What is the difference between Zillapi and Apify for Zillow data?

Zillapi is a single REST API with one key, one URL, one schema, billing, and an OpenAPI 3.1 contract. Apify is a marketplace of scraping actors that you operate yourself, with per-actor input schemas, per-run pricing, and platform compute units to monitor. Zillapi is the productized layer; Apify is the toolkit.

Can I just use Apify directly instead of Zillapi?

Yes, if you want to own the run lifecycle. You will need to pick an actor from Apify Store, write the input JSON, manage retries and dedup, watch the actor's changelog when Zillow ships a layout change, and pay per compute unit. With Zillapi you skip all of that and get a stable v1 contract.

Is Zillapi cheaper than running an Apify actor for the same Zillow workload?

Usually yes, once you factor in monitoring, retries, and the 24-hour cache. Zillapi runs $5/mo for 1,000 calls or $4.50/mo equivalent on the annual plan. Comparable Apify usage runs platform credit plus actor cost plus your own engineering time. For light to mid volume, Zillapi wins on total cost of ownership. For very heavy custom workloads with engineers already in Apify Console, the math flips.

Can I switch from Apify to Zillapi without rewriting everything?

Yes. Both return JSON. Apify hands you the dataset items from a run. Zillapi hands you the same shape under `data` with a `request_id`. Most teams swap the request layer in an hour and keep their downstream parsing as is.

Does Zillapi support custom selectors and parser steps the way Apify actors do?

No. Zillapi exposes a fixed v1 schema. You get the fields we expose, with sub-resource endpoints for narrower slices. If you need to fork an actor, patch a selector, or add a custom parser step, run the actor yourself on Apify.

← Comparison

Zillapi vs Apify: which Zillow API to use in 2026

Apify is a scraping marketplace. Zillapi is a productized Zillow Data API. Honest pricing, real code, and which tool fits your build in 2026.

By Zillapi May 2, 2026 Updated May 5, 2026

If you are looking for Zillow data and you have already found Apify, you are choosing between two different categories of tool. Apify is a scraping marketplace with a runtime. Zillapi is a productized Zillow Data API with one key, one schema, and a bill that does not depend on compute units.

This is the honest version of the comparison. Pricing, code, and which one fits which build.

TL;DR

	Zillapi	Apify
Category	Productized REST API	Scraping marketplace + runtime
Pricing model	Credits per call	Per actor + platform compute units
Free tier	100 credits at signup, no card	$5 platform credit on Free plan
Signup speed	60 seconds, self serve	Minutes, plus actor selection
Coverage	160M+ U.S. parcels, 300+ fields	Depends on actor you pick
Output formats	JSON, CSV, NDJSON	JSON, CSV (per actor)
Webhooks	HMAC-SHA256 signed, native	Per actor + platform
OpenAPI spec	3.1, drop into any generator	Per actor only
Best for	Production REST, AI agents	Teams who run their own scrapers

Pricing is per public pricing as of May 2026. Verify on the vendor’s pricing page before committing.

What is Apify

Apify is a marketplace and runtime for web scraping actors. An actor is a containerized scraper, packaged with its input schema, output schema, and pricing. Anyone can publish one. Anyone can pay to run one.

The platform handles proxy rotation, run scheduling, dataset storage, retry policies, and a JavaScript and Python SDK. Apify charges for actor cost on top of platform compute units, where 1 CU is 1 GB of RAM running for 1 hour, per the Apify pricing page.

The Free plan ships with $5 in monthly platform credit. Paid plans start at $1/mo for Creator and scale through Starter, Scale, and Business tiers, with bigger CU bundles and lower per-CU rates at the top. SDKs ship in JavaScript and Python.

For Zillow specifically, several community-maintained actors live on the Apify Store. Pick the one whose input schema and update cadence you trust, then own the run lifecycle.

What is Zillapi

Zillapi is a developer-facing Zillow Data API. One Bearer key, one base URL at https://api.zillapi.com/v1, one OpenAPI 3.1 spec, one bill. We handle the upstream complexity. You write a curl and get JSON.

Coverage is 160M+ U.S. parcels with 300+ fields per home, including Zestimates, photos, schools, taxes, listing agent, and price history. Sub-resource endpoints let you fetch the slice you actually need. A 24-hour cache keeps follow-on calls free.

The product is built for two audiences: developers who want to ship a Zillow integration in an afternoon, and AI agents that need predictable JSON without a custom parser per actor.

Side by side, the same call

Look up a property by URL.

Zillapi:

curl https://api.zillapi.com/v1/properties/by-url \
  -G --data-urlencode "url=https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/.../11026031_zpid/" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZILLAPI_KEY"

Returns { data: { zpid, address, price, zestimate, ... }, request_id }. One round trip. Cached for 24 hours.

Apify, calling a Zillow scraping actor with run-sync-get-dataset-items:

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/<actor-id>/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "startUrls": [
      { "url": "https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/.../11026031_zpid/" }
    ]
  }'

Returns the actor’s dataset items array. The shape depends on which actor you pick. Pricing depends on actor cost plus the CU consumed by the run.

The Apify call is fine. It is also a different mental model. You are running a scraper job, not querying an API. Every actor has its own input schema, output shape, and update cadence to track. Multiply that by Zillow’s frequent layout changes and you have ongoing maintenance.

