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Head to head · Scraping · October 2026 research run

Apify MCP Server vs Scrapingdog

Apify MCP Server scores 76.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Scrapingdog's 39.2 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do scraping. Apify MCP Server accepts x402. Scrapingdog doesn't.

Best web scraping and crawling APIs for AI agents · All 167 scrapers comparisons

Apify MCP ServerApify · MCP server BB76.5/100#28 of 950 ScrapingdogScrapingdog (OpenData Labs) · HTTP API E39.2/100#917 of 950

Which one, for what

Apify MCP Server BB

Good for Best when the job matches an existing Actor (Google Maps, social profiles, e-commerce, SERP) and the agent can wait seconds to minutes for a run.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 92 against 43
  • Agent ergonomics, 92 against 44
  • Security & auth, 62 against 5
  • Payments & pricing, 95 against 40
  • Maintenance & community, 95 against 45
  • Transparency & trust, 86 against 55

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
  • Open source

Watch for

API and Actor runs timed out for about 12 hours on 21 and 22 July 2026

Scrapingdog E

Good for A budget agent that wants parsed Google, Amazon or LinkedIn results and can keep the key out of logs.

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

API key only travels in the URL query string

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runApify MCP ServerScrapingdogEdge
Reliability16%206562Apify MCP Server +3
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.29243Apify MCP Server +49
Agent ergonomics13%16.29244Apify MCP Server +48
Security & auth14%17.5625Apify MCP Server +57
Payments & pricing10%12.59540Apify MCP Server +55
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.89545Apify MCP Server +50
Transparency & trust7%8.88655Apify MCP Server +31
Negative events≤15-5-2
Total76.5 · BB39.2 · E

Facts side by side

FactApify MCP ServerScrapingdog
KindMCP serverHTTP API
VendorApifyScrapingdog (OpenData Labs)
Hosted endpointhttps://mcp.apify.comhttps://api.scrapingdog.com/scrape
Transportsstdio, Streamable HTTPHTTP, stdio
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402yes, from $1/callno
LicenceMITnone
Tools exposed3535
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrycom.apify/apify-mcp-serverio.github.Darshan972/scrapingdog-mcp
Last release2026-09-302026-07-31
Terms last updated2026-07-092026-01-13
Privacy policy last updated2026-07-092025-07-17
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularity8.6k stars, 15k npm/wk0 stars, 41 npm/wk, 12 PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3.4/5 (8)3/5 (2)

Verdicts

Apify MCP Server

x402 on Apify's own domains, a prepaid token from agi.apify.com for any Actor and per-run payment on mcp.apify.com for Pay Per Event Actors. API and Actor runs timed out for about 12 hours on 21 and 22 July 2026.

Scrapingdog

A plain request is 1 credit, about $0.20 per 1,000 on Lite. API key only travels in the URL query string.

Before you call either

Apify MCP Server

  1. Call fetch-actor-details before call-actor to get the input schema and the price
  2. Use apify--web-fetch for one known URL and apify--rag-web-browser for search and read
  3. Read results with get-dataset-items and set fields and limit. The default is 20 rows
  4. Buy an AGI token for anything that isn't a Pay Per Event Actor, since direct ?payment=x402 refuses the rest. Tokens last 14 days and unused balance isn't refunded
  5. Ask for get-actor-run-log, not get-actor-log. The old name is ignored without an error

Scrapingdog

  1. Add dynamic=false unless the page needs JavaScript. It cuts the cost from 5 credits to 1, whatever the MCP description says
  2. Keep request URLs out of logs, since they carry api_key
  3. Set client timeouts above 60 seconds and retry on 429 or timeout. Failures aren't billed
  4. Prefer the parsed endpoints (Google, Amazon) over scraping the raw page when one exists

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Apify MCP Server or Scrapingdog?

Apify MCP Server scores 76.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Scrapingdog's 39.2 (E), and leads in every scored category.

Do Apify MCP Server and Scrapingdog need an API key?

Apify MCP Server takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Scrapingdog needs an API key. An agent can also pay Apify MCP Server per call over x402, with no account.

Can an agent call Apify MCP Server and Scrapingdog without installing anything?

Yes. Apify MCP Server has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.apify.com and Scrapingdog at https://api.scrapingdog.com/scrape.

Are Apify MCP Server and Scrapingdog open source?

Apify MCP Server is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Scrapingdog.

Other comparisons with Apify MCP Server or Scrapingdog

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