ChatterAPI vs Apify
Apify is a scraping platform. You pick an Actor (often one a community developer built), run it and export the dataset, which suits batch jobs across many sites. ChatterAPI is one API for Reddit and X. Each call returns its answer directly and costs a fixed number of credits. If you scrape many sites beyond Reddit and X, Apify covers more of them.
What Apify is
- Actors are serverless cloud programs that take a JSON input and perform a task. source
- As listed on Oct 17, 2026, the free plan includes $5 of usage a month, and Starter is $19 a month with $19 of usage included. source
- Its Reddit Scraper Actor is listed as built by a community developer and priced from $0.10 per 1,000 results, as listed on Oct 17, 2026. source
- Its Tweet Scraper V2 Actor is also a community Actor. It is priced from $0.40 per 1,000 tweets, with a minimum of 50 tweets per query, as listed on Oct 17, 2026. source
- Apify runs a hosted MCP server with tools to search Actors, call them and read their datasets. source
- Datasets export as JSON, JSONL, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS and HTML. source
- Schedules run Actors on a cron schedule. source
Choose Apify when
- You scrape many sites, not just Reddit and X.
- You run large batch jobs and want the results as a CSV or Excel export.
- You want built-in scheduling and run webhooks.
- You want to write and host your own scrapers.
Choose ChatterAPI when
- You want one API for Reddit and X with the same fields and pagination on both.
- You want each call to return its data directly, instead of starting a run and reading a dataset.
- You want to know the cost of each call in advance.
- You want to take X actions from connected accounts, not only read.
Feature by feature
| Topic | Apify | ChatterAPI |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A platform for running scrapers called Actors (source) | A hosted API for Reddit and X data, plus free browser tools |
| Platforms | Any site an Actor covers. Reddit and X through community Actors (source) | Reddit and X |
| How you call it | Start an Actor run, then read its dataset (source) | REST at api.chatterapi.com/v1, or the hosted MCP server |
| Authentication | An Apify API token (source) | One Bearer API key for both platforms |
| MCP server for agents | Yes, hosted (source) | Yes, hosted, on the same key and credit balance |
| Write actions | Not stated publicly for these two Actors | Reddit is read-only. On X: DMs, follows, likes and posts from accounts you connect in the dashboard |
| Rate limits | Depends on the plan. The free plan allows 5 concurrent runs (source) | 10, 25 or 50 requests per second, depending on the plan |
| Pricing model | A monthly plan with usage included, plus each Actor's own price, as listed on Oct 17, 2026 (source) | Credits per call, from $19 a month for 25,000 credits. 100 free credits on signup |
| Setup needed | An Apify account, then choose and configure an Actor (source) | Sign in with Google and create a key. No Reddit or X developer account |
| Who it suits | Teams running many kinds of scrapers and batch exports | Developers and AI agents calling Reddit and X on demand |
- What it is
- Apify
- A platform for running scrapers called Actors (source)
- ChatterAPI
- A hosted API for Reddit and X data, plus free browser tools
- Platforms
- Apify
- Any site an Actor covers. Reddit and X through community Actors (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Reddit and X
- How you call it
- Apify
- Start an Actor run, then read its dataset (source)
- ChatterAPI
- REST at api.chatterapi.com/v1, or the hosted MCP server
- Authentication
- Apify
- An Apify API token (source)
- ChatterAPI
- One Bearer API key for both platforms
- MCP server for agents
- Apify
- Yes, hosted (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Yes, hosted, on the same key and credit balance
- Write actions
- Apify
- Not stated publicly for these two Actors
- ChatterAPI
- Reddit is read-only. On X: DMs, follows, likes and posts from accounts you connect in the dashboard
- Rate limits
- Apify
- Depends on the plan. The free plan allows 5 concurrent runs (source)
- ChatterAPI
- 10, 25 or 50 requests per second, depending on the plan
- Pricing model
- Apify
- A monthly plan with usage included, plus each Actor's own price, as listed on Oct 17, 2026 (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Credits per call, from $19 a month for 25,000 credits. 100 free credits on signup
- Setup needed
- Apify
- An Apify account, then choose and configure an Actor (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Sign in with Google and create a key. No Reddit or X developer account
- Who it suits
- Apify
- Teams running many kinds of scrapers and batch exports
- ChatterAPI
- Developers and AI agents calling Reddit and X on demand
Last checked . Sources: Apify pricing, Apify docs: Actors, Apify Reddit Scraper Actor, Apify Tweet Scraper V2 Actor, Apify MCP docs, Apify docs: datasets, Apify docs: schedules.
A Reddit search on ChatterAPI
You send one request and get one response, with no run to wait for. The response below is from a real recorded call.
curl "https://api.chatterapi.com/v1/reddit/search?q=best+crm+for+small+business&time=year" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $CHATTERAPI_KEY"response, first 2 rows
{
"data": [
{
"id": "1wdihhj",
"fullname": "t3_1wdihhj",
"title": "What CRM should a small business use?",
"body": "We’re a small B2B business with 6 people and sales is still pretty founder led, but revenue has grown enough that keeping leads, follow ups and customer conversations spread across spreadsheets and inboxes is starting to…",
"author": "NotedWhisky",
"subreddit": "CRM",
"permalink": "/r/CRM/comments/1wdihhj/what_crm_should_a_small_business_use/",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/CRM/comments/1wdihhj/what_crm_should_a_small_business_use/",
"externalUrl": null,
"score": 51,
"numComments": 186,
"upvoteRatio": null,
"createdAt": "2026-09-11T14:52:16.000Z",
"nsfw": false,
"locked": null,
"media": null
},
{
"id": "1vmy4xb",
"fullname": "t3_1vmy4xb",
"title": "If You Had to Pick the Best CRM for Small Business Today, What Would It Be?",
"body": "I've spent the last few days reading reviews and watching videos, and somehow I'm even more undecided than when I started.\n\nEvery CRM looks amazing on its website, but that doesn't tell you what it's like after you've be…",
"author": "Living_Dependent242",
"subreddit": "CRMSoftware",
"permalink": "/r/CRMSoftware/comments/1vmy4xb/if_you_had_to_pick_the_best_crm_for_small/",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/CRMSoftware/comments/1vmy4xb/if_you_had_to_pick_the_best_crm_for_small/",
"externalUrl": null,
"score": 10,
"numComments": 56,
"upvoteRatio": null,
"createdAt": "2026-08-13T02:25:31.000Z",
"nsfw": false,
"locked": null,
"media": null
}
],
"page": {
"nextCursor": "AX-v…",
"hasMore": true
}
}Recorded from a live call on . Long text is shortened and the cursor is cut. A live key is charged 2 credits for this call. A test key returns this same sample for 0 credits.
Questions
How much does Apify cost?
As listed on Oct 17, 2026, the free plan includes $5 of usage a month and Starter is $19 a month. Each Actor also has its own price.
Who maintains Apify's Reddit and X scrapers?
Both Actors we checked are listed as built by community developers, not by Apify.
Can ChatterAPI export to CSV?
The API returns JSON. The dashboard playground and the free tools can download CSV and JSON.
Looking for a replacement rather than a comparison? Apify alternative