What is an Apify Actor, and why does the distinction matter?
Actors are hosted programs on Apify that take an input, run on the platform and write structured data to a dataset. Here is what that means for buying and comparing one.
The short answer
An Apify Actor is a packaged program that runs on Apify's cloud, accepts structured input and writes output to a dataset. A Store listing is a distribution page for that program, not a guarantee that its schema, price or access route fits your job. Compare the input, the output fields, the pricing event and the official site terms before you run it.
Catalogue and method checked 2026-11-12. See how tools are scored.The word Actor is used loosely in buyer guides. On Apify it has a specific meaning: a serverless program with an input schema, a run lifecycle and a dataset output. That structure is useful because it makes tool comparison concrete. It also creates four separate questions that a single star rating cannot answer.
The four parts of a Store listing
A listing combines a public description, an input schema, an output schema and a pricing model. The description tells you what the publisher claims; the schemas tell you what the program accepts and returns; the pricing model tells you which event is billable.
Those parts can disagree. A listing may describe a broad site while the schema only covers one entity type. A price may be shown per event rather than per result. A build may be recent while the last public run was months ago. Read the parts separately and record the date you checked them.
- Input schema: what the Actor expects, which fields are required and whether it takes a query, URL or list.
- Output schema: the dataset fields, their types and whether nested objects are used.
- Pricing: the billable event, the published primary rate and any platform usage that sits on top.
- Freshness: the last build or update date, plus the public 30-day run statistics where available.
What an Actor is not
An Actor is not a licence to collect any content from the target site. The target's terms, access controls and privacy rules still apply. A hosted run can make collection easier to operate, but it does not change the legal or platform constraints around the data.
An Actor is also not a promise of data quality. A published schema can contain a field that is empty on many records. A successful run can return sparse data. A high user count can reflect longevity rather than fit for your job.
How to compare two Actors for one target
Start with the field set. If the workflow needs phone, website and coordinates, a tool without those fields is not a substitute even if it covers the same site. Then compare the input shape and the billable event. Finally, check the official access route and the terms that apply to the source.
The target pages on this site apply one published ranking formula to the catalogue and show the full comparison table beside it. The recommendation is a practical route, not a claim that every other Actor was tested for your exact input.
Questions people ask
Is an Apify Actor the same as a scraper?
Often, but not always. Many Actors scrape a website; others wrap an official API, transform data or automate a workflow. The common structure is the input schema, run lifecycle and dataset output, not the collection method.
Do I need to code to use an Actor?
No for a basic run. You can start from the Store page, supply the input and export the dataset. Custom inputs, schedules and integrations may need API or automation work.
What does listed price per 1,000 results mean?
It is the published primary-result rate for 1,000 records where the publisher exposes one. Actor start events, platform usage, proxies, storage and plan discounts can sit outside that number. Use the cost estimator for a row-count estimate and confirm the billing model on the Store page.
Can I reuse Actor output anywhere?
The output format is portable, but the underlying data is still subject to the source site's terms, copyright and privacy rules. Check those before publishing, redistributing or combining the data.
Sources
These sources support the general method on this page. A specific tool's price, schema or access route is on its target page with the check date.
- Apify Actors documentation
- Actors in the Apify Store
- Apify pricing
- Data sources and check policy
- Ranking method
Pick the website you need data from
Each website has a route map: every catalogue Actor for it, the fields each one returns, the price per 1,000 results and the official API beside them. Or search all 394 Actors by the field you need.