Apify vs. ParseHub: Which fits your no-code scraping workflow?
Apify and ParseHub both let non-developers extract web data. Apify is a full cloud platform with APIs, scheduling, integrations, and 30,000+ ready-made Actors. ParseHub is a desktop visual builder (Windows, Mac, Linux) that runs projects in its own cloud on paid tiers. Pricing and free-tier limits below were checked against public pages in May 2026; confirm before you buy.
ParseHub still ships and lists current plans as of May 2026, so this is not a dead product. The honest split: ParseHub wins for non-developers who want point-and-click selection on the desktop at small volume, while Apify wins for cloud scale, scheduling, proxy rotation, ready Actors, and an open-source code path when projects outgrow visual tools.
Quick Answer
Apify has the larger feature set (cloud scale, API, 30,000+ Actors). ParseHub is best for non-developers who want a desktop application for visual scraping without cloud complexity, and whose volume fits the free or entry paid caps.
Use ParseHub when a GUI trainer on your own machine is the main requirement. Use Apify when you want hosted automation, integrations, proxy rotation, and room to grow into custom code on the same system.
Full comparison table
| Dimension | Apify | ParseHub |
|---|---|---|
| Product shape | Cloud platform, Store, and API | Desktop app (Windows, Mac, Linux) plus ParseHub cloud runs |
| Cloud vs desktop | Cloud-native, nothing to install | Desktop-first build, cloud execution on paid tiers |
| No-code path | Configure pre-built Actors | Point-and-click project design in the trainer |
| Free tier | $5/mo credits, cloud runs, scheduling included | 200 pages/run, 5 public projects, no scheduling, 14-day data retention |
| Paid entry (indicative) | ~$29/mo Starter | ~$189/mo Standard (verify on ParseHub) |
| API and webhooks | Core to the product | API on paid tiers |
| Integrations | Wide (Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Drive, and more) | More limited (Dropbox, Google Sheets, API export) |
| Proxies and anti-blocking | Built-in datacenter and residential proxies, rotation, browser fingerprinting | IP rotation on paid plans, no managed residential pool |
| Scheduling | Cron scheduling on cloud, including free credits | Scheduling on paid plans only |
| Ready-made Actors | 30,000+ in Apify Store | None; every project built by hand |
| Scale | Serverless cloud plus optional custom Actors | Cloud plans unlock higher pages/run (up to 25K on Professional) |
| Code escape hatch | Crawlee (open source) deployed on the same platform | Bounded by visual feature set, no published SDK |
| Learning curve | Low for Store Actors, steeper for custom code | Moderate; visual but requires learning selection logic |
| Active maintenance | Frequent releases, large active Store ecosystem | Lists current 2026 plans; update cadence is slower than Apify |
When to use which
| You need… | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-on visual training for odd layouts | ParseHub | Desktop workflow for selecting nested elements |
| Hands-off runs while the team sleeps | Apify | Schedules + cloud credits out of the box |
| Cheapest scalable entry for SMBs | Apify | Lower published starting price vs ParseHub Standard |
| Low-volume experiments on free tier | Compare limits | ParseHub caps pages/run; Apify credits meter cloud usage differently |
| Future custom high-performance scraper | Apify | Crawlee path without changing vendors |
| Strict preference to avoid cloud accounts initially | ParseHub (local) | Desktop-first habit; upgrade when you need cloud |
Free plans in practice
- Apify: Monthly credits fund hosted runs; automation keeps working when hardware is offline within credit limits. Details: Apify Free plan.
- ParseHub Free: Useful for manual bursts (e.g., 200 pages per run) but no scheduler, so it is less suited to daily pipelines until you pay.
Pricing
- Apify: Starter at ~$29/mo with prepaid usage. See Apify pricing guide.
- ParseHub: Standard commonly listed ~$189/mo. Validate on ParseHub’s pricing page for your currency and feature bundle.
User experience
- ParseHub: Strong when you want to teach the scraper by clicking sample rows, handling AJAX/infinite scroll inside the trainer.
- Apify: Strong when a Store Actor already encodes site-specific edge cases: you focus on inputs, not selectors.
