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Apify Zapier integrationAutomate Apify with Zapier.

The Apify Zapier integration gives you 2 triggers, 4 actions and 4 searches. Enough to launch a scraper from any app, catch the moment it finishes and push its results where your team works. Here is what each one does, what it costs and what to watch.

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Overview

What the Apify Zapier integration actually does

It plugs Apify, a marketplace of ready-made web tools called Actors, into the rest of your apps. Zapier can start an Actor, wait for it to finish, then read what it collected. Both Apify triggers are instant, so the Zap moves the second a run ends, on any plan.

Three results come up again and again. A competitor price list scraped by an Actor lands with your sales team, because Finished Actor Run starts the Zap and Fetch Dataset Items hands over the rows. A single article page turns into clean text for an AI step through Scrape Single URL. And a saved scraping setup runs on demand from another tool with Run Task, so nobody has to open Apify to press start.

What Zapier does not do here matters as much. A Zap only starts Actors and tasks that already exist in your account; it cannot build one. There is no trigger when a run starts, only when it ends. And a run you choose to wait for is cut at 30 seconds, so long scrapes must run in the background and report back through a trigger. If you want to compare approaches, the same app is covered on the Apify n8n integration and the Apify Make integration pages. Read them side by side before picking a tool.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Seven Zapier words, plus one Apify trap: Apify also says task, for a saved Actor setup. Zapier's task is a billing unit.

Zap
The automation you build: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every time that trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event that starts the Zap, such as an Actor run that just finished. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that launches, writes or sends something for you in an app.
Task (Zapier)
The unit Zapier bills: one action that completes successfully. Nothing to do with an Apify task, which is a saved Actor setup.
Polling or instant
Polling means Zapier checks the app on a timer. Instant means the app calls Zapier itself. Both Apify triggers are instant.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when the incoming data meets your condition, and stops it quietly otherwise.
Search step
A step that fetches something that already exists, such as the rows of a dataset, so later steps can use it.
Cost

What an Apify Zap really costs

Apify is not a premium app, so the free plan accepts it. The limit that bites is the step count.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps
  • Free plan stepsOne trigger and one action
  • Apify triggersInstant, not affected by the grid
  • Failed actionNot counted

The trigger costs nothing. You pay one Zapier task per action that succeeds, and a failed action is not counted. The free plan builds two steps only: one trigger, one action. The most natural Apify Zap, a finished run followed by Fetch Dataset Items and a step that sends the rows somewhere, has three steps and needs a paid plan. On the bright side, both triggers are instant, so the polling grid below never slows them down.

Connect

Connect your Apify account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open the Apps page

    In your Zapier account, go to Apps and click + Add connection. A connection is your Apify account linked once, then reused by every Zap that needs it.

  2. 02

    Find Apify and confirm

    Type Apify in the search box of the dialog that opens, pick it from the results, then click Add connection. A new tab opens on the Apify sign-in screen.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Log in to Apify and allow Zapier to reach your account. If the Actors or tasks you want belong to a shared account, make sure you have the rights to run and read them.

First Zap

Your first Zap: collect the results of a saved scrape

GoalWhen a saved Apify task finishes, its results are fetched and stored under one key for the next steps.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap, set Finished Task Run

    Start a new Zap, choose Apify as the app, then Finished Task Run as the event. Select your connection and the task to keep an eye on.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger on a real run

    Run the test: Zapier brings back the three most recent runs of that task. Pick one that succeeded so the next steps have real values, including its default dataset ID.

  3. 03

    Fetch the rows

    Add Fetch Dataset Items and map the default dataset ID from the trigger into the Dataset field. That is how the Zap reads what the run collected.

  4. 04

    Store the result

    Add Set Key-Value Store Record, name the store and the key, and map the rows into the value. If the store does not exist yet, Apify creates it.

  5. 05

    Test each step and publish

    Test the search and the write one by one, read what came back, then click Publish. This Zap has three steps, so it needs a paid plan.

