Apify alternative
A simpler Apify alternative for the data you actually want: the whole Google menu, plus LinkedIn profiles and local business leads. One clean API instead of a marketplace of actors, one credit per successful call, and credits that never expire.
One request, real response
No actor to pick, no compute units to size. You send one GET request and get clean JSON back in about a second. The example below is a Maps search:
The same businesses come as CSV, so they drop straight into Sheets or a CRM:
Swap type=maps for news, shopping, reviews, and the rest. The key and the schema stay the same across every type.
The full record, ready to use
Every result comes complete, so you build a list or a dataset with no second call and no dataset to download later. The same business as CSV, ready for Sheets or a database:
Or the same record as clean JSON from the API:
Apify vs CrustAPI
Apify is a marketplace and platform for running scrapers built by many authors. CrustAPI is one clean data API for the data you actually want: the whole Google menu, plus LinkedIn profiles and local business leads. The difference shows up most in billing and in what you have to manage.
| Apify | CrustAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing model | Per-actor pricing that can combine platform usage with the actor's own charge | One credit per successful call, nothing else to add up |
| Free tier | Free plan with a limited monthly platform allowance | 3,000 results a month, no card |
| Credit expiry | Subscription allowance resets each month | Prepaid credits never expire |
| Data and output | You export the dataset you run; it lives on the platform | Clean JSON in the response, or the same rows as CSV; no storage limits, keep and export it |
| Site coverage | Thousands of actors across many sites, quality varies by author | One clean API for the whole Google menu, plus LinkedIn profiles and local business leads |
| Google surfaces | Depends on which actor you pick | Search, Maps, News, Shopping, Images, Videos, Scholar, Patents, Places, Reviews |
| Setup | Pick an actor, set inputs, run, wait, download | One GET request, JSON back in about a second |
One credit per successful call
Prepaid packs, and credits never expire: 25k for $49 · 100k for $149 · 500k for $549 · 2.5M for $1,999 · up to 250M, all self-serve, ex-tax. Every search is one credit; a Maps search bills one credit per business it returns; a search that comes back empty costs nothing. No compute units, no proxy line item, no storage fee on top.
Every Google surface, one API
One key and one schema across the whole Google menu, plus LinkedIn profiles and local business leads. Each surface returns clean records you can keep, as clean JSON from the API or the same rows as CSV.
Related: Google Maps scraper API · Google Search API · Google News API · LinkedIn profile scraper · Docs
When Apify is the better pick: if you need a site CrustAPI does not cover, like Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, or Zillow, Apify's marketplace almost certainly has an actor for it. Apify is also a full platform, so you can build, host, schedule, and run your own custom scrapers with its SDK, storage, and proxies. CrustAPI is narrower on purpose. It is one clean API for the whole Google menu, plus LinkedIn profiles and local business leads, priced one way. If your work lives inside that set, the simpler billing and the credits that never expire are the reason to switch. The two are not exclusive; plenty of teams use both.
Common questions
Clay
Try it on a search you run today
3,000 free credits covers real work. Send one request and look at the JSON that comes back.
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