BasedOnBusiness vs Apify: Google Maps Scraping Comparison
When you need business data from Google Maps, two names come up often: Apify and BasedOnBusiness. They were built for different users: one is a flexible developer platform, while the other offers a focused Google Maps workflow.
This comparison breaks down what each tool actually offers, what it costs, and which one makes sense depending on your situation.
What Is Apify?
Apify is a cloud-based web scraping and automation platform. It hosts thousands of pre-built "Actors", small programs that can scrape data from almost any website. There is an Actor specifically for Google Maps, which is popular and well-maintained.
The platform is genuinely powerful. If you have developer experience and need custom automation pipelines, Apify gives you a lot of control.
What Is BasedOnBusiness?
BasedOnBusiness is a purpose-built Google Maps scraper. You enter a city, country, and business category. You set how many leads you need. You download a CSV. That's the entire workflow: no code, no setup, no API keys.
It was built for marketers, sales teams, and agency owners who need clean, structured business data fast.
Data You Can Extract
Both tools pull the same core Google Maps fields:
- Business name
- Phone number
- Physical address
- Website URL
- Google rating and review count
- Business category
Google Maps listings themselves do not include email addresses. On Apify, email or social-profile collection is a separate, paid enrichment step. For results with a website, BasedOnBusiness checks the public site for published emails, social profiles, and technology signals at no extra cost; not every site returns a match.
Setup and Learning Curve
This is where the two tools diverge most sharply.
Apify requires you to find the right Actor, configure input parameters (often in JSON), understand how storage and proxy settings work, and manage API tokens if you want to integrate with other tools. For developers, this is fine. For non-technical users, the onboarding curve is real.
BasedOnBusiness uses a category-and-location form for standard searches. New accounts include 50 one-time export credits without requiring a card, so you can inspect a small result before buying a plan.
Pricing Comparison
Apify charges based on compute units consumed per run. Google Maps scraping jobs vary in cost depending on result volume, proxy usage, and Actor efficiency. It is genuinely difficult to predict the cost of a large job without running it first.
BasedOnBusiness uses a flat model on monthly subscription plans: 1 credit = 1 business record, regardless of fields returned. Website enrichment is included rather than billed separately, although published email, social, and technology matches are not guaranteed.
| BasedOnBusiness | Apify | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly plans, 1 credit = 1 lead | Compute units (variable) |
| Starting offer | 50 one-time export credits, no card | $5 platform credit |
| Email + enrichment | Included for websites; matches vary | Paid add-on |
| Predictability | High, fixed cost per lead | Variable per run |
| Setup required | None for UI; API available | Moderate to high |
| REST API | Yes, /api/v1/scrapes | Yes, Apify API |
| Webhooks | Yes, job completion events | Yes |
| Export formats | CSV, Excel, JSON via API | Apify storage / API |
| Target user | Marketers, agencies, sales teams | Developers, technical teams |
When Apify's Flexibility Is Worth It
If you need to scrape dozens of different websites, build complex multi-step pipelines, or integrate with custom internal systems, Apify's platform approach is genuinely useful. You are paying for flexibility, and the flexibility is real.
When BasedOnBusiness Makes More Sense
If your only goal is to get business data from Google Maps (names, phone numbers, addresses, websites, ratings) then Apify's complexity adds friction without adding value. BasedOnBusiness is faster to start, simpler to use, and cheaper at scale for this specific use case.
Practical Workflow Comparison
Here is what scraping 500 local businesses looks like on each platform:
On Apify:
- Log in and navigate to the Google Maps Scraper Actor
- Configure input JSON with search terms, location, and result limits
- Set proxy configuration (recommended for reliability)
- Run the Actor and wait for results
- Download from Apify storage or connect via API
On BasedOnBusiness:
- Log in
- Enter category, city, and country
- Set target lead count to 500
- Click run
- Download CSV or Excel, or retrieve results as JSON via the REST API
Both can return the core fields listed above. For API-driven workflows, BasedOnBusiness exposes scrape endpoints and completion webhooks; Apify provides a broader platform for teams that need custom actors and storage.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Apify if you are a developer building automated data pipelines, need to scrape multiple sources beyond Google Maps, or require deep custom configuration.
Choose BasedOnBusiness if you want Google Maps business data quickly, you are not a developer, and you want to know exactly what each lead will cost before you run a job.
Compare a Sample Search
Run one target-market search with the 50 one-time export credits included on a new no-card account at basedonb.com. A paid plan is billed on day one, and the 7-day guarantee refunds the value of credits you have not used.