docs: move monetization models by TC-MO · Pull Request #2312 · apify/apify-docs

TC-MO · 2026-03-05T10:49:47Z

No description provided.

change order in prose (rental last)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Move pay per event to first position, pay per result second, rental third. Remove pay per usage section entirely. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Remove FAQ heading structure from pay per event, pay per result, and rental sections. Weave all information into natural prose paragraphs. Also fix "four" → "three" pricing models in intro list. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

- Use correct pay_per_event_max_charge_per_run.png image (was duplicating run detail screenshot) - Remove unverified "same date each month" claim from rental billing cycle - Restore that most of the rental fee goes directly to the developer Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

apify-service-account · 2026-03-05T10:53:27Z

Preview for this PR was built for commit 8709bd41 and is ready at https://pr-2312.preview.docs.apify.com!

stetizu1

It seems like rental is still first on https://pr-2312.preview.docs.apify.com/platform/actors/publishing/monetize

Also kept one important duplicate

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T13:57:46Z

sources/academy/build-and-publish/apify-store-basics/how_actor_monetization_works.md

@@ -146,12 +146,12 @@ Learn more about what makes a good readme here: [How to create an Actor README](

 ### Rental, pay-per-result (PPR), or pay-per-event (PPE)


We should swap it in the title too

good catch 🦅

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T14:01:27Z

sources/academy/build-and-publish/apify-store-basics/how_actor_monetization_works.md


 ### Rental, pay-per-result (PPR), or pay-per-event (PPE)

+Pay-per-event (PPE) gives you the most flexibility and growth potential. You can charge for any meaningful event your Actor performs (for example, page scraped, browser page opened, or an external API call). This makes costs predictable for users, lets you model value precisely, and is fully compatible with AI and MCP-based integrations.


This paragraph is actually missing the PPE+U.
We may mention that developer can decide whether user does not cover their own platform usage (which is good, transparent pricing, all things mentioned here :party:) or user does cover their own platform usage (which is bad but creator can use it to figure out where to set the price)

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T14:01:35Z

sources/academy/build-and-publish/apify-store-basics/how_actor_monetization_works.md


+Pay-per-event (PPE) gives you the most flexibility and growth potential. You can charge for any meaningful event your Actor performs (for example, page scraped, browser page opened, or an external API call). This makes costs predictable for users, lets you model value precisely, and is fully compatible with AI and MCP-based integrations.
+
 Rental pricing allows you to charge a monthly fee for your Actor and users cover their own compute usage.


Suggested change

Rental pricing allows you to charge a monthly fee for your Actor and users cover their own compute usage.

Rental pricing allows you to charge a monthly fee for your Actor and users cover their own platform usage.

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T14:02:35Z

sources/academy/platform/get_most_of_actors/monetizing_your_actor.md

@@ -12,24 +12,8 @@ unlisted: true

 When you publish your Actor on the Apify platform, you have the option to make it a _Paid Actor_ and earn revenue from users who benefit from your tool. You can choose between two pricing models:


What is this page? Why is it missing PPE? 🤔 There are 3 pricing models

that page is actually getting removed it's an old unlisted remnant

Then maybe we don't have to change it (now) and can just remove it (now or later)?

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T14:19:47Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md


-[//]: # (TODO better link for platform usage costs explaining what it is!)
-Yes, you will pay normal [platform usage costs](https://apify.com/pricing) on top of the monthly Actor rental fee. The platform costs work exactly the same way as for free public Actors or your private Actors. You should find estimates of the cost of usage in each individual rental Actor's README ([see an example](https://apify.com/compass/crawler-google-places#how-much-will-it-cost)).
+With pay per event pricing, you pay for specific events defined by the Actor creator, such as producing a single result, uploading a file, or starting an Actor. These events and their prices are always described on each Actor's page. There is no monthly rental fee - you only pay for the events.


There is no monthly rental fee - you only pay for the events.

I don't like the sentence, we don't want to compare PPE to rental anymore. It should be understandable by context that you only pay for events.

It could get confusing together with platform pricing and with PPE+U down there.

