Apify vs Octoparse in 2024: Which Web Scraper Fits Your Needs

Apify and Octoparse both provide cloud-based storage and management for data. While Apify offers web scrapers designed primarily for developers, Octoparse is better tailored for users without programming skills. Choosing the right web scraping tool is crucial to retrieve data efficiently from the web.

This content delves into a detailed comparison between two prominent players: Apify and Octoparse, evaluating various aspects of both platforms, such as ease of use, key features like customization options and pricing structures.

About the providers & market positioning

To evaluate and compare the market standings of Apify and Octoparse, we’ve gathered user feedback and ratings from trusted B2B review platforms such as G2, TrustRadius, and Capterra. The table below presents this combined information, indicating the number of reviews each company has obtained and the average rating provided by users.

Apify

Apify is a cloud-based web scraping and automation platform, enabling developers and businesses to build, test, and deploy tools for web scraping and browser-based automation tasks.

Octoparse

Octoparse provides a cloud-based, no-code platform for web scraping, featuring an easy-to-use interface. This tool enables users to create their custom scrapers without needing advanced technical skills.

Apify vs. Octoparse: Feature-based evaluation

Apify

• Ready-to-use actors: Apify Actors (aka pre-built web scraping tools) serve as a main components in the Apify platform, primarily used for web scraping and web automation tasks.This feature allows developers to create their own custom Actors using JavaScript or to select from a range of pre-existing Actors available in the Apify Store.

• Proxies: Apify provides two types of proxy: datacenter proxies, which include both shared and dedicated options, and residential proxies.
• Proxy rotation: Each scraping request is allocated a new IP address. The proxy settings are typically configured to ‘Automatic’ by default, which means they require no additional setup from the user. However, if you are developing an actor using the Apify SDK and want to incorporate Apify Proxy, it’s necessary to include the ProxyConfiguration class in your script.
• Cloud-based infrastructure: Apify’s cloud hosting infrastructure removes the requirement for external hosting solutions, simplifying the storage, management, and distribution of software written in various programming languages.

Octoparse

• Task templates: Octoparse includes pre-designed templates for automated scraping of major websites such as Amazon, Twitter, and eBay, streamlining the task setup process for users who are not technically inclined. These templates can be tailored to meet specific scraping needs.

• Cloud data extraction: Octoparse provides on-premise (local) and cloud-based data scraping solutions. On-premise data extraction allows users to scrape web data using their own devices. In contrast, cloud-based data extraction involves storing and processing data on cloud servers. This is particularly useful for projects that require scraping a vast number of web pages concurrently that local servers might not handle efficiently.

• Auto-detect: Octoparse’s web scraping tool has the capability to automatically detect the context of a web page. You can remove any columns that may not be necessary for your specific scraping task, ensuring that the extracted data is as relevant and concise as possible.

• Proxy support: Octoparse provides rotating anonymous HTTP proxies. In its Cloud Extraction mode, Octoparse employs third-party proxies to automatically rotate IP addresses. For local extraction tasks, users have the option to input their own list of external proxy addresses manually.
• Two scraping modes: Octoparse offers two different modes for extracting data: task template (for beginners) and advanced mode (experienced users). Task template mode provides an easy-to-use framework for quick data extraction. On the other hand, the advanced mode offers more comprehensive tools to extract data from complex web sites.
• Data cleaning: Incorporates built-in Regex (Regular Expression) and XPath tools for automatic data cleaning and structuring of extracted data.
• Image downloader: Designed for Windows and serves as a Chrome extension for bulk downloading visual content like PDF files, images, and videos. Users can input a list of URLs, enabling the simultaneous download of multiple image files without the need to visit each website individually.
• Various export formats: The web scraping tool allows users to download data in common file types such as CSV, Excel, HTML, and TXT.

Pros and cons based on user reviews

The comparison has been compiled using 2023 user review data from G2. We utilized only user review data from 2023 to offer the most current insights into the product, as products are frequently updated and reviews from before 2023 may be outdated.

Apify pros

• Ready-to-use scrapers: The Apify Store provides an array of pre-built scraping solutions, available for free or for purchase. Rich store of pre-built Actors in the community. ²
• Easy-to-use: Effortless creation of Apify actors, user-friendly interface. ³
• Social media scraping: Useful for social media data collection and automation tool integration.⁴
• Suitable for mid-sized organizations: Fair and flexible pricing for small to mid-sized companies.⁵
• Revenue generation for developers: Developers can create and sell their own scraper or browser automation tool in the Apify Store.
• Various supported languages: Versatile platform supporting multiple programming languages.⁶

Apify cons

• Learning curve: Steep learning curve due to feature richness. Although the Apify API provides extensive features and capabilities, it might present a more challenging learning curve for individuals who are inexperienced with web scraping. ⁷
• Data quality management: Technical terms challenging for non-developers. While Apify empowers users to customize their scraping tasks, the onus of maintaining data quality and precision falls on them, necessitating extra effort and specialized knowledge. ⁸
• Pricing barrier for small-scale users: Proxy usage can be costly; occasional memory errors.⁹

Octoparse pros

• User-friendly interface: User-friendly interface, suitable for non-programmers. Its point and click interface makes it accessible for users without coding skills. ¹⁰
• Pre-built templates: Octoparse provides a collection of over 100 pre-built web scraping templates, useful for commonly accessed sites such as e-commerce and social media platforms.

Octoparse cons

• Low speed using cloud mode: Sluggish performance in cloud scraping.¹¹ Need for improvement in scraping speed and app performance; occasional bugs. ¹²
• Pricing: Can be inflexible for certain projects; high cost for cloud processing. ¹³ High pricing plans; costly for captcha-protected sites. ¹⁴

Pricing and plans

Octoparse

• Starting package: $75/mo
• Refund: Provides a 5-day money-back guarantee on all its premium plans. However, the fee for the first month following the free trial is not eligible for a refund.
• Free trial: Offers a free trial period of 14 days for both its standard and professional plans.

Apify

• Starting package: $49/mo
• Paid Actors in Apify Store: Paid Actors available in the Apify Store can be used by subscribing to on a monthly basis. There are two categories of paid Actors within the Apify Store: pay-per-result and monthly rental. The monthly rental Actors also offer a trial period.
• Free trial: Apify provides a free usage allowance of $5.
• Pay as you go: Apify’s paid plans allows users to continue using the platform even if they exceed the usage limit by paying for the additional usage as overage charges.

Further reading

• Web Scraping Tools: Data-driven Benchmarking in 2023
• Choosing Your Proxy Provider: Smartproxy vs. Bright Data
• The Ultimate Guide to Octoparse vs. ParseHub in 2023
• Top 4 Octoparse Alternatives & Competitors in 2023

External Links

• 1. Apify Store
• 2. Apify Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 3. Apify Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 4. Apify Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 5. Apify Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 6. Apify Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 7. Apify Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 8. Apify Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 9. See footnote 4
• 10. Octoparse Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 11. Octoparse Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 12. Octoparse Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 13. Octoparse Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023
• 14. Octoparse Reviews & Product Details, G2, Accessed 27 December, 2023