ApifyForge Learn
ApifyForge Learn is a guide library for Apify developers. It covers building actors from scratch, setting up pay-per-event pricing, writing tests, optimizing for the Apify Store, and scaling a profitable actor portfolio. All guides are written by developers managing actors in production.
Last updated March 27, 2026
Getting Started with Apify Actors
To build an Apify actor, install Node.js 18+ and the Apify CLI, scaffold a project with apify create, write your logic inside Actor.main(), define an input_schema.json, and deploy with apify push. This guide walks through every step from zero to a published Apify Store listing.
Read guideApify PPE Pricing Explained: Pay Per Event Model, Strategy, and Code Examples
Pay Per Event (PPE) is Apify's usage-based monetization model for actors on the Apify Store. Developers set a price per event (typically $0.001 to $0.50), call Actor.addChargeForEvent() in their code, and keep 80% of revenue while Apify takes 20%. This ApifyForge guide covers the 80/20 revenue split, actor.json configuration, charging code patterns, the 14-day price change rule, and pricing strategy by actor type.
Read guideHow to Monetize Your Actors
To monetize Apify actors, start with Pay Per Event pricing at $0.01-$0.25 per result, then layer on tiered pricing for power users, free-tier funnels to drive adoption, and MCP server bundles that combine multiple actors into a single subscription. ApifyForge analytics tracks revenue per actor so you know which strategies work. This guide covers each revenue model with real pricing examples.
Read guideActor Testing Best Practices
To test an Apify actor, define input/output test cases in a JSON fixture, run them with the ApifyForge test runner before every deploy, and set assertions on output shape, field counts, and error rates. The regression suite catches breaking changes by comparing current output against a saved baseline. This guide covers the full testing workflow from local validation to CI/CD integration.
Read guideStore SEO Optimization
Apify Store search ranks actors by title match, README keyword density, category tags, run volume, and a quality score out of 100. To rank higher, write a README that opens with a plain-language description of what the actor does, include target keywords in the first 100 words, set accurate categories in actor.json, and maintain a success rate above 95%. This guide breaks down every ranking factor and shows how ApifyForge tracks your score.
Read guideManaging Multiple Actors
To manage 10, 50, or 200+ Apify actors, use the ApifyForge fleet dashboard to monitor health, revenue, and quality scores across your entire portfolio in one view. Group actors by category, run bulk updates on pricing and metadata, set up failure alerts, and track maintenance pulse to catch stale actors before users complain. This guide covers fleet management workflows at every scale.
Read guideCost Planning Tools: Calculator, Plan Advisor & Proxy Analyzer
How to use ApifyForge's cost planning tools to estimate actor run costs, choose the right Apify subscription plan, and pick the most cost-effective proxy type for each scraper.
Read guideAI Agent Tools: Pipeline Preflight, LLM Optimizer & Integration Templates
How to use ApifyForge's AI agent tools to debug MCP server connections, design multi-actor pipelines, optimize actor output for LLM token efficiency, and generate integration templates.
Read guideSchema Tools: Diff, Registry & Input Guard
How to use ApifyForge's schema tools to compare actor output schemas, browse the field registry, and test actor inputs before running — preventing wasted credits and broken pipelines.
Read guideCompliance Scanner, Actor Recommender & Comparisons
How to use ApifyForge's compliance risk scanner to assess legal exposure, the actor recommender to find the best tool for your task, and head-to-head comparisons to evaluate competing actors.
Read guideThe ApifyForge Testing Suite
Four cloud-powered testing tools for Apify actors: Output Guard, Deploy Guard, Cloud Staging, and Regression Suite. How they work together and when to use each one.
Read guideThe Complete ApifyForge Tool Suite
All 15 developer tools in one guide: testing, schema analysis, cost planning, compliance scanning, LLM optimization, pipeline building, and privacy reporting. What each tool does, when to use it, and how they work together.
Read guideWhat Is an Apify Actor?
An Apify actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It accepts JSON input, executes a task (scraping, data processing, API calls, or AI tool serving), and produces structured output in datasets, key-value stores, or request queues. Actors are packaged as Docker containers and can be run via API, scheduled, or chained together.
Read guideWhat Are MCP Servers on Apify?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers are Apify actors that run in standby mode and expose tools via an HTTP endpoint for AI assistants like Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf. They connect large language models to real-world data sources -- APIs, databases, web scrapers, and intelligence feeds -- so AI agents can take actions beyond text generation.
Read guideHow to Choose the Right Apify Actor
With over 3,000 actors on the Apify Store, choosing the right one for your task requires evaluating success rates, run history, pricing, maintenance frequency, and input schema quality. This guide provides a decision framework for selecting actors based on measurable quality metrics, plus tools to automate the comparison process.
Read guideHow to Manage a Large Apify Actor Portfolio
Managing 10 Apify actors is straightforward. Managing 50 requires dashboards and cost tracking. Managing 200+ demands automated regression testing, schema validation, revenue analytics, and failure alerting. This guide covers the tools, processes, and hard-won lessons from scaling an Apify actor portfolio.
Read guideFrequently asked questions about Apify and ApifyForge
16 tools for testing, cost estimation, and more
Definitions of Apify terms: PPE, actors, datasets, and more
Step-by-step guides for lead gen, price monitoring, SEO, and more
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