Apify Store is moving toward a more transparent and standardized marketplace. Driven by continuous demand from our customers for clearer pricing and an equal playing field, we have already migrated 2,000 Actors from a pay-per-result model to a granular pay-per-event (PPE) system.
This shift ensures that value is tied directly to specific actions rather than broad, unpredictable outcomes. This transition also prepares the platform for a change in how the world interacts with the web: moving away from a "pre-AI" era of manual button-clicking and CSV exports, and into an agentic era where AI agents and MCP servers autonomously fetch data and trigger actions.
What is going to happen?
We're now entering the next phase of this evolution: the sunsetting of the "rental" (fixed monthly fee) model. Apify is making this a high-priority project, involving hundreds of public Actor developers. Within six months, the "subscription tax" of a flat monthly fee will be a thing of the past. All Actors currently using a rental model will be migrated to the pay-per-event model. Actors that aren't migrated by their creators to PPE will be automatically migrated to the pay-per-usage model.
Why are we doing this?
This move is driven by our vision for the future, but more importantly, it's a response to consistent demand from our user community and a collaborative process with our creators. To ensure this transition works for everyone who builds on the Apify platform, we've held dedicated office hours, conducted 1on1 interviews, and gathered extensive feedback from our public Actor developers.
- Direct customer demand: You asked, and we listened. In a recent survey, 73% of our customers stated they preferred the pay-per-event model over fixed rentals. This has been a repeated request from users who want their costs to align strictly with their actual usage rather than a calendar date.
- Eliminating hidden complexity: Under the old system, customers often struggled with a "split" cost structure: a fixed developer rental fee plus the Apify platform usage. This made the total cost hard to predict and less transparent. Moving to PPE eliminates this confusion. You get one transparent price that covers everything, making your monthly billing simple and predictable.
- The AI agent revolution: The future belongs to AI agents and MCP servers that fetch data programmatically. An AI agent cannot effectively manage a dozen different $50/month subscriptions; it needs to "pay-as-it-goes." By standardizing on PPE, we're making Apify Store AI-native, so your agents can trigger specific features and pay only for what they use.
- A transparent marketplace: You shouldn't have to guess which Actor is more efficient. By consolidating all pricing into a single, comparable model, we are removing the friction of decision-making. This level playing field allows you to evaluate Actors side-by-side based on performance and cost-per-action.
What do you need to do now?
For now, absolutely nothing.
Apify has asked our community developers to migrate all of their Actors on Apify Store from rental to PPE pricing. Apify and our community developers are currently handling the conversion of their Actors. As a customer, you should:
- Watch your inbox: You'll receive a specific notification for each Actor you use as it migrates.
- Review during the cooling period: Use the 14-day window to review how the PPE model fits your specific volume and usage patterns.
- Enjoy total integration: Once migrated, your Actors will be immediately compatible with the latest AI tools and agentic workflows without the headache of managing fixed monthly fees.
- Provide feedback: There might be cases where you have concerns regarding a new pricing structure. In such cases, we encourage you to open an issue in the "Issues" tab of the Actor to discuss it with the developer, or reach out to the creator on the Apify Discord. While a price change isn't guaranteed, the community is open to feedback, and it never hurts to ask.
Where to get help
Apify advises developers on how to calculate pricing to ensure that most of their customers remain on similar prices. Still, changes to billing are always complex, especially when pricing models are not directly comparable, so some usage types may see prices change significantly.
In such cases, we encourage you to open an issue on the Issues tab of the Actor to discuss it with the developer. While pricing is at the developer's discretion, we're committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for both users and our developer community, so guidance is available if problems arise.
If you have any general questions about how these changes might impact your specific workflows, or if you want to learn more about integrating these pay-per-event Actors into your AI agents, the Apify team is here to help.
Contact us at: support@apify.com or join Apify Discord.
