Out of the 2,000+ Actors on the Apify Store marketplace, hundreds of them were created by developers just like you. Let's get acquainted with the concept of Apify Store and what it takes to publish an Actor there.

What are Actors (and why are they called that)?

Actors are serverless cloud applications that run on the Apify platform, capable of performing various computing tasks on the web, such as crawling websites or sending automated emails. They are developed by independent developers all over the world, and you can be one of them.

The term "Actor" is used because, like human actors, these programs follow a script. This naming convention unifies both web scraping and web automation solutions under a single term. Actors can range in complexity and function, targeting different websites or performing multiple tasks, which makes the umbrella term very useful.

What is Apify Store?

Apify Store is a public library of Actors that is constantly growing and evolving. It's basically a publicly visible (and searchable) part of the Apify platform. With over 2,000 Actors currently available, most of them are created and maintained by the community. Actors that consistently perform well remain in Apify Store, while those reported as malfunctioning or under maintenance are eventually removed. This ensures that the tools in our ecosystem are reliable, effective, and competitive.

Types of Actors

• Web scraping Actors: for instance, Twitter (X) Scraper extracts data from Twitter.
• Automation Actors: for example, Content Checker monitors website content for changes and emails you once a change occurs.
• Bundles: chains of multiple Actors united by a common data point or target website. For example, Restaurant Review Aggregator can scrape reviews from six platforms at once.

<aside> 📚 Learn more about bundles here: Actor bundles

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Public and private Actors

Actors in Apify Store can be public or private:

• Private Actors: these are only accessible to you in Apify Console. You can use them without exposing them to the web. However, you can still share the results they produce.
• Public Actors: these are available to everyone on Apify Store. You can choose to make them free or set a price. By publishing your web scrapers and automation solutions, you can attract users and generate income.

How Actor monetization works (briefly)