Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Apify VS Fastly

Compare Apify VS Fastly and see what are their differences

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Apify logo Apify

Apify is a web scraping and automation platform that can turn any website into an API.

Fastly logo Fastly

Real-time CDN
  • Apify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30

Apify is a JavaScript & Node.js based data extraction tool for websites that crawls lists of URLs and automates workflows on the web. With Apify you can manage and automatically scale a pool of headless Chrome / Puppeteer instances, maintain queues of URLs to crawl, store crawling results locally or in the cloud, rotate proxies and much more.

  • Fastly Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09

Apify features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Apify provides a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users of all technical levels to create and manage web scraping tasks.
  • Scalability
    Apify is built to handle tasks of various sizes, from small-scale projects to enterprise-level operations, making it a scalable solution.
  • Integration and API Support
    It offers extensive API support, allowing for seamless integration with other tools and systems to enhance automated workflows.
  • Customizability
    Users can customize their scraping bots (actors) with different settings and scripts to fit specific needs and requirements.
  • Cloud-based
    Being a cloud-based platform, Apify allows users to run their scraping tasks without needing local resources, which is convenient and efficient.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    Apify provides thorough documentation and tutorials, which help users get started quickly and solve issues efficiently.
  • Community and Support
    Apify has an active community and solid customer support to assist users with their needs and enhance their overall experience.

Possible disadvantages of Apify

  • Learning Curve
    While the interface is user-friendly, there may still be a learning curve for those new to web scraping and automation.
  • Cost
    Apify can be expensive compared to other web scraping tools, particularly for extensive use cases that require high volumes of data.
  • Dependency on External Factors
    Web scraping often depends on the stability of the target websites. Changes in website structures can break scripts, requiring ongoing maintenance.
  • Performance Limitations
    The performance of cloud-based scraping tasks can be affected by network latency and other external factors beyond user control.
  • Potential Legal Issues
    Web scraping can raise legal concerns, particularly when scraping data from websites that restrict such activities in their terms of service.
  • Resource Intensity
    Complex scraping tasks can be resource-intensive, potentially requiring higher-tier subscriptions and more computing resources, driving up costs.

Fastly features and specs

  • High Performance
    Fastly is known for its high-speed content delivery capabilities due to its advanced edge cloud platform, which can significantly enhance the user experience by reducing latency and improving load times.
  • Real-Time Analytics
    Fastly provides real-time analytics that allow businesses to monitor traffic and performance instantaneously, enabling quick decision-making and enhanced operational efficiency.
  • Edge Computing
    Fastly offers edge computing services that allow processing to be done closer to the end user, which can reduce latency, save bandwidth, and facilitate better performance for dynamic content.
  • Scalability
    Fastly's infrastructure is designed to handle large amounts of traffic and can easily scale up to meet the demands of businesses of all sizes, making it suitable for enterprises with fluctuating traffic levels.
  • Security Features
    Fastly includes robust security features such as DDoS protection, TLS encryption, and a Web Application Firewall (WAF), which help protect websites and applications from various cyber threats.
  • API and Developer Friendly
    Fastly provides a rich set of APIs and extensive documentation that allows developers to customize and integrate its services easily.

Possible disadvantages of Fastly

  • Cost
    Fastly can be more expensive compared to other CDN providers, especially for smaller businesses or startups with limited budgets.
  • Complexity
    The advanced features and functionalities of Fastly may come with a steep learning curve for new users who are not familiar with CDNs and edge computing.
  • Support Limitations
    While Fastly does offer customer support, some users have reported that the quality of customer service can be inconsistent, which may pose challenges during critical issues.
  • Limited Presence in Some Regions
    Fastly's network, although extensive, may not have the same level of presence or performance in certain regions compared to other global CDN providers, potentially affecting service in those areas.
  • Dependency on Internet Connectivity
    As with any cloud-based service, Fastlyโ€™s performance is dependent on the quality of internet connectivity. Poor internet connections can lead to suboptimal performance.

Analysis of Apify

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Apify is considered a good choice for web scraping and automation needs due to its comprehensive features, user-friendly interface, and strong community support. It is especially beneficial for those who require efficient, large-scale data extraction and workflow automation.

