Apify, the largest marketplace for web data and automation, has launched the Apify $1M Challenge, a global competition with a million-dollar prize pool designed to accelerate the development of critical automation tools missing from AI workflows. The challenge, running until January 31, 2026, incentivizes developers to build and publish "Actors" - cloud-based programs on the Apify platform—that fill gaps in data extraction, SaaS integrations, and AI agent capabilities.
Quick Intel
Apify launches a $1M global challenge for developers to build AI workflow tools.
The competition aims to fill critical gaps in data extraction and automation for AI agents.
Developers can earn via user-based rewards, grand prizes, and weekly spotlights.
The total prize pool is $1 million, with a $30,000 top grand prize.
Actors are cloud-based programs that automate tasks on the Apify platform.
Apify has already paid out over $4 million to its community of developers.
While AI agents excel at tasks like writing and summarization, they often lack access to real-time web data and specialized automation tools needed for production-level applications. This challenge is a direct response to that market gap, betting that independent developers can rapidly create the missing tools as "Actors" on its platform. These tools will provide AI systems with the data and functionality they currently lack.
The challenge is structured to provide developers with several ways to win. They can earn usage-based rewards of up to $10,000 for their Actors, compete for grand prizes of $30,000, $20,000, and $10,000, and win weekly spotlight awards for innovation. Crucially, developers continue to earn ongoing revenue from their tools long after the challenge concludes, leveraging Apify's proven marketplace model which distributed over $563,000 to developers in a single month.
Apify is building on a successful track record of enabling developers to monetize their software. The platform has already paid out more than $4 million to its community. With over 8,000 tools currently available and serving 25,000 customers worldwide, including major enterprises, the challenge is a strategic investment to scale this ecosystem and reach 10,000 Actors, directly supporting developer talent, especially in emerging markets.
The Apify $1M Challenge represents a significant commitment to building the next layer of AI infrastructure. By financially incentivizing the global developer community, Apify is not just funding tool creation but is actively cultivating an ecosystem of automation that will be fundamental to the practical, real-world application of AI agents and automated workflows.
Apify is a web scraping and automation platform that helps anyone extract value from the web and automate workflows at scale. Founded in 2015 by Jan Curn and Jakub Balada, Apify has reached $27 million in ARR, with over 25,000 customers and 46,000 active developers worldwide.
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