Pricing breakdown

Zillapi:

Free: 100 credits one time, no card
Monthly: $5/mo for 1,000 credits, 200 req/min, top-up at $4 per 1,000
Annual: $4.50/mo equivalent, billed $54/year, 12,000 credits granted upfront, 300 req/min, top-up at $3 per 1,000
One successful 2xx call equals one credit. Errors cost nothing.

Apify, per public pricing as of May 2026:

Free: $5/mo platform credit
Creator: $1/mo, expanded actor publishing
Starter, Scale, Business: tiered with bigger CU bundles and lower per-CU rates
Actor cost on top of platform CU. Per-result and per-run pricing both exist depending on the actor

Your real Apify spend is actor cost + platform CU + proxy cost. For most Zillow workloads the per-result charge dominates, but you still need to model CU usage to avoid bill surprises.

For a developer running a few thousand property lookups a month, Zillapi at $5/mo with caching is almost always cheaper than the equivalent Apify run cost plus the engineering time to manage retries, dedup, and actor changelogs. For tens of thousands of custom-shape runs, Apify can be cheaper in raw infrastructure if you already have the engineering capacity.

When to choose Apify

Apify is the right call when you want full control of the scraper. If you plan to run dozens of different actors across many sources, the platform earns its keep. If your team already lives in Apify Console, adding a wrapper API on top buys you very little.

Choose Apify if any of these apply:

You need to fork a Zillow actor and patch its selectors when Zillow ships a layout change
You are integrating Zillow data into a larger multi-source scraping pipeline that already runs on Apify
You want raw control of the input schema, run timing, and dataset retention
You have a custom parser step that does not fit a fixed v1 contract

Apify is a serious platform. The team behind it ships well. This is not a comparison where one option is bad.

When to choose Zillapi

Choose Zillapi when you want a Zillow API that behaves like Stripe.

One key, one URL, one schema, one bill
A v1 REST contract that does not change when Zillow ships a layout update
Sub-resource endpoints so you fetch the slice you need, not the whole detail blob
A 24-hour cache that turns repeat lookups free
HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks for async work
An OpenAPI 3.1 spec that drops into any code generator, MCP server, or agent runtime
One vendor relationship to manage instead of an actor changelog and a platform tier

If you are an indie developer, an AI agent team, a real estate startup, or anyone whose product is not a scraping pipeline, Zillapi removes a category of work you do not need to do yourself.

The honest case against Zillapi

We are a fixed v1 schema. You get the fields we expose. You cannot patch selectors, fork the parser, or add custom extraction steps. If your build needs that level of control, Apify is the better fit and we will not pretend otherwise.

You also do not get raw HTML. Zillapi returns normalized JSON. If you need to inspect the original page for fields we do not surface, you will need a separate scraping path.

For very heavy workloads with engineers already paying for Apify across multiple sources, the marginal cost of adding Zillow on Apify can beat Zillapi at scale. Run the numbers on your specific volume before committing.

Verdict

For 90% of teams the question reduces to: do you want to run a scraper, or do you want to call an API.

If you want to run a scraper, pick Apify. If you want to call an API, pick Zillapi. Both products will work. The choice is about how much of the scraping problem you want to be your problem.

If you are not sure, start with Zillapi’s free tier. 100 credits, no card, first call working in 60 seconds. If the schema does not fit your build, you are out nothing.

Zillapi is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Zillow Group, Inc. “Zillow” and “Zestimate” are registered trademarks of Zillow Group, Inc. Use of those marks on this site is descriptive (nominative fair use). Read our full trademark posture.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Zillapi and Apify for Zillow data?: Zillapi is a single REST API with one key, one URL, one schema, billing, and an OpenAPI 3.1 contract. Apify is a marketplace of scraping actors that you operate yourself, with per-actor input schemas, per-run pricing, and platform compute units to monitor. Zillapi is the productized layer; Apify is the toolkit.
Can I just use Apify directly instead of Zillapi?: Yes, if you want to own the run lifecycle. You will need to pick an actor from Apify Store, write the input JSON, manage retries and dedup, watch the actor's changelog when Zillow ships a layout change, and pay per compute unit. With Zillapi you skip all of that and get a stable v1 contract.
How does Apify pricing work?: Apify charges for actor runs plus platform compute units (CU). One CU is 1 GB of RAM running for one hour, per the Apify pricing page. The Free plan ships with $5 in monthly platform credit. Paid plans start at $1/mo for the Creator plan and scale into Starter, Scale, and Business tiers. Each actor on the Apify Store sets its own per-run or per-result charge on top of compute.
Is Zillapi cheaper than running an Apify actor for the same Zillow workload?: Usually yes, once you factor in monitoring, retries, and the 24-hour cache. Zillapi runs $5/mo for 1,000 calls or $4.50/mo equivalent on the annual plan. Comparable Apify usage runs platform credit plus actor cost plus your own engineering time. For light to mid volume, Zillapi wins on total cost of ownership. For very heavy custom workloads with engineers already in Apify Console, the math flips.
Can I switch from Apify to Zillapi without rewriting everything?: Yes. Both return JSON. Apify hands you the dataset items from a run. Zillapi hands you the same shape under `data` with a `request_id`. Most teams swap the request layer in an hour and keep their downstream parsing as is.
Does Zillapi support custom selectors and parser steps the way Apify actors do?: No. Zillapi exposes a fixed v1 schema. You get the fields we expose, with sub-resource endpoints for narrower slices. If you need to fork an actor, patch a selector, or add a custom parser step, run the actor yourself on Apify.