Why this product is good

  • Apify is an established platform known for its robust web scraping and automation capabilities. It provides a powerful API, pre-built actors for common tasks, and allows you to create custom web scrapers with ease. The platform is scalable, supports a variety of programming languages, and offers features like scheduling, proxies, and data storage solutions. This versatility makes it a valuable tool for businesses and developers needing efficient data retrieval and workflow automation.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a versatile web scraping solution.
  • Businesses needing to automate data collection processes.
  • Researchers and analysts requiring extensive data from the web.
  • Marketers seeking competitive analysis through data scraping.
  • Tech enthusiasts interested in exploring web automation tools.

Analysis of Fastly

Overall verdict

  • Fastly is generally considered good for businesses that require a reliable and fast CDN with advanced features for security and real-time analytics. Its edge computing capabilities make it an excellent choice for companies looking to optimize the delivery of dynamic and personalized content. However, like any service, whether it is best suited for your particular needs will depend on specific business requirements and budget.

Why this product is good

  • Fastly is a popular content delivery network (CDN) and cloud services provider known for its speed, scalability, and powerful edge computing capabilities. It offers real-time visibility and control, which can be particularly beneficial for businesses that need to deliver dynamic content and applications quickly. Fastly's platform is designed for high performance and efficiency, allowing for rapid scaling to handle large volumes of traffic. Additionally, Fastly is praised for its robust security features, which include DDoS protection, TLS/SSL encryption, and Web Application Firewall (WAF) capabilities.

Recommended for

  • E-commerce platforms that need to provide fast and reliable shopping experiences.
  • Media and entertainment companies requiring efficient delivery of video and audio streams.
  • Tech companies that need to leverage edge computing for real-time data processing and application delivery.
  • Businesses of all sizes seeking robust security measures for their web applications and services.

Apify videos

Apify product news - 2019/01/30

Fastly videos

FASTLY STOCK, TOP GROWTH STOCK? FSLY

More videos:

  • Review - Fastly CEO Artur Bergman on cloud computing
  • Review - Why Fastly

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apify and Fastly)
Web Scraping
100 100%
0% 0
CDN
0 0%
100% 100
Data Extraction
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Computing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Apify and Fastly

Apify Reviews

Top 15 Best TinyTask Alternatives in 2022
This is another tinytask alternative. For you to link various web services and APIs, Apify has provided many web integration options. You can add data processing and customised computation processes in addition to letting the data flow between them. With the data that is freely accessible on the web, you may provide crucial insights, and easy lead creation allows you to...

Fastly Reviews

8 Best Cloudflare Alternatives (Free + Premium)
With a decade of experience in the CDN market, Fastly was founded by Artur Bergman in 2011. Fastly is one of those whirlwind service providers that expanded quickly through the years to become a force to be reckoned with today. Google recognized this and selected Fastly to be one of its CDN partners in 2015.
Source: hostscore.net
The 7 Best Content-Delivery-Network Providers
Fastly originates from San Francisco and works edge-cloud-based. In addition to the use of a Content-Delivery-Network, Fastly optimises images to relieve the server and live up to its name even more. The fewer bytes, the faster the transmission after all. In addition, Fastly does a lot in terms of security. Hence, with this provider you get a Web-Application-Firewall as well...
Source: omr.com
Top 15 Cloudflare Alternatives: A Complete Guide
Fastly is a CDN service that specialises in dynamic and event-driven content delivery. Fastly uses its powerful and distributed network of servers to cache and serve your web content and applications with low latency and high availability. Fastly also offers security features, such as SSL, DDoS protection, and WAF, to protect your web content and applications.
Introduction to Cloudflare Alternatives In 2021
If fond of extremely time CDN then โ€œFastlyโ€, an dilemma to Cloudflare, founded in the year 2011 which supplies a series of services including immediate configuration updates, instant purging, characteristics content cache, real-time streaming & analytics, private CDN, WAF, Image Optimizer, duty balancing. Fastly features pricing as such as a total variety of requests and...
10 Top Cloudflare Alternatives for Your Website
Fastly offers on-the-go pricing thatโ€™s based on the total number of requests and the volume of data transfer. The company also allows users to test up to $50 of traffic for free, without any long-term commitment. However, you can also opt for more predictable plans by opting for Fastlyโ€™s Essential, Professional, or Enterprise plans. The company also provides extensive public...
Source: beebom.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apify should be more popular than Fastly. It has been mentiond 46 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apify mentions (46)