Scaling and long-term flexibility
Start on Apify with a Store Actor; graduate to a Crawlee Actor if requirements outgrow templates. ParseHub growth stays inside visual capabilities; there is no equivalent open-source SDK published as part of the same runtime.
Choose ParseHub if…
- You are a non-developer who prefers building scrapers by clicking sample elements on screen.
- You want to keep your work on a desktop app and run small jobs without a cloud account at first.
- Your volume fits the free tier (200 pages per run) or a single paid plan.
- You need cross-platform desktop support across Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Choose Apify if…
- You need scheduled, hands-off runs in the cloud that keep working when your machine is off.
- You want ready-made Actors from the Store instead of building every scraper by hand.
- You need managed proxies, IP rotation, and anti-blocking on hard targets.
- You expect to grow into custom code via Crawlee without switching vendors.
- You want API, webhooks, and integrations (Make, Zapier, n8n) as first-class features.
If you are unsure where to start, the how to use Apify guide walks non-developers through running a Store Actor with no code.
Moving from ParseHub to Apify
If a ParseHub project has outgrown its visual limits, slow update cadence, or per-plan caps, migrating to Apify is usually a clean swap rather than a rebuild. The path:
- Identify the target sites in your ParseHub projects and check the Apify Store for an Actor that already covers them. Many popular sites have a maintained Actor.
- For custom sites, recreate the extraction with a generic crawler Actor (configure start URLs and selectors) instead of hand-training a project.
- Move scheduling into Apify's built-in cron, replacing manual desktop runs.
- Wire results into your stack through the API, webhooks, or integrations rather than manual exports.
Because Apify runs in the cloud, you also drop the dependency on keeping a desktop machine awake for recurring jobs.
Verdict
ParseHub remains a solid desktop visual choice for non-developers who want minimal cloud surface area at small scale, and it still lists current plans as of May 2026. Apify is the broader platform: API, integrations, managed proxies, scheduling on the free tier (via credits), and 30,000+ Actors make it the default recommendation for ongoing, cloud-native data pipelines.
See also Apify alternatives and the head-to-head Apify vs. Octoparse comparison for more no-code options.
Try Apify with free monthly credits →
Apify is a cloud scraping platform with thousands of pre-built Actors, API access, webhooks, integrations, and optional custom code via Crawlee. ParseHub is a desktop visual scraper with cloud execution on paid tiers. Apify emphasizes hosted automation and developer extensibility; ParseHub emphasizes interactive training for custom page structures.
Apify’s free plan provides monthly cloud credits so you can run and schedule jobs on Apify servers. ParseHub’s free tier allows limited cloud pages per run (commonly 200) with a cap on public projects and no scheduling. That suits one-off extractions better than continuous automation.
Apify usually wins on entry price: Starter is near $29/month versus ParseHub Standard near $189/month at the time of this writing. Always confirm current promotions and currency on each vendor’s site.
Yes. ParseHub’s trainer is built for dynamic pages, AJAX, and infinite scroll. Apify handles JavaScript-heavy targets as well, often via browser-based Actors or Crawlee.
Choose cloud-first (Apify) when you need schedules, webhooks, and team-wide access without leaving workstations on. Choose desktop-first (ParseHub) when you primarily build visually on one machine and export results manually until you upgrade.
Apify scales further for advanced teams: custom Actors, large datasets, and integration ecosystems. ParseHub scales within its visual model and paid cloud tiers but lacks a first-class code SDK on the same platform.
Yes. As of May 2026 ParseHub still ships its desktop app for Windows, Mac, and Linux and lists current plans (free 200 pages per run, Standard near $189/month, Professional near $599/month). It is not discontinued, though its update cadence appears slower than Apify's. Verify the latest details on parsehub.com before you commit.
Check the Apify Store for an Actor that already covers your target sites, and for custom sites recreate the extraction with a generic crawler Actor instead of hand-training a project. Then move scheduling into Apify's built-in cron and wire results through the API, webhooks, or integrations. Because Apify runs in the cloud, you stop depending on a desktop machine staying awake for recurring jobs.
Apify includes managed datacenter and residential proxies with rotation and browser fingerprinting, which helps on aggressive anti-bot sites. ParseHub offers IP rotation on paid plans but does not provide a managed residential proxy pool, so heavily protected targets are easier to scrape reliably on Apify.