I would just scratch it here

I structured it explicitly since Rentals are still available for the next ~6 months. But I can rephrase it to not mention rental what so ever. The idea was to have some explicit frame of reference and to remove it once rental is gone for good

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T14:27:35Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

+With pay per event pricing, you pay for specific events defined by the Actor creator, such as producing a single result, uploading a file, or starting an Actor. These events and their prices are always described on each Actor's page. There is no monthly rental fee - you only pay for the events.

-##### Do I need an Apify paid plan to use rental Actors?
+Pay per event Actors are labeled next to the Actor name in Apify Store and Apify Console.


Hmm, this will actually change and the label looks like it only if you don't have a primary event set. But we can solve this separately.

Yes, let's keep this out of scope for this, the goal here is to improve what we have now, and further iterate on this later

Well, they are not labeled next to the Actor name in Apify Store & console. I would just remove that sentence for now, since it is not important

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T14:32:02Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

+![Pay per event with usage not included in Apify Store](./images/store/pay_per_event_and_usage_example_actor.png)

-If you have an [Apify paid plan](https://apify.com/pricing), the monthly rental fee will be automatically subtracted from your plan's prepaid usage at the end of your free trial, and you will be able to run the Actor for another month. If you are not subscribed to any of [Apify's paid plans](https://apify.com/pricing), you will need to subscribe to one in order to continue using the Actor after the trial has ended.
+When starting a run, you can define a maximum charge limit. The Actor terminates gracefully when it reaches that limit - and even if it does not stop immediately, you are never charged more than the defined limit.


We didn't catch this but this is true only for PPE not PPE+U. So maybe "you are never charged for produced events over the defined limit" - because you can still be charged for platform usage over limit while Actor is aborting

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T14:33:55Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

+![Pay per event Actor - max charge per run](./images/store/pay_per_event_max_charge_per_run.png)

-_You can cancel the Actor rental_ during your trial or any time after that so you don't get charged when your current Actor rental period expires. You can always turn it back on later if you want.
+After the Actor finishes, any interactions with the dataset - such as reading or writing additional data - incur standard platform usage costs. Long-term storage of results is charged at normal rates.


This is actually true for all pricing models, not any specific one. I would not duplicate this twice for both (especially since it is true for all)

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T14:38:18Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

-![Rental Actors billing in Apify Console](./images/store/billing-paid-actors.png)
+If charges seem incorrect, contact the Actor author or the Apify support team. You can also open an issue directly on the Actor's detail page in Apify Console.

 ### Pay per result


You didn't have to change PPR, it will be gone in < a month. We can actually remove the section for creators already (for users very soon) - in followup probably

stetizu1 · 2026-03-05T15:00:14Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

+You can cancel the rental at any time during the trial or afterward so you are not charged when the current rental period expires. You can always turn it back on later. When renting an Actor, you can run it via the [API](/api/v2), [JavaScript client](/api/client/js), or [Python client](/api/client/python), just as you would with any private or free public Actor.

-With this model, it's very easy to see how many platform resources each Actor run consumed, but it is quite difficult to estimate their usage beforehand. The best way to find the costs of free Actors upfront is to try out the Actor on a limited scope (for example, on a small number of pages) and evaluate the consumption. You can easily do that using our [free plan](https://apify.com/pricing).
+You can read more about the motivation behind rental Actors in [this blog post](https://blog.apify.com/make-regular-passive-income-developing-web-automation-actors-b0392278d085/) from Apify's CEO Jan Čurn.


I would scratch this now 😅 No explanation for rentals!

Good point, will remove

- Reorder heading to PPE, PPR, rental to match section order - Fix "compute usage" to "platform usage" in rental description - Remove "no monthly rental fee" comparison from PPE section - Remove duplicate platform usage prose, keep caution with link - Fix max charge limit wording to be accurate for PPE+U - Remove outdated blog post link from rental section Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Move duplicated post-run dataset cost note into a single admonition under the pricing models intro, removing it from both PPE and PPR sections. Also remove "no monthly rental fee" comparisons from both PPE and PPR sections. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

apify-service-account · 2026-03-09T14:19:21Z

Preview for this PR was built for commit 9595abcb and is ready at https://pr-2312.preview.docs.apify.com!

stetizu1

I am pre-approving this but please connect with @Priban about which parts to fix in this PR and which in followup.

