rasterly vs Apify — one render API vs a scraping platform

Q: Can I use both together?

Yes, and it is a reasonable split. Use Apify for large orchestrated scraping, proxies and its actor ecosystem, and rasterly for the cheap per-URL render and read jobs, screenshots, PDF, Markdown and structured JSON, under one key with a flat price.

Apify is the deeper scraping and automation platform, rasterly is the simple render and read API. Apify gives you an Actor marketplace of ready-made scrapers, a residential and datacenter proxy network, dataset storage, request queues, scheduling and an SDK for building your own crawlers. For large, managed scraping projects it is more capable, and rasterly will not match that breadth. rasterly does the common per-URL jobs on one key: URL → screenshot or PDF (screenshot), URL → clean Markdown (read), URL → structured JSON (extract), site → same-origin Markdown for RAG (crawl), plus animated GIF and MP4, from $0.90 per 1,000 renders. There is an MCP server for agents and per-call USDC on Base. Pick Apify for large orchestrated scraping. Pick rasterly for the common render or read job done cheaply in one call, without learning a platform.

If you're building on Apify

Three things tend to matter once a simple render or read is in the hot path of a paid product:

No platform to learn for the simple job. Apify is powerful because it is a full platform: actors, compute units, datasets, proxy configuration and runs. When the job is only "URL in, artifact out," that is a lot of surface to stand up. rasterly is one call that returns the screenshot, PDF, Markdown or JSON directly, with nothing to orchestrate.
Flat, predictable price. Apify bills a platform subscription plus compute units and proxy usage, so a run's cost tracks compute time and traffic. rasterly is a flat $0.90 per 1,000 renders with extract included and no credit multiplier, so the common per-URL job has a price you can forecast.
One key, agent-ready. read + extract + crawl + screenshot (png, jpeg, pdf, gif, mp4) + batch + async jobs with a signed webhook + monitors + verify on a single key, an MCP server via npx -y rasterly-mcp, and a pay-per-call USDC endpoint over x402 on Base so an agent needs no signup.

The real difference

	rasterly	Apify
URL → screenshot / PDF in one call	Yes, one GET	Via an actor or its API
URL → clean Markdown (read) and JSON (extract)	Yes, included	Via actors
Same-origin crawl → Markdown for RAG	Yes, crawl	Yes, deeper crawlers
Actor marketplace of ready-made scrapers	No	Yes, its core
Residential / datacenter proxy network	No	Yes
Datasets, queues, scheduling, orchestration	No	Yes
Animated capture (GIF / MP4 of a URL)	Yes, gif / mp4	Script it yourself
MCP server for agents	Yes, npx rasterly-mcp	Yes
SSRF protection out of the box	Enforced	Depends on the actor
Pricing model	Flat, from $0.90 / 1,000	Subscription + compute units + proxy

Honest line: for large, orchestrated scraping with proxies, an actor ecosystem and managed runs, Apify is broader and more capable, and rasterly does not match that today. rasterly wins on the common case: a per-URL render or read, screenshot, PDF, Markdown, JSON, GIF or MP4, done cheaply in one call with no platform to configure.

On price

The two meter very differently, so a tier-for-tier table would mislead. Apify prices a platform: a monthly subscription plus compute units for actor runs and separate proxy costs, so your bill tracks compute time and traffic and scales with the size of the job. rasterly prices per render at a flat rate, with reads and screenshots carrying no per-run compute cost and deterministic extract included.

Tier	rasterly	Apify
Free	100 renders, no card	Free monthly platform credit, see their site
Entry paid	$9 (Starter, 10k renders)	Subscription + compute units
Flat rate	$0.90 per 1,000 renders	Compute units + proxy usage
Extract	Included, no multiplier	Counts as actor compute

Rule of thumb: if you mostly render and read individual URLs, rasterly's flat price is cheaper and easier to forecast, roughly 70% under Urlbox on the render side. If you run large scraping operations that need proxies, an actor ecosystem and orchestration, that is exactly what Apify's platform pricing buys, and it is the right tool to pay for it.

The simple case, in code

If your only need is a screenshot or a clean read of a URL, the difference is standing up an actor run versus a single GET.

Apify — run an actor via the API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/ACTOR_ID/runs?token=TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"startUrls":[{"url":"https://stripe.com"}]}'
# then poll the run, then fetch the dataset items

rasterly — one GET

curl "https://api.rasterly.dev/v1/read?url=https://stripe.com" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: sk_live_..."

A screenshot is /v1/screenshot?url=; PDF is format=pdf; a GIF or MP4 is format=gif or format=mp4 with fps and duration_ms; JSON is /v1/extract?url=; a same-origin crawl is /v1/crawl?url=, all under one X-Api-Key. For proxy-heavy scraping, an actor marketplace, or orchestrated multi-site runs, that stays Apify's job.

FAQ

Is rasterly a replacement for Apify?

For large managed scraping projects, no. Apify is a broad platform with an Actor marketplace, a proxy network, datasets, storage and scheduling, and it is more capable for big crawls, anti-bot handling and orchestration. rasterly is a simple render and read API: a URL becomes a screenshot, PDF, clean Markdown, JSON, GIF or MP4 on one key. If your job is a per-URL render or read done cheaply in one call, rasterly is the leaner fit. If you are running a large orchestrated scraping operation, stay on Apify.

Where is Apify more capable than rasterly?

Breadth and scale. Apify has an Actor marketplace of ready-made scrapers, a residential and datacenter proxy network, dataset storage, request queues, scheduling and monitoring, and an SDK for building your own crawlers. For large managed scraping it is more powerful than rasterly. rasterly does not offer proxies, an actor marketplace, or long-running orchestration.

What does rasterly do more simply than Apify?

The common per-URL job with no platform to learn. One call to read returns clean Markdown, extract returns JSON, crawl returns same-origin Markdown for RAG, and screenshot returns png, jpeg, pdf, gif or mp4. It is a flat $0.90 per 1,000 renders with extract included, an MCP server via npx -y rasterly-mcp, and per-call USDC over x402 on Base.

Can I use both together?

Yes. Use Apify for large orchestrated scraping, proxies and its actor ecosystem, and rasterly for the cheap per-URL render and read jobs, screenshots, PDF, Markdown and structured JSON, under one key with a flat price.

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Apify pricing and features observed August 2026, shown for comparison only; check apify.com for current details. Apify bills a platform subscription plus compute units and proxy usage rather than per artifact, so the tables above are for rough orientation, not a per-render equivalence. rasterly is an independent product, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apify.