The short answer
Zyte is a request-level retrieval and extraction service; Apify hosts a selected scraper program. If you need a single URL normalized quickly, test that path. If you need an ongoing dataset job, compare full run completion, records and total platform cost.
| Provider | A good reason to choose it | Important caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Apify | A recurring or site-specific collection job that benefits from an existing Actor or a custom hosted scraper. | Apify is a platform, not one universal page-extraction schema. Actor fees, compute, proxy use and output quality must be checked for the particular Actor. |
| Zyte API | A collector that needs to choose between raw HTTP retrieval, rendered content and structured extraction while retaining request-level controls. | httpResponseBody is Base64-encoded. Browser and extraction options change work performed and pricing; they are not equivalent to a plain HTTP request. |
Side-by-side differences
| Requirement | Apify | Zyte API |
|---|---|---|
| Primary workflow | Hosted Actor runs and datasets | HTTP/browser retrieval and extraction in one request schema |
| Returned content | Actor-defined records or files | Base64 HTTP body, browser HTML or structured fields |
| Rendering/control | Actor implementation determines browser behavior | Explicit HTTP/browser options and browser actions |
| Job model | Run creation, status and dataset retrieval | Synchronous extract requests |
| Integration boundary | Pin Actor identity, version and input schema | Decode and validate the selected output field |
| Cost driver | Actor charges, compute, storage and proxy usage | Request tier, HTTP/browser mode and extraction |
Pricing: make the units comparable
| Provider | Billing model | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Apify | Platform usage plus Actor-specific pricing | Plans include platform spend; individual Actors can use compute, per-result or other pricing. Do not infer total job cost from the platform's compute-unit rate alone. |
| Zyte API | Usage pricing by request tier and selected capabilities | Keep HTTP, browser and automatic extraction costs separate. Use the target workload and current pricing rules rather than one headline cost per thousand requests. |
For 1,000 accepted pages, record attempted URLs, render mode, retries and schema failures. A low HTML-request price can require separate parsing; an extraction credit can include work that another vendor bills separately. Do not rank cost until the output passes the same acceptance check.
For a buying decision, calculate total spend divided by accepted outputs at your expected volume. Keep free evaluation access, paid production access, annual commitments and overages separate. We have not measured a cost or speed winner for this pair.
What changes in the integration?
| Apify | Zyte API | |
|---|---|---|
| Method and URL | POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/{actorId}/runs | POST https://api.zyte.com/v1/extract |
| Authentication | Bearer API token | HTTP Basic auth with API key as username and an empty password |
| Inputs | Actor-specific JSON input, authenticated with a token | JSON url plus httpResponseBody, browserHtml or extraction fields |
| Output | Run metadata; retrieve finished output from the run's dataset or use an appropriate synchronous endpoint. | Requested response fields; httpResponseBody requires Base64 decoding. |
Apify: migration check
Pin an Actor and its schema/version in the adapter. Wait for terminal run status, then validate dataset items; the run-creation response is not the scraped data.
Zyte API: migration check
Decode httpResponseBody before parsing. Do not label a missing browserHtml field as an empty page when the request asked only for an HTTP body.
How to test them fairly
- Build an authorized test set spanning static HTML, JavaScript-rendered pages, tables and long articles. Save expected fields and the permitted access conditions.
- Use the same URLs, country, device settings and freshness window. Keep cache hits separate from fresh fetches.
- Mark challenge pages, empty main content and invalid structured fields as failures even if the HTTP status is 200.
- Measure time to a usable document or completed dataset, not only time to job creation. Include polling, retries and client-side parsing.
- Report total billed credits, browser time, proxy charges and actor fees per accepted document. Respect site terms, privacy, robots guidance and access controls; do not test bypassing protected accounts.
Record the plan, request settings, time window and acceptance rules with every run. That makes a later result interpretable when a vendor changes a model, source set or pricing tier.
Prefer a common request format?
POST /api/v1/web-scraping/extractReview the request contract and tell us the coverage you need. Access requires enablement; this endpoint does not execute or bill requests yet.
View endpoint and request accessSources and review dates
Documentation reviewed October 28, 2026. These are integration and plan comparisons, not measured speed or accuracy rankings. Availability, licensing and prices should be confirmed for the chosen plan.
Corrections: email faizank@docsalot.dev with an official source.