Comparison · Pricing checked October 2026
LeadMerlin vs Apify Google Maps Scraper
Both can help you build lead lists, but they are different kinds of tools. Apify Google Maps Scraper is a scraping marketplace actor, priced per event. LeadMerlin is a live local-business search with a full enrichment pipeline on every lead, built to be called from an API or an AI agent.
Verdict
Pick Apify Google Maps Scraper for: Builders who want the cheapest raw Maps data or need detailed place data like reviews and images.
Pick LeadMerlin for: enriched local business leads — owner names, labelled emails, phone line types and tech stack — at one price per lead.
Side by side
| Feature | Apify Google Maps Scraper | LeadMerlin |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per event, from $1.50 / 1,000 places + add-ons | Monthly plan, 1 credit per enriched lead |
| Free usage | $5/mo platform usage | 100 leads |
| Review text & photos | Yes | Review snippet only, no photos gallery |
| Emails & socials | Contacts add-on | Included |
| Email verification label | Separate (in leads enrichment) | Included |
| Phone line type + carrier | Not listed | Main number, within a monthly allowance (1,000–4,000) |
| Tech stack detection | Not listed | Included |
| Niche filtering before charge | Not listed | Yes |
Pricing checked October 2026. “Not listed” means we could not find it on Apify Google Maps Scraper’s public pages — it may still exist.
What Apify Google Maps Scraper is
Apify’s Google Maps Scraper is a widely used actor on the Apify platform. It is priced per scraped place, with optional paid add-on events for contacts, leads, social profiles and reviews.
- Extracts place basics, ratings and reviews, opening hours, images and many business details. [1]
- Optional contacts add-on returns company emails, phones and social profiles, plus Impressum data for German, Austrian and Swiss sites. [1]
- Optional leads add-on returns people data such as name, job title, work email and LinkedIn profile. [1]
Apify Google Maps Scraper pricing
- From $1.50 per 1,000 scraped places, pay-per-event; higher Apify plans get lower prices. [1]
- Add-ons are charged separately, e.g. company contacts enrichment, social media profile enrichment and reviews. [1]
- Apify Free plan includes $5 of monthly platform usage; paid plans are Starter $19/mo, Scale $199/mo, Business $999/mo. [2]
LeadMerlin pricing
- Free — $0, 100 leads to start
- Starter — $39/mo ($29/mo yearly), 10,000 leads/mo
- Pro — $49/mo ($39/mo yearly), 20,000 leads/mo
- Agency — $97/mo ($79/mo yearly), 50,000 leads/mo
- That works out to about $1.94–$3.90 per 1,000 enriched leads at full plan usage, with the full pipeline on every lead.
How LeadMerlin credits work
- 1 lead credit per business that has a website to enrich.
- Listings without a website are never charged (counted as skipped, not returned in results).
- Off-niche listings removed by the niche filter are never charged.
- Failed enrichments are refunded automatically.
- A search charges only what your balance covers: with 40 credits left, it enriches the 40 top-ranked matches. Set max_leads to cap any search.
- Locations, niche suggestions, polling and demo endpoints are free.
- Phone line-type lookups have a monthly allowance: 100 on the free start, 1,000 Starter, 2,000 Pro, 4,000 Agency. Numbers looked up before are free. Past the allowance, phones still come back without a line type.
Where Apify Google Maps Scraper is better
- Very low cost for raw place data.
- Much richer Maps detail: reviews text, images, opening hours, menus and more.
- Strong international coverage, including Impressum data in DACH countries.
- Part of a large ecosystem of other actors and integrations.
Where LeadMerlin is better
- Website crawl, email verification labels, tech stack and LLM owner extraction come with every lead at one price, plus phone line type and carrier within a monthly allowance.
- Niche filtering so off-topic listings are dropped and never charged.
- A simpler, fixed API (search → poll → results) designed for AI agents, with a no-key demo mode.
Choose Apify Google Maps Scraper if…
- You need review text, photos or other deep Maps fields.
- You are scraping outside the US at scale.
- You already run other Apify actors and want everything on one platform.
Choose LeadMerlin if…
- You want sales-ready leads, not raw place records you still need to enrich.
- You care about email status and phone line type before outreach.
- You want a flat monthly price instead of stacking per-event add-ons.
Sources
Checked on 2026-10-18. Competitor pricing and features change often — confirm on apify.com/compass/crawler-google-places before deciding. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Shopping around? See our Apify Google Maps Scraper alternative page.
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