But that's how subscriptions work. You

But that's how subscriptions work. You will be charged by Netflix at the end of the month even if you don't watch any films. Even Apify works like that. Once you subscribe to a plan you will be charged every month even if you don't use any actors.

I don't understand why developers shouldn't benefit from this subscription model...

Lukas Krivka•9/12/25, 7:04 AM

The major difference here is that users subscribe to Apify and then rent Actors. Having 2 steps is really confusing for users.

igolaizolaOP•9/12/25, 9:39 AM

Okay, but that's a different issue. The UX for renting an actor may not be ideal. Apify may improve things, for example by letting new users rent an actor and subscribe to the platform in the same flow or something similar. I'm not a UX expert, so I won’t offer advice here.

But I was talking about this:

Yes, rental pricing model is automatic and has trial period. That is nice for devs but users also often keep renting as zombies which is not ideal.

This applies to any subscription model. Part of the revenue comes from "zombie" users. A portion of Apify's income likely comes from users who auto-renew and don't use the platform.

This isn't something bad, it's simply how subscriptions work. Gyms, Netflix, and many SaaS products benefit from these "zombie" users, while customers get the comfort of having the service available whenever they want.

Lukas Krivka•9/12/25, 11:54 AM

Yes but the specifics matter. It is a big difference if you have one subscription or two layers. But it is in Apify's interest to make the best decision for both devs and users so thanks for your feedback, we take it in account