An Apify alternative for people who just want the JSON, not a platform to run.
Apify is powerful. It is also a platform: actors to pick or build, runs to configure, compute and proxy usage to watch, and a store to learn your way around. If all you actually need is data off a page, that is a lot of machinery. Haunt is one call. Send a URL and a plain-English prompt, get clean JSON back, and only pay when the call returns data. No actor to maintain, nothing to keep running.
The short version
Haunt does one job well. It reads a page, or a list of pages you hand it, and returns clean JSON. No platform to learn, no actor to babysit, no compute units to reason about.
If that is the job you have, it is the simpler tool for it.
One call, not a platform to run.
With a platform model you choose or build an actor, configure the run, manage proxies and compute, and own that setup as sites change. Haunt removes the whole layer. You describe what you want in plain English and get the JSON. There is nothing to deploy and nothing left running after the call.
Pay only when it works
Usage-based platforms bill compute and proxy time even on runs that came back empty or blocked. Haunt does not charge for a call that cannot return usable data. A blocked page costs you nothing and gives you a clear reason instead.
The differences that actually change your day.
Honest comparison, only the axes that matter when you are choosing between us.
| Haunt | Apify | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | One API call or one MCP tool. Nothing to configure, nothing stored after. | A platform of actors and runs to choose, configure and maintain. |
| Blocked or empty results | Free. You pay only when data comes back. | Compute and proxy usage is billed even on runs that returned nothing usable. |
| Using it from an agent | Native MCP server and a REST API. An agent calls it directly, no wrapper. | API and platform aimed at running and orchestrating scrapers. |
Apify details from apify.com, checked 8 July 2026. If anything is out of date, tell us and we will correct it. Honest comparisons only.
An honest no beats a confident fake yes.
The failure that hurts most is the silent one. A page is blocked, and instead of saying so, a tool hands back an empty or invented result that poisons everything your agent does next. Haunt refuses to return data it cannot find on the page. That is the whole point of it.
Built for agents, not dashboards
Haunt ships as an MCP server as well as a REST API, so an agent in Claude or another runtime calls it as a native tool. No wrapper to write, no page content kept after the call.
Point it at a page that's been giving you trouble.
One API call, or one MCP tool. 1,000 free credits, no card. If it can't read the page it tells you and charges you nothing. That is the whole pitch.