# SaaS Pricing Watcher (`vkuprin/saas-pricing-watcher`) Actor Track 10-30 competitor SaaS pricing pages in one batch run — Stripe, Notion, Linear, Vercel, OpenAI, Anthropic, or any URL in any language. Extract plans + features + billing cycles. Returns change-detection filters for ongoing monitoring. No API key needed. MCP-ready. - **URL**: https://apify.com/vkuprin/saas-pricing-watcher.md - **Developed by:** [Vitaly Kuprin](https://apify.com/vkuprin) (community) - **Categories:** Marketing, AI, Business - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 75.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## SaaS Pricing Watcher **Monitor competitor SaaS pricing pages — Stripe, Notion, Linear, Vercel, Cloudflare, OpenAI, Anthropic, or any other SaaS pricing page in any language.** Extract plans, prices, features, billing cycles **plus the CSS selectors + regex filters to wire ongoing change detection** into your stack. - ✅ **Batch mode** — track 10-30 competitor pricing pages in a single run via the `urls` array input. Each URL gets its own dataset row. - ✅ **Pricing + change-detection filters in one call.** Most scrapers give you data. This Actor returns data *and* the filters to monitor the page going forward — feed them into changedetection.io, n8n, Zapier, your own code, or any MCP-compatible AI agent. - ✅ **No OpenAI/Anthropic API key needed.** AI cost is included in the per-call event price. - ✅ **Works on any SaaS pricing page in any language** (English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, …). Emits feature strings in the page's native language. - ✅ **MCP-ready** for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini Code Assist, Cline, Continue, and every MCP-compatible client. - ✅ **Typical cost: ~$0.075/URL.** Tracking 20 competitors in one batch run ≈ $1.50. ### Why this exists Tracking competitor pricing is a recurring product-management headache. Existing tools either (a) give you a CSV export once and leave you to glue together your own monitoring, or (b) