# Apify MCP Server vs Scrapingdog

> Apify scores 76.5 (BB) to Scrapingdog's 39.2 (E) for scraping. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-scrapingdog
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-scrapingdog.md (~2,600 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-scrapingdog.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-scrapingdog.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-04

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.

- Apify MCP Server: grade BB, 76.5/100, rank #28 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/apify-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/apify-mcp.json
- Scrapingdog: grade E, 39.2/100, rank #917 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scrapingdog.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/scrapingdog.json
- Best web scraping and crawling APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/web-scrapers/index.md
- All 167 scrapers comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/web-scrapers/index.md

## 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

| Category | Weight | Apify MCP Server | Scrapingdog | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 62 | Apify MCP Server +3 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 92 | 43 | Apify MCP Server +49 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 92 | 44 | Apify MCP Server +48 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 62 | 5 | Apify MCP Server +57 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 95 | 40 | Apify MCP Server +55 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 95 | 45 | Apify MCP Server +50 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 55 | Apify MCP Server +31 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **76.5 · BB** | **39.2 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Apify MCP Server | Scrapingdog |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Apify | Scrapingdog (OpenData Labs) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.apify.com` | `https://api.scrapingdog.com/scrape` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | yes, from $1/call | no |
| Licence | MIT | none |
| Tools exposed | 35 | 35 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | `com.apify/apify-mcp-server` | `io.github.Darshan972/scrapingdog-mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-07-31 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-07-09 | 2026-01-13 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-07-09 | 2025-07-17 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 8.6k stars, 15k npm/wk | 0 stars, 41 npm/wk, 12 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.4/5 (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.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-scrapingdog.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-scrapingdog.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "apify-mcp", "b": "scrapingdog"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare apify-mcp scrapingdog`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/apify-mcp.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/scrapingdog.json

## Other comparisons with Apify MCP Server or Scrapingdog

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