GMapsScout vs Apify
Both pull business data out of Google Maps. They are built differently, charge differently, and suit different jobs. This page is about which is which — including where Apify is the better choice.
First, a disclosure
GMapsScout publishes this page and sells one of the two tools on it. Read it with that in mind. To keep it honest, it compares the things that are structurally true of each product — where it runs, how it charges, whether it enriches — rather than prices and feature counts that change every quarter. Last checked September 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and it will be corrected.
Apify — A cloud platform for running scrapers — "actors" — written by Apify and by its community. Its Google Maps Scraper actor is one of the most-used on the platform.
GMapsScout — a Chrome extension that runs on the Google Maps page you are already looking at, reads the results, enriches them with public contact details, scores them, and exports 45 columns. Leads are stored in your own browser.
Where each one runs
The biggest practical difference, and the one that decides most of the others.
Apify
- In Apify's cloud. The actor "opens the Google Maps website, goes to a specified location, then writes your search query into the search bar" and scrolls to the end of the results — the same thing a person would do, automated on their infrastructure. You configure a run, start it, and collect the output from a dataset when it finishes. Access is through the web console, a REST API, Node and Python clients, or a CLI. It requires an Apify account and an API token. That is what makes it scale, and what makes it feel like operating a job rather than using a tool.
GMapsScout
- In your browser, as a Chrome extension, on the Google Maps search you are already viewing.
- You see the results before you scan them, refine the search, and scan again. There is no job to configure and nothing to wait for.
- The limit is your browser and your plan's daily cap — not infrastructure. Auto Scan can work through a list of cities unattended, but it is your machine doing it.
How each one charges
Not the number — the model. That is what decides your cost at your real volume.
Apify
- Per result. The actor is priced pay-per-event — as of September 2026 "from $1.50 / 1,000 scraped places" — and Apify states you are "not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events." The per-thousand rate falls on higher platform subscription tiers. Cheap for a small run; the cost grows with volume and there is no flat ceiling.
GMapsScout
- Flat monthly plans with a lead cap, and a free plan that is a working tier: 500 leads and 250 enrichments a month, no card.
- No per-result meter. A big sweep costs the same as a small one until you hit the plan's cap.
- The cap is what to watch: 500 a month on free, 150,000 on Basic, 500,000 on Pro. See pricing for what those mean in practice.
What each one does about emails
Extraction gives you what the listing shows. Enrichment is the difference between a directory and a list you can contact.
Apify
- Not in the base actor. Emails and contact details come from two separate paid add-ons — "Company contacts enrichment" (business emails and social profiles from websites) and "Business leads enrichment" (names, work emails, job titles, LinkedIn) — each billed per place on top of the scrape.
GMapsScout
- Enrichment is built in: press Enrich and the extension visits each business's website and profile for a public email, an owner name, social profiles, and signals like unanswered reviews.
- Best-effort, and honest about it. A business that has published no email gets "not found", not a guess.
- Runs in your browser like everything else — the enrichment traffic comes from you, not from a scraping farm.
Which one to pick
Both are good tools. They are good at different jobs.
Pick Apify if
- You need tens of thousands of rows on a schedule, unattended.
- You want an API, webhooks or an MCP integration feeding results into your own systems.
- You are already on Apify for other scrapers and want one bill.
- You are comfortable configuring a run and processing the dataset it returns.
Pick GMapsScout if
- You want a list this afternoon, from the Maps search you are already looking at.
- You want a predictable monthly cost with no per-result meter running.
- You want emails and owner names in the same pass, not a second paid add-on.
- You would rather your prospect list stayed on your own machine.
The fastest way to decide: run the same search — one niche, one city — on both free tiers and compare what comes back. Ten minutes of that beats any comparison page, this one included.
Questions
Can I use Apify and GMapsScout together?
Is either one allowed by Google?
Why should I trust a comparison written by one of the companies in it?
Try the extension on the search you already have open
Free plan, no card. If it is the wrong shape for your job, you will know in ten minutes and nothing was spent.