What you'll have
A public Actor on Apify Store with a README, input form and pricing. Users run it in Apify's cloud and you get paid per event or result.
Who pays for it: Marketers, researchers and developers who need data from a site and don't want to build a scraper.
The stack and what it costs
| Tool | Month 1 | Ongoing (per month) | Notes and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apify Platform, hosting, billing | Free account – | Revenue share – | Apify's commission and platform usage costs come out of your payout; rates not verified by us |
| Total | $0 | $0/mo Estimate | Sum of the rows. Excludes tax, per-sale fees and anything marked "–" (not verified or usage-based). |
Plan prices are list prices in USD from each tool's pricing page; plan choices for month 1 and ongoing are our estimate for one person doing this part time.
Step by step
4 of 4 steps are checked against official docs. Menu names are quoted from the linked docs as of the date shown; apps change, so follow the doc if what you see differs.
Create an Actor from a template
In Apify Console, go to Actors, select Develop new and pick a template. You can also link a Git repository or push code with the Apify CLI.
Source: Apify Academy: Creating Actors, read 20 October 2026
Write a README that sells
Apify hosts your README as the Actor's documentation, so explain inputs, outputs and limits plainly.
Source: Apify Docs: Publishing Actors, read 20 October 2026
Pick a pricing model
Pay per event (users pay for events your code triggers, such as each result) or pay per usage (users pay only platform costs). Your payout is revenue minus Apify's commission and platform usage costs.
Source: Apify Docs: Monetize your Actor, read 20 October 2026
Publish and keep it working
Public Actors need ongoing maintenance because other people depend on them. Fix breakages quickly when the target site changes.
Source: Apify Docs: Publishing Actors, read 20 October 2026
Common mistakes
- Scraping sites whose terms forbid it, or personal data without a lawful basis.
- Underestimating maintenance.
- Pricing pay-per-event Actors below your platform costs.
Rights and terms check
You're responsible for what your Actor collects. Check the target site's terms and data-protection law, especially for personal data. This isn't legal advice.
A summary of public terms, not legal advice. Commercial-rights matrix
Alternatives and when to pick them
| Tool | When to choose it | Free plan | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browse AI | Pick it if you don't code and want point-and-click robots. | Yes | Free plan + paid plans |
| Firecrawl | Pick it if you're feeding web pages to LLM apps. | Yes | Free plan + paid plans |
Prices for tools without an in-depth profile aren't verified by us; we show the pricing model only.
Still choosing? What's the best web scraping & data extraction tool? · All web scraping & data extraction tools compared
How to get your first customer
- Search the Store for sites people ask about that no maintained Actor covers.
- Help people in Apify's community where your Actor solves their problem.
Our suggestions, not guarantees. Earnings vary.
FAQ
How do Apify Store payouts work?
Revenue minus Apify's commission and platform usage costs; who covers usage depends on the pricing model (Apify docs, read 20 Oct 2026).
Sources
- Apify Docs: Monetize your Actor (read 20 October 2026)
- Apify Docs: Publishing Actors (read 20 October 2026)
- Apify Academy: Creating Actors (read 20 October 2026)
Steps checked 20 October 2026; prices checked 17 October 2026. Corrections: hello@agenthustles.com.