Lukas will be doing some cleanup of PPR & filling information gaps where we have them.

Thanks for the changes

stetizu1 · 2026-03-09T17:47:00Z

sources/academy/platform/get_most_of_actors/monetizing_your_actor.md

@@ -12,24 +12,8 @@ unlisted: true

 When you publish your Actor on the Apify platform, you have the option to make it a _Paid Actor_ and earn revenue from users who benefit from your tool. You can choose between two pricing models:


Then maybe we don't have to change it (now) and can just remove it (now or later)?

stetizu1 · 2026-03-09T18:19:53Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

+With pay per event pricing, you pay for specific events defined by the Actor creator, such as producing a single result, uploading a file, or starting an Actor. These events and their prices are always described on each Actor's page. There is no monthly rental fee - you only pay for the events.

-##### Do I need an Apify paid plan to use rental Actors?
+Pay per event Actors are labeled next to the Actor name in Apify Store and Apify Console.


Well, they are not labeled next to the Actor name in Apify Store & console. I would just remove that sentence for now, since it is not important

stetizu1 · 2026-03-09T18:29:33Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

-##### How do I know an Actor is paid per result?
-
-When you try the Actor on the platform, you will see that the Actor is paid per result next to the Actor name.
+Pay per result Actors are labeled next to the Actor name in Apify Console.


again, not entirely true, I would just skip that, it is not important now with unified pricing

stetizu1 · 2026-03-09T18:41:18Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

-##### Where do I see how much I was charged for the pay per result Actors?
-
-You can see the overview of how much you have been charged for Actors paid by result on your invoices and in the [Usage tab](https://console.apify.com/billing) of the Billing section in Console. It will be shown there as a separate service.
+Your charges appear on your invoices and in the [Usage tab](https://console.apify.com/billing) in the Billing section of Apify Console, where pay per result charges are shown as a separate service. The cost also appears on individual run detail pages and in the overview of all runs.


[Nit]: Double-check me, but I think this should be "Historical usage" not "Usage" tab and link should be https://console.apify.com/billing/historical-usage - I guess this was changed at some point.

(cc @Priban maybe even screenshot is old, we may replace it with polishing)

Fixed the label, screenshot seems current when comparing against Consoel

stetizu1 · 2026-03-09T18:49:58Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

+<RentalSunset/>

-Yes, when starting an Actor run, you can define the maximum limit on the cost of that run. When the Actor reaches the defined limit, it should terminate gracefully. Even if it didn't, for any reason, and kept producing results, we make always sure you are never charged more that your defined limit.
+Rental Actors are Actors for which you have to pay a recurring fee to the developer after your trial period ends. This empowers the developer to dedicate more time and effort to their Actors, thus ensuring they are of the _highest quality_ and receive _ongoing maintenance_.


This empowers the developer to dedicate more time and effort to their Actors, thus ensuring they are of the _highest quality_ and receive _ongoing maintenance_
I would remove this section now. We don't have anything like that for better pricing models and I guess it is from the time rental was the only pricing model.

stetizu1 · 2026-03-09T18:53:51Z

sources/platform/actors/running/store.md

+Rental fees are subtracted automatically from your prepaid platform usage, similarly to [compute units](./usage_and_resources.md). Most of the fee goes directly to the developer, and you also pay normal [platform usage costs](https://apify.com/pricing) on top - usage cost estimates are usually included in each rental Actor's README ([see an example](https://apify.com/compass/crawler-google-places#how-much-will-it-cost)). If your prepaid usage is insufficient, any overage is covered in the next invoice.

-With this model, it's very easy to see how many platform resources each Actor run consumed, but it is quite difficult to estimate their usage beforehand. The best way to find the costs of free Actors upfront is to try out the Actor on a limited scope (for example, on a small number of pages) and evaluate the consumption. You can easily do that using our [free plan](https://apify.com/pricing).
+You can cancel the rental at any time during the trial or afterward so you are not charged when the current rental period expires. You can always turn it back on later. When renting an Actor, you can run it via the [API](/api/v2), [JavaScript client](/api/client/js), or [Python client](/api/client/python), just as you would with any private or free public Actor.


