Apify MCP Server - install, status & alternatives [2026]

01 · Install Apify MCP Server

before you install - you'll need

Set UI_MODE, TELEMETRY_ENABLED, APIFY_TOKEN, APIFY_META_ORIGIN before connecting.

Claude Code

claude mcp add apify-apify-mcp-server --transport http https://mcp.apify.com/

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-apify-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/"
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

https://mcp.apify.com/

transport: streamable-http

endpoint alive - authentication required · probed 2026-08-25

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as remote - your agent's requests go to mcp.apify.com

endpoint auth requires authentication - rejected our unauthenticated MCP initialize

license MIT - declared in the repository

registry vendor namespace com.apify - domain-verified with the official MCP registry

03 · What Apify MCP Server can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

What you can build

An agent gets 2 documented tools across title, read & search, including title, readOnlyHint.

The 2 tools it gives your agent

Extracted from the project's README - what apify-mcp-server lets an agent do.

title: - Short display name for the tool (e.g., "Search Actors", "Call Actor", "apify/rag-web-browser")
readOnlyHint: - true for tools that only read data without modifying state (e.g., get-dataset, fetch-actor-details)

Latest releases

v0.15.1 · 2026-08-20

0.15.1 (2026-08-20) · Add actor tasks (#1235) (8d3da8d) by @Janjiran · Extend official Apify usernames beyond apify (#1285) (68ebec3) by @MQ37 · Return not-found error from get-actor-log for missing runs (#1234)…

v0.15.0 · 2026-08-19

0.15.0 (2026-08-19) · [breaking] Run workflow evals as Langfuse experiments (#1224) (316d640) by @RobertCrupa · Run workflow evals on the Claude Agent SDK (#1238) (de46c3e) by @RobertCrupa · Stop filterSchemaProperties…

v0.14.3 · 2026-08-12

0.14.3 (2026-08-12) · Trace workflow evals to Langfuse (#1223) (8280936) by @RobertCrupa · Recover widget structuredContent stripped by Claude Desktop (#1187) (94dcfe3) by @jirispilka · Align Node floor to 22 and drop…

04 · Who maintains Apify MCP Server

apify-mcp-server is maintained by apify. It's the only MCP server we track from this author; the repo dates to Jan 2025.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/apify/apify-mcp-server
category: web scraping - ranked #10 of 78 actively-maintained web scraping servers as of 2026-08-25.
release cadence: 10+ releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-08-20)
registry: com.apify/apify-mcp-server (active, first published 2025-09-19 · 61 versions)

06 · Apify MCP Server FAQ

What is Apify MCP Server?

The Apify Model Context Protocol (MCP) server at mcp.apify.com enables your AI agents to extract data from social media, search engines, maps, e-commerce sites, and any other website using thousands of ready-made scrapers, crawlers, and automation tools from Apify Store. It supports OAuth, allowing you to connect from clients like Claude.ai or Visual Studio Code using just the URL. It is available as a remote MCP endpoint.

Is Apify MCP Server still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-08-25, its last commit was 2026-08-23 and it shipped 10+ releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

How do I install Apify MCP Server?

Run `claude mcp add apify-apify-mcp-server --transport http https://mcp.apify.com/`. The README documents 4 environment variables (UI_MODE, TELEMETRY_ENABLED, APIFY_TOKEN…) to set first. Set UI_MODE, TELEMETRY_ENABLED, APIFY_TOKEN, APIFY_META_ORIGIN before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Apify MCP Server require authentication?

Yes - when we probed the endpoint on 2026-08-25, it rejected an unauthenticated MCP initialize; you'll need credentials to connect.

07 · Alternatives to Apify MCP Server

Alternatives to Apify MCP Server

Maintained web scraping servers if Apify MCP Server isn't the fit.

Pairs well with

Servers that cover what Apify MCP Server doesn't - only shown when the pairing reason fits the companion.

More web scraping MCP servers · Scrapi · Agentfetch · Parkour MCP · Searchts · Amazon Scraper API

More TypeScript MCP servers · Domshell · Apocdata MCP Server · Appendix · Reuse Before Generate · ARC 1 · see all