform with a marketplace of ready-made scrapers ("Actors"), including several for Google Maps, that run in the cloud. It is known for thousands of scrapers for different websites, scheduling, storage and integrations, full control for developers. Pricing is usage-based platform credits with monthly plans and a free tier. It suits technical teams who want to scrape many different websites and tune every setting.
Why people look for Apify alternatives
- They are powerful but technical: choosing the right scraper, setting inputs, handling failures and cleaning the output takes time.
- Usage-based platform pricing can be hard to predict for a lead list.
- The output is raw data; turning it into an outreach-ready list with owners and verified emails is extra work.
None of this makes Apify a bad tool — it means the best choice depends on who you are trying to reach.
The best Apify alternatives at a glance
| Tool | What it is | Pricing model | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospect Cheap | Live leads from Google Maps, YouTube, Facebook Ads, Product Hunt, TrustMRR and Skool, with emails, owners and socials | Credits: one per lead, from $29/month; 100 free credits | Building outreach-ready lists of local businesses, creators, advertisers and founders |
| PhantomBuster | Scraping and automation platform | Subscription based on execution time and slots | Growth teams automating LinkedIn and social prospecting |
| TexAu | Scraping and automation platform | Subscription plans | Growth teams automating multi-step prospecting |
| Bright Data | Scraping API | Usage-based, with enterprise plans | Engineering teams running large scraping projects |
| SerpApi | Scraping API | Monthly plans by number of searches | Developers building products on search results |
| Outscraper | Google Maps lead tool | Usage-based (pay per record) with a small free allowance | Developers and data teams who want raw Google data at volume |
Pricing models change; check each vendor's site for current prices.
1. Prospect Cheap — best for live, enriched lead lists
Prospect Cheap is built only for lead generation: pick a source, type keywords, and get a clean, deduplicated list with emails, owner names and socials — priced at one credit per lead, with nothing to configure.
- Six lead sources: Google Maps, YouTube, Facebook Ad Library, Product Hunt, TrustMRR and Skool.
- Contact details included: every email found on the business website, the owner's name and title with a confidence score, mobile numbers with carrier, and Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube and TikTok links.
- Bulk searches: dozens of keywords and cities in one search; it runs on our servers while you do something else.
- Exports: CSV, an Instantly-ready file or a GoHighLevel import.
- Simple pricing: one credit per lead, failed searches are free. Starter is $29/month for 10,000 credits, Growth $79 for 50,000 and Scale $199 for 200,000. New accounts get 100 free credits.
2. PhantomBuster — best for growth teams automating LinkedIn and social prospecting
PhantomBuster is a cloud automation platform whose "Phantoms" extract and act on data from LinkedIn, Google Maps, Instagram and other sites. Its strengths are many ready automations, LinkedIn and social workflows, chaining automations together. Pricing is subscription based on execution time and slots.
3. TexAu — best for growth teams automating multi-step prospecting
TexAu is a growth-automation platform for scraping and enriching data from LinkedIn, Google Maps and other sources. Its strengths are many automations, workflow builder, LinkedIn focus. Pricing is subscription plans.
4. Bright Data — best for engineering teams running large scraping projects
Bright Data is a proxy network with scraping APIs and ready-made datasets. Its strengths are huge proxy network, scraping APIs and datasets, enterprise scale. Pricing is usage-based, with enterprise plans.
5. SerpApi — best for developers building products on search results
SerpApi is an API that returns structured results from search engines, including Google Maps. Its strengths are clean JSON results, many search engines, reliable API. Pricing is monthly plans by number of searches.
6. Outscraper — best for want raw Google data at volume
Outscraper is a data-extraction service and API for Google Maps places, reviews and other Google sources, with optional email and contact enrichment. Its strengths are large-scale Google Maps and reviews extraction, an API for developers, many Google data sources in one account. Pricing is usage-based (pay per record) with a small free allowance.
How to choose
- Who are you selling to? Local businesses, creators, advertisers and early-stage founders are found best at the source. Larger B2B companies are well covered by contact databases.
- Do you need the list, the emails, or both? Email finders and enrichment tools need a list first; lead scrapers build it.
- How predictable must the cost be? Per-lead credits make a 2,000-lead list cost the same every time.
- Where will you send from? If you already use Instantly or GoHighLevel, choose a tool that exports to them directly.
When to stay with Apify
Stay with Apify if you need to scrape many different websites or want full developer control over every run. If you want fresh, enriched leads from more than one source without technical setup, try Prospect Cheap with 100 free credits.
See also: Prospect Cheap vs Apify · All alternatives