Web scraping and automation platform built around a marketplace of pre-built, ready-to-use scrapers.
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Apify vs n8n
Comparing Apify and n8n to help you pick the right Web Scraping Tools for your needs.
| Feature | Apify | n8n |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Platforms | Web | Web |
| Editorial rating | ★ 4.1 / 5 | ★ 4.2 / 5 |
| Starting price | $0/month | $0 |
| Community votes | 13 | 18 |
Apify Pros & Cons
- Marketplace of ready-made scrapers ('Actors') means non-developers can extract data from common sites without writing scraping code
- Built-in proxy rotation and browser automation infrastructure handle the technical complexity of avoiding common anti-scraping defenses
- Free tier provides genuine usable credits for testing and small-scale scraping before requiring payment
- Custom Actor development is available for developers wanting fully tailored scraping logic beyond the pre-built marketplace options
- Active community contributing to the Actor marketplace continually expands the range of sites covered by ready-made scrapers
- Usage-based credit pricing can become unpredictable at higher volumes, requiring active monitoring to avoid unexpected costs
- Custom Actor development for unique or unsupported scraping needs still requires JavaScript or Python knowledge
- Marketplace Actors, while convenient, may not always be perfectly tailored to a specific use case's exact requirements
- Reliability of marketplace Actors depends partly on community maintenance, since target websites' structures change over time and can break scrapers
n8n Pros & Cons
- Free if self-hosted, avoiding Zapier's or Make's per-task pricing entirely, which can scale unpredictably as automation volume grows
- Open-source codebase means full control, transparency, and no vendor lock-in tied to one company's continued business decisions
- Self-hosting keeps workflow data and credentials on infrastructure the business controls, relevant for data sensitivity or compliance concerns
- Supports custom code nodes for advanced logic that purely visual, no-code competitors handle less flexibly
- Active open-source community contributes integrations and workflow templates beyond what the core team builds alone
- Self-hosting requires real technical setup (server provisioning, maintenance, updates) most non-developers won't want to do themselves
- Smaller library of pre-built app integrations than Zapier's much larger, more established marketplace
- Basic workflows can be built visually without code, but the most advanced use cases benefit from real developer familiarity
- Cloud-hosted option, while removing the self-hosting burden, narrows the cost advantage over Zapier or Make at lower automation volumes
Verdict: Apify vs n8n
Apify and n8n both serve the Web Scraping Tools category well, but suit different priorities. n8n carries the stronger editorial rating (4.2 / 5), Based on community engagement, n8n is currently the more widely adopted choice (18 votes), but the better fit ultimately depends on your specific pricing, platform, and feature requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which is cheaper, Apify or n8n?
- Apify and n8n use a similar pricing model (both freemium), so the cheaper choice depends on which specific plan tier and feature set you need rather than the base pricing model.
- Is Apify or n8n rated higher?
- n8n has the higher editorial rating at 4.2 out of 5, compared to Apify's 4.1 out of 5. This is Kreemhunt's own staff rating, not a public user aggregate — review the pros and cons below for specifics that matter to your use case.
- Which platforms do Apify and n8n support?
- Apify is available on Web. n8n is available on Web. Both tools cover a similar range of platforms.
- Can I switch from Apify to n8n (or vice versa)?
- Most web scraping tools tools, including Apify and n8n, support data export in standard formats, making migration possible though rarely fully automatic. Expect to manually verify that custom configurations, integrations, and historical data transfer correctly, and budget time for the team to adjust to workflow differences between the two products.
- Should I choose Apify or n8n?
- Apify and n8n both serve the Web Scraping Tools category well, but suit different priorities. n8n carries the stronger editorial rating (4.2 / 5), Based on community engagement, n8n is currently the more widely adopted choice (18 votes), but the better fit ultimately depends on your specific pricing, platform, and feature requirements.