Best Apify Actors: the complete hub
The Apify Store hosts 30,000+ Actors. The five highest-traffic categories in 2026 are Google Maps (Compass's scraper has 426K users), Instagram (Apify's official scraper, 277K users), TikTok (Clockworks, 185K users), LinkedIn, and lead generation. Open the category guide that matches your job, then apply the rubric below.
This is a routing page. Pick the category that matches the job, open that guide, shortlist two Actors, and run a 10-row test. The per-category pages carry the comparison tables and verdicts. This page exists so you don't read the wrong one.
Which guide do I open?
Match the trigger on the left to your job, then click through. Don't shop the whole Store.
| If your job is… | Open this |
|---|---|
| B2B contact lists, email + phone discovery | Lead generation Actors |
| Local businesses, reviews, places, SMB outreach | Google Maps scrapers |
| Profiles, company employees, job posts, recruiting | LinkedIn scrapers |
| Influencer/creator research, hashtag + post data | Instagram · TikTok · YouTube |
| Brand/ad monitoring, page posts, ad library | Facebook scrapers |
| Social listening, sentiment, trend tracking | Twitter / X · Reddit · Multi-platform |
| Prices, variants, sellers, buy-box, catalog | E-commerce scrapers |
| Real estate listings, rents, market comps | Zillow scrapers |
| Feeding a RAG pipeline, LLM training, doc ingestion | AI & RAG data Actors |
| Exposing scrapers as tools to Claude/Cursor/agents | MCP server Actors |
| "Just show me what's popular" | Most popular Actors |
Edge cases: if you need one-off extraction from a site no category covers, search the Apify Store directly and apply the rubric below. If you're deciding between Apify and another vendor first, read web scraping tools comparison 2026 before any category page.
Where the volume lives. The three highest-traffic individual Actors on the Store are Compass's Google Maps Scraper (426K all-time users, 4.75★), Apify's own Instagram Scraper (277K users, 4.73★), and Clockworks' TikTok Scraper (185K users, 4.72★). The most popular Actors page ranks the rest.
Browse the Apify Store · Start scraping for free
Evaluation rubric: how to pick an Actor in under two minutes
Apply this on any Actor page before you trust it. An Actor that fails two or more rows is usually not worth the test run.
| Check | Pass threshold | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Last updated | Within 90 days (30 for volatile targets: LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok) | Actor header, "Last modified" |
| Run volume | ≥ 50 runs in the last month, or 10K+ all-time users | Stats tab |
| Run success rate | ≥ 90% over the last 30 days | Stats tab |
| Ratings | 4.0+ with ≥ 20 reviews; read the 2-star reviews first | Actor page header |
| Pricing model matches volume | Pay-per-result for predictable reporting; rental for steady high-frequency; pay-per-usage for spiky/experimental | Pricing tab (normalize to cost per 1,000 useful rows) |
| Publisher track record | Maintainer has more than one Actor, or carries the Apify-maintained badge | Publisher link on Actor page |
| README has sample output | Real JSON/CSV example of every field you need | Actor README |
| Responsive to issues | Recent Issues tab activity, not ghosted | Issues tab |
Two additional filters Apify power users apply: (1) if the same publisher ships three near-identical "scrapers" with different names, treat the one with the most runs as canonical and ignore the rest; (2) if pricing is pay-per-result but the Actor frequently returns empty rows for valid inputs, effective cost is infinite, so flag that on your test run.
After you pick: validate, then scale
- Open the Actor with the free Apify plan credits.
- Run 10 rows with inputs you already know the correct output for.
- Diff the output schema against what your downstream system expects. Missing fields now = rewrites later.
- Only then schedule or wire it to production.
Pair the Actor with a tutorial if you need one: Google Maps · Instagram · Amazon · Apify MCP in Claude Desktop.
Apify includes monthly free credits so you can run the 10-row validation before you commit.
There is no universal winner. The right Actor depends on the target site and required fields. Use the routing table above to open the matching category guide, then apply the rubric (last updated, success rate, pricing fit, README sample output) to two shortlisted candidates.
The Apify Store is the marketplace of Actors: packaged scrapers and automations published by Apify and third-party developers. Each listing has pricing, documentation, run statistics, and ratings you compare before running anything.
Open the matching category guide in this hub, pick two Actors from its comparison table, then check last update (under 90 days), success rate (90%+), pricing fit for your volume, and whether the README shows the output schema. Run both on the same 10-row input and keep the one with cleaner data.
Publishers set pricing per Actor: pay-per-result, pay-per-usage (compute units), rental, or event-based. The Apify free plan includes monthly credits that cover validation runs on most Actors; paid plans kick in once you exceed free limits or use premium-priced Actors.
An Actor runs on Apify's managed platform with standardized inputs/outputs, proxies, scheduling, storage, scaling, and logs. A script on your laptop has none of that unless you build and maintain the operational layer yourself.
Yes. The Apify MCP server exposes Store Actors as tools to any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, and others). See Use Apify MCP servers and Best MCP server Actors for setup and the Actors best suited to agent calls.
Filter by last update (under 90 days, under 30 for volatile targets like LinkedIn), require 90%+ success rate, and read 2-star reviews before 5-star ones. If output looks empty on a site that recently redesigned, check the Actor changelog and Issues tab before blaming your input.