When renting an Actor, you can run it via the [API](/api/v2), [JavaScript client](/api/client/js), or [Python client](/api/client/python), just as you would with any private or free public Actor.
I think this is also not rental-relevant - this is about all Actors in store. It should not be here but in general notes. Also probably historical text from only pricing model.

- Remove inaccurate "labeled next to Actor name" sentences for PPE and PPR - Remove "highest quality/ongoing maintenance" marketing copy from rental section - Remove rental-specific API/client running note (applies to all Actors) - Fix billing tab label and URL to "Historical usage" / /billing/historical-usage - Remove outdated unlisted monetizing_your_actor.md page - Add nginx redirects for removed page to /platform/actors/publishing/monetize Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

apify-service-account · 2026-03-10T15:30:47Z

Preview for this PR was built for commit a462f373 and is ready at https://pr-2312.preview.docs.apify.com!

TC-MO · 2026-03-10T15:33:23Z

I've fixed all outstanding issues, the only ones are the ones that are deferred for now, I'll go ahead and merge this PR

TC-MO and others added 5 commits March 4, 2026 10:17

docs: changes to monetization plan order

2780da9

change order in prose (rental last)

docs: reorder monetization models, put rental after PPR

fe87a5e

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs: reorder pricing models and remove pay per usage section

ddce71f

Move pay per event to first position, pay per result second, rental third. Remove pay per usage section entirely. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

TC-MO requested a review from stetizu1 March 5, 2026 10:49

TC-MO self-assigned this Mar 5, 2026

TC-MO requested a review from honzajavorek as a code owner March 5, 2026 10:49

TC-MO added documentation Improvements or additions to documentation. t-docs Issues owned by technical writing team. labels Mar 5, 2026

TC-MO changed the title ~~Move monetization models~~ docs: move monetization models Mar 5, 2026

stetizu1 requested changes Mar 5, 2026

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danpoletaev force-pushed the move-monetization-models branch from 8709bd4 to ee4d1a2 Compare March 6, 2026 21:56

metalwarrior665 force-pushed the move-monetization-models branch from ee4d1a2 to 8709bd4 Compare March 7, 2026 00:02

stetizu1 requested a review from Priban March 9, 2026 13:15

TC-MO and others added 3 commits March 9, 2026 15:03

Merge branch 'master' into move-monetization-models

d88cd3a

TC-MO requested a review from stetizu1 March 9, 2026 14:18

stetizu1 approved these changes Mar 9, 2026

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TC-MO and others added 2 commits March 10, 2026 16:23

Merge branch 'master' into move-monetization-models

a462f37

TC-MO merged commit 089e0cf into master Mar 10, 2026
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TC-MO deleted the move-monetization-models branch March 10, 2026 15:35

		@@ -146,12 +146,12 @@ Learn more about what makes a good readme here: [How to create an Actor README](

		### Rental, pay-per-result (PPR), or pay-per-event (PPE)


		### Rental, pay-per-result (PPR), or pay-per-event (PPE)

		Pay-per-event (PPE) gives you the most flexibility and growth potential. You can charge for any meaningful event your Actor performs (for example, page scraped, browser page opened, or an external API call). This makes costs predictable for users, lets you model value precisely, and is fully compatible with AI and MCP-based integrations.


		Pay-per-event (PPE) gives you the most flexibility and growth potential. You can charge for any meaningful event your Actor performs (for example, page scraped, browser page opened, or an external API call). This makes costs predictable for users, lets you model value precisely, and is fully compatible with AI and MCP-based integrations.

		Rental pricing allows you to charge a monthly fee for your Actor and users cover their own compute usage.

		@@ -12,24 +12,8 @@ unlisted: true

		When you publish your Actor on the Apify platform, you have the option to make it a _Paid Actor_ and earn revenue from users who benefit from your tool. You can choose between two pricing models:

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