Apify is $49/mo (Starter). Rustler is a self-hosted alternative at $0.99/mo. Here's when each makes sense.
| Rustler | Apify | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted, your infra | Managed SaaS (cloud only) |
| Data location | Your server, your disk | Apify's cloud |
| Free tier | 5 scrapers | Paid only |
| Pro pricing | $0.99/mo | $49/mo (Starter) |
| Dependencies | None (single binary + SQLite) | N/A (managed) |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | Account signup |
| Dashboard | Built-in at /ui | Cloud dashboard |
| License | BSL 1.1 | Proprietary SaaS |
Rustler is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. Install it with one command, and you are running in under a minute. Your data stays on your server.
curl -fsSL https://stockyard.dev/rustler/install.sh | sh
Before choosing between Rustler and Apify, consider what happens when you need to leave. Apify exports vary in completeness — some fields, some history, some metadata may not come with you. Rustler stores everything in a single SQLite file. Leaving means copying that file. This is not a hypothetical concern: the average team changes tools every 18 to 24 months.
Architecturally, Rustler and Apify could not be more different. Apify runs on distributed cloud infrastructure with load balancers, managed databases, CDNs, and redundancy across availability zones. Rustler is a single process writing to a single file on a single disk. That sounds fragile until you realize that SQLite handles more concurrent readers than most web applications will ever need, and WAL mode means reads never block writes.
If you are currently using Apify and considering Rustler, start by running both in parallel. Install Rustler on a test server, point your workflow at it for a week, and compare the experience. Rustler's data directory is isolated — running a trial costs nothing beyond the compute. If Rustler does not fit, delete the binary and the data directory. There is nothing else to clean up.
Single binary. Free to start. $0.99/mo for Pro.