How to Build Your Own Apify
Replace Apify with a custom build. Full-stack web scraping and data extraction platform
Build Difficulty: 5/5
Build a working replacement in a weekend with AI tools
Estimated Timeline
Based on 47 features at Weekend Project difficulty, expect about One weekend with AI-assisted development.
Recommended Tech Stack
Full-stack React framework with API routes and server components
PostgreSQL database, auth, and real-time subscriptions
Utility-first styling for rapid UI development
Key Features to Replicate
Top features across 8 categories. See all 47 features
Framework Integration(7 features)
Integration with BeautifulSoup Python library for web scraping
Integration with Cheerio for server-side DOM parsing
Apify's own open-source web crawling and browser automation library
Integration with Playwright browser automation library
Integration with Puppeteer browser automation library
+2 more in this category
Proxy Services(4 features)
Residential and datacenter proxies for unblocking and web scraping
Fast, cost-effective non-residential IPs from data centers ideal for less-protected websites
Residential IP proxies for web scraping at $8/GB or $7/GB depending on plan
Proxy service for search engine results pages at $2.5-$1.7 per 1,000 SERPs
Data Management(3 features)
Export scraped data in multiple formats
External and internal data transfer services with usage-based pricing
Managed request queue for handling and processing URLs and tasks
Security & Compliance(3 features)
CCPA privacy regulation compliance
GDPR data protection compliance
SOC2 security and compliance certification
Social Media Scraping(3 features)
Extract posts, videos, and engagement metrics from Facebook pages including captions, reactions, transcripts, images, and external links
Scrape and download Instagram posts, profiles, places, hashtags, photos, and comments
Extract data from TikTok videos, hashtags, and users including profiles, posts, followers, hearts, and music-related data
Special Programs(3 features)
Personalized discount program for nonprofit organizations
30% discount on Scale plan for qualified startups
Academic institution discount program with 30% off for students
AI Integration(2 features)
Integration with LangChain for AI and LLM applications
Integration with LlamaIndex for data indexing and retrieval
Data Storage(2 features)
Scalable storage for extracted datasets with tiered pricing based on GB-hours and read/write operations
Persistent key-value storage for Actor state and data management
Cost Calculator
Keep Paying Apify
Build It Yourself
Total Cost Comparison
DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 47 features at very easy complexity.