Triggers

Apify triggers on Zapier

2 events start a Zap when something happens in Apify, and 2 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

Finished Actor Run

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers whenever a selected Actor is run and finished.”

Starts your Zap as soon as a run of the Actor you picked comes to an end. The run's details, including where its results sit, travel with it.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
you run an Actor directly, without a saved task, and want its output sent on.
Watch out
launching that same Actor again from this Zap restarts the trigger, and the loop eats your tasks.
2

Finished Task Run

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers whenever a selected task is run and finished.”

Fires when one of your saved Apify tasks finishes a run. A task is an Actor with its input already filled in, so this trigger follows one precise job rather than every run of the Actor behind it.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
you keep several setups of one Actor, for different sites or keywords, and each needs its own follow-up.
Watch out
the task must exist in your account before you build the Zap, or there is nothing to select.
Actions

Apify actions on Zapier

Apify gives you 4 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Run Actor

Action

In Zapier“Runs a selected Actor.”

Launches an Actor you choose, after you say which source to search Actors in.

When to use it
a new lead in your CRM should kick off a scraper that collects public data about that company.
Watch out
if you ask the Zap to wait for the run, it gives up after 30 seconds.
2

Run Task

Action

In Zapier“Runs a selected Actor task.”

Starts one of your saved tasks, the Actor setup you already tuned inside Apify, without retyping its input.

When to use it
a form submission or a message in a chat tool should rerun a scrape you trust, exactly as configured.
Watch out
the same 30-second cap applies when you choose to run it synchronously.
3

Set Key-Value Store Record

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new or updates an existing record in a key-value store.”

Writes a value under a key in an Apify key-value store, creating the record or replacing what was there.

When to use it
you want to keep the last state of something, such as the latest list of prices, so a later run can compare.
Watch out
the value must be valid JSON, and a store name that does not exist gets created.
4

Scrape Single URL

Action

In Zapier“Runs a scraper for the website and returns its content as text, markdown and HTML. This action is made for getting content of a single page, for example, to use in large language models (LLM) flows.”

Fetches one web page and returns its content as text, markdown and HTML, ready for a summary or an AI step.

When to use it
a link shared in a channel should turn into readable text that a language model can digest.
Watch out
the fast raw HTTP mode fails on some sites; switch to a browser mode if the page comes back empty.
Searches

Apify searches on Zapier

4 search steps look for data that already exists in Apify, so a later step can use it.

Searches sit at the bottom of the event list, under SEARCH. They read what Apify already holds so the next step can use it. Three settings decide what happens when the answer is not the one you expected.

1

Fetch Dataset Items

Search

In Zapier“Fetches items from a dataset.”

Reads the rows a run stored in a dataset, using the default dataset ID that a finished run hands over.

When to use it
right after a finished-run trigger, to get the actual results rather than just the news that the run ended.
Watch out
map the default dataset ID that the trigger hands you; it is the simplest way to point at the right data.
2

Get Key-Value Store Record

Search

In Zapier“Gets a record from a key-value store.”

Retrieves the value saved under a key in a key-value store. A JSON value comes back split into separate fields; any other file comes back as a file.

When to use it
a screenshot or a PDF produced by an Actor has to reach a shared drive or a chat channel.
3

Find Last Actor Run

Search

In Zapier“Finds the most recent Actor run with a specific status.”

Looks up the most recent run of an Actor that has the status you ask for, for example the last one that succeeded.

When to use it
a Zap started by something else needs the freshest good results of an Actor, without launching a new run and waiting for it.
4

Find Last Task Run

Search

In Zapier“Finds the most recent task run with a specific status.”

Returns the latest run of one of your saved tasks with a given status. You pick the task in a list drawn from your own account.

