Apify vs WebScraping.AI
Apify is an MCP server published by apify. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). WebScraping.AI is an MCP server published by webscraping-ai. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-19. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  Apify |   WebScraping.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:42cc91f13363 Forks (GitHub): 499 Pulls (Docker Hub): 36 533 Stars (Docker Hub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 11 956 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.7 Downloads/month (npm): 1 090 Downloads/week (npm): 94 Forks (GitHub): 16 Stars (GitHub): 45 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | Apify | WebScraping.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 11 956 (better) | 45 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 36 533 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 499 (better) | 16 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/apify-mcp-server) | On your machine (webscraping-ai-mcp) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 10 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 2, secrets among them: 1 | 4, secrets among them: 1 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/apify/actors-mcp-server | github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-mcp-server |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
Apify
Apify is the world's largest marketplace of tools for web scraping, data extraction, and web automation. You can extract structured data from social media, e-commerce, search engines, maps, travel sites, or any other website.
WebScraping.AI
Web scraping tools with Chromium JS rendering, rotating proxies, and AI question answering.
How to run each
Apify As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "APIFY_TOKEN=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>" --transport stdio apify-mcp-server -- docker run -i --rm -e APIFY_TOKEN mcp/apify-mcp-serverRequires: APIFY_TOKEN (secret)
WebScraping.AI As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --env "WEBSCRAPING_AI_API_KEY=<YOUR_WEBSCRAPING_AI_API_KEY>" --transport stdio webscraping-ai -- npx -y webscraping-ai-mcpRequires: WEBSCRAPING_AI_API_KEY (secret)
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of WebScraping.AI publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Apify asks for
APIFY_TOKEN (secret)TOOLS
Only WebScraping.AI asks for
WEBSCRAPING_AI_API_KEY (secret)WEBSCRAPING_AI_CONCURRENCY_LIMITWEBSCRAPING_AI_DEFAULT_JS_RENDERINGWEBSCRAPING_AI_DEFAULT_PROXY_TYPE
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Apify · What it can do: WebScraping.AI · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.