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Apify Python SDK VS Crawly

Compare Apify Python SDK VS Crawly and see what are their differences

Apify Python SDK

Build and manage web scraping Actors in the cloud.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Alternatives Is it good?
C
Crawly

Extract structured data and capture screenshots from any website

Rating
0 reviews
Alternatives Is it good?
AeroDataBox
Aviation and flight API tailored for SMBs and individual developers, offering flight status, schedules, aircraft and airport data, statistics, historical data and more. Seamless REST/web hook integration via API marketplaces at affordable rates. sponsored

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Apify Python SDK seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 2 times since March 2021.

social mentions
2 vs 0
Web Scraping popularity
52% vs 48%
alternatives listed
46 vs 59

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Apify Python SDK
C
Crawly
Website docs.apify.com crawly.dev
Pricing
Open source
—
Listed in
Web Scraping Data Extraction Data Web Scraping API +1
API APIs REST API Web Scraping Data Extraction +2

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Apify Python SDK 4 features
C
Crawly 0 features
  • Ease of Use
    The Apify Python SDK offers a high-level interface that simplifies the process of accessing Apify services and building web scrapers. This can save developers significant amounts of time and reduce complexity in their projects.
  • Integration
    The SDK is designed to work seamlessly with Apify's platform, making it straightforward to leverage Apify's hosting and scheduling capabilities, as well as accessing datasets and key-value stores.
  • Flexibility
    The SDK supports both headless and headful scraping, providing flexibility for users to choose the mode that best suits their needs.
  • Community and Support
    Apify has an active community and provides robust documentation and support resources, which can be especially beneficial for troubleshooting and learning best practices.

Possible disadvantages

  • Dependency on Apify Platform
    While the SDK simplifies many tasks, it is tightly integrated with Apify's platform. This could be a limitation for developers who are looking for a more standalone solution or who want to minimize dependencies on third-party platforms.
  • Learning Curve
    For developers not familiar with Apify, there might be an initial learning curve to understand how the SDK interacts with the broader Apify ecosystem and to learn its specific conventions and idioms.
  • Limited to Python
    As it is specifically for Python, developers using other programming languages may find this SDK irrelevant, and may need to look for other solutions or develop their own integrations.
  • Cost Considerations
    Using Apify's services involves subscription or usage fees, and developers need to consider these costs when implementing solutions that rely on the platform.

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Apify Python SDK
C
Crawly

Overall verdict

  • The Apify Python SDK is a robust, well-documented toolkit that makes building, running, and scaling web scraping and automation projects (Actors) straightforward for Python developers, offering strong integration with the Apify platform and solid tooling out of the box.

Why this product is good

  • Comprehensive and clear documentation with practical examples and API references
  • Native Python support that integrates seamlessly with popular libraries like BeautifulSoup, Playwright, Scrapy, and HTTPX
  • Built-in tools for managing storage (datasets, key-value stores, request queues) without extra boilerplate
  • Easy deployment and scaling of Actors on the Apify cloud platform, including scheduling and proxy management
  • Handles common scraping challenges like proxy rotation, retries, and browser automation
  • Active maintenance, strong community support, and regular updates

Recommended for

  • Python developers building web scrapers or crawlers
  • Teams needing scalable, cloud-hosted automation and data extraction
  • Data engineers and analysts collecting structured data from websites
  • Developers who want to publish and monetize reusable Actors on the Apify marketplace
  • Projects requiring managed proxy rotation and anti-blocking features

Overall verdict

  • Crawly (crawly.dev) is a solid choice for developers and businesses needing reliable web scraping and data extraction, offering a streamlined API-based approach that simplifies collecting structured data from websites.

Why this product is good

  • Provides an easy-to-use API that reduces the complexity of building and maintaining custom scrapers
  • Handles common scraping challenges like JavaScript rendering, proxies, and rate limiting
  • Saves development time by abstracting away infrastructure and anti-bot mitigation
  • Offers structured data output that integrates smoothly into applications and pipelines
  • Scalable for both small projects and larger data collection needs

Recommended for

  • Developers building applications that require automated data extraction
  • Businesses conducting market research, price monitoring, or competitor analysis
  • Data teams needing structured datasets from web sources
  • Startups looking to avoid the overhead of maintaining in-house scraping infrastructure
  • Anyone needing to scrape JavaScript-heavy or dynamic websites reliably

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Apify Python SDK 0 videos + Add
C
Crawly 1 video + Add

No Apify Python SDK videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

CRAWLY THE GNOME HAS A NEW THRONE! 🧙‍♂️🔥👑

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Apify Python SDK
C
Crawly
52% 52%
Web Scraping
48% 48%
47% 47%
Web Scraping API
53% 53%
37% 37%
Data Extraction
63% 63%
41% 41%
APIs
59% 59%

User comments

Share your experience with using Apify Python SDK and Crawly. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Apify Python SDK 2 mentions
C
Crawly 0 mentions
  • How to Scrape LinkedIn Job Postings with Python: A Step-by-Step Guide
    To overcome these challenges, we will utilize the Apify SDK for Python and Residential Proxies, which enable us to route requests through legitimate devices, making our traffic indistinguishable from real users. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • How to scrape Bluesky with Python
    Then add Apify SDK for Python as a project dependency:. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago

Tracking Crawly since Jul 2025.

Alternatives to Apify Python SDK and Crawly

When comparing Apify Python SDK and Crawly, you can also consider the following products.

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