When to use it
a report built in another tool should pull the last successful scrape of a task instead of starting a fresh one.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left as it is, a search that comes back empty stops the Zap and skips the steps that relied on it. Switch it on and the Zap carries on with nothing.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    On apps that offer it, this box turns a search into a find-or-create. None of the Apify searches has that variant.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three options when several items match: keep the first one (the default), stop the Zap, or pass all of them on.
When it breaks

When an Apify Zap breaks

Zapier lists no help article for Apify, so the traps below come from how Zapier and the operations work.

Most failures come from waiting too long, looping, or expecting the Zap to see the past. Each case fits in a sentence. When a Zap fails and the error reads like a riddle, the Zapier troubleshooting page walks through it step by step.

  • A synchronous run cut at 30 seconds

    Run Actor and Run Task can wait for the run, but only for 30 seconds. Longer scrapes should run in the background and come back through a finished-run trigger.

  • A Zap that restarts itself

    Running an Actor from a Zap triggered by that same Actor finishing sets the Zap off again and again, and burns through your task count.

  • No catch-up on past runs

    A Zap only reacts to runs that finish after it is published. Older runs are ignored, and moving them is a separate job.

  • A sudden burst of runs

    If many runs end at once, after a bulk launch for instance, Zapier's flood protection can hold the trigger back.
Need help

Need help automating Apify with Zapier?

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FAQ

Apify and Zapier: common questions

01Is the Apify Zapier integration free?
Yes for the simplest Zaps. Apify is not a premium app, so the free plan accepts it, with 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps. The catch is the two-step limit: one trigger and one action. A finished run that only fires a message fits. But reading the results with Fetch Dataset Items adds a search, and any Zap with a search, a filter or a second action is multi-step, which needs a paid plan. In practice, most useful Apify Zaps need three steps, so plan for a paid plan once you go past testing.
02How many tasks does an Apify Zap use?
One Zapier task per action that succeeds, and nothing for the trigger. A Zap that waits for a finished run, then writes a record to a key-value store, uses one task per run. Add a step that posts the results elsewhere and each run costs two tasks. A failed action is not counted. Keep the two meanings of task apart: an Apify task is a saved Actor setup and costs nothing on the Zapier side by itself. Some actions on some apps use more than one task, so check the history on the first runs.
03Is the Apify integration real-time?
Yes. Both Apify triggers, Finished Actor Run and Finished Task Run, are instant: Apify tells Zapier the moment a run ends, and the Zap starts right away. The polling grid of the plans, 15 minutes on the free plan, does not apply to them. In the editor, an instant Zap carries a lightning bolt. On paid plans the same holds: an instant trigger does not wait for any check, whatever the plan, so a run that ends sets the next step off straight away.
04What does it take to connect Apify to Zapier?
An Apify account and, for the task steps, at least one saved task. The connection runs from the Apps page of Zapier: add a connection, pick Apify, sign in and allow access. Finished Task Run, Run Task and Find Last Task Run all ask you to select a task from your account, so set it up in Apify first with its input filled in. For the Actor steps, Run Actor first asks which source to search Actors in, then which Actor to run.
05Why does an Apify run time out in Zapier?
Because a run you ask Zapier to wait for is capped at 30 seconds. Run Actor and Run Task have a Run synchronously setting: set to yes, the Zap holds until the run ends, but gives up after that limit. The fix is to split the work in two Zaps: one launches the run without waiting, the other starts on Finished Actor Run or Finished Task Run and reads the results with Fetch Dataset Items.
06What if the Apify operation you need is not on the list?
Look at what the Actors can do before looking at Zapier. The ten operations on this page are all Zapier exposes for Apify. Zapier only starts runs, catches their end and reads datasets or key-value stores. If you need a different behavior, the answer is usually another Actor or another saved task, launched with Run Actor or Run Task. For a single page, Scrape Single URL often does the job without any Actor setup at all.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Apify?
It depends on your criteria, not on a winner. Zapier suits a team that wants instant triggers on finished runs and a short setup, accepting per-task billing and the step limit of the free plan. Make and n8n each have their own Apify integration page on this site. Compare their operation lists with this one for your case, then weigh who will maintain the automation and how often it will run.
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