  • Google's News API has been gone since 2016, and people still search for it
    That runs News Scraper on Apify, which is the same forty lines plus the parts that are Tedious rather than hard: both feeds, the nested publisher element, the date Normalisation, and deduplication. - Source: dev.to / 18 days ago
  • WHOIS is gone, RDAP replaced it, and a 404 does not mean what you think
    That runs an Apify Actor I maintain, Domain Scraper, because the Tedious parts are the RDAP bootstrap, the vcard unpacking and the provider Fingerprinting rather than the HTTP call. If you would rather do it yourself, Https://rdap.org/domain/ is the whole API and it needs no key. - Source: dev.to / 18 days ago
  • How I Turned Canadian Open Government Data Into a Live Licence-Verification Site + API (Build Log, 2026)
    Data collection: Apify actors, one per source, that scrape the open-data endpoints and normalize them. Quebec RBQ ships a daily bulk CSV (inside a 10.8 MB zip, ~924k rows that dedupe to ~54k active licences). Ontario HCRA has no bulk file โ€” it's an internal JSON API behind the public registry. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • How to Track US Startup Funding Rounds in Real Time (Before TechCrunch Writes About Them)
    Create a free Apify account and grab your API token from Settings โ†’ API & Integrations. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • I built a Claude Code skill that finds customers, not competitors, on Reddit & LinkedIn
    BYOK. It runs on your own Apify token. No shared keys, no lock-in, no licensing chokepoint โ€” a lesson the whole "Proxycurl shut down and stranded everyone" saga taught the space. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
View more

Fastly mentions (14)

  • The Rise of the Monolith
    Well worth a mention, Fermyon[0] and Cosmonic[1], and Fastly[2] are all standards-based and mature wasm edge/cloud providers worth checking out! 0: https://fermyon.com 1: https://cosmonic.com 2: https://fastly.com. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Need help about netstat results
    Go to fastly.com if you want to know what fastly is. Source: over 3 years ago
  • HSTS issue
    "Websites prove their identity via certificates. Firefox does not trust this site because it uses a certificate that is not valid for i.redd.it. The certificate is only valid for the following names: default.ssl.fastly.net, fastly.com, \.a.ssl.fastly.net, *.hosts.fastly.net, *.global.ssl.fastly.net, *.fastly.com,* a.ssl.fastly.net, purge.fastly.net, mirrors.fastly.net, control.fastly.net, tools.fastly.net. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Launching Nhost CDN: Nhost Storage Is Now Blazing Fastโ„ข
    No, we didn't. We are leveraging Fastly's expertise for that so you get to benefit from their large infrastructure while we get to enjoy their high degree of flexibility to tailor the service to your needs. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago
  • MQA is lossy
    And yet the internet still has issues. I was communicating with a guy in r/tidal over the weekend in Poland. His internet speeds were 400 Mbps down and yet Tidal Master streams couldn't play. Come to find out when people are awake his ISP and one of its peers to get to fastly.com (CDN that Tidal uses) is saturated and unable to play. You can't even begin to compare youtube or Netflix either. Netflix, youtube and... Source: over 4 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apify and Fastly, you can also consider the following products

import.io - Import. io helps its users find the internet data they need, organize and store it, and transform it into a format that provides them with the context they need.

CloudFlare - Cloudflare is a global network designed to make everything you connect to the Internet secure, private, fast, and reliable.

Octoparse - Octoparse provides easy web scraping for anyone. Our advanced web crawler, allows users to turn web pages into structured spreadsheets within clicks.

Amazon CloudFront - Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery web service.

Bright Data - World's largest proxy service with a residential proxy network of 72M IPs worldwide and proxy management interface for zero coding.

KeyCDN - KeyCDN is a high-performance Content Delivery Network (CDN). Lowest price globally at $0.04/GB with HTTP/2 Support and free Origin Shield.