Comparison · updated April 2026
Apify vs ScreenshotsMCP
Web scraping & automation platform with Actor marketplace
The short version
Apify is a marketplace + runtime for scraping Actors and works well for long-running data extraction. ScreenshotsMCP is a focused AI-agent surface — MCP, visual diff, GitHub Action, signed webhooks, and a CLI — without the platform complexity.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Apify | ScreenshotsMCP |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing (entry tier) | Free + usage-based ($5 starter credit) | $0 / 100 shots / mo · $9 / 2k · $29 / 10k |
| MCP server (Cursor / Windsurf / Claude) | — | ✅ First-party — 52+ tools |
| AI-agent browser tools (click, fill, eval, console) | ✅ Actor SDK | ✅ Full Playwright session control |
| Visual diff REST endpoint | Limited / via screenshots | ✅ POST /v1/screenshot/diff (sync, R2-hosted) |
| GitHub Action for visual regression | DIY | ✅ stevejford/action@v1 — sticky PR comments |
| Outbound webhooks (HMAC-signed, retried) | — | ✅ screenshot.completed, run.completed, quota.warning |
| CLI | Varies | ✅ npx screenshotsmcp — 44 commands |
| CAPTCHA solving (Turnstile / reCAPTCHA / hCaptcha) | — | ✅ Built-in via CapSolver |
| Disposable test inboxes (OTP / verification email) | — | ✅ AgentMail integration |
| Session video recording (.webm) | Varies | ✅ record_video flag |
| AI-assisted UX review (k2.5 vision) | — | ✅ ux_review tool |
Pricing and capability rows reflect each provider's public docs at time of writing. Found something stale? Tell us.
When ScreenshotsMCP is the better fit
- You want your AI agent (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude) to take screenshots, click, fill forms, and audit pages from one MCP server.
- You need visual regression in CI without building it yourself — drop in a GitHub Action and get sticky PR comments.
- You want signed outbound webhooks (HMAC-SHA256, retried) for screenshot.completed, run.completed, and quota.warning.
- You want a CLI for terminal-driven captures and audits, not just an SDK.
- You need built-in CAPTCHA solving, disposable test inboxes, session video recording, and AI-assisted UX review.
When Apify is the better fit
If your workload is dominated by Apify's primary strength (web scraping & automation platform with actor marketplace) and you don't need AI-agent MCP transport, GitHub Action, or signed webhooks — stay with Apify. There's no reason to switch a tool that's already paying off.
Try ScreenshotsMCP free
100 screenshots per month forever, no card required. Wire it into Cursor, Windsurf, Claude, or any MCP-aware AI client in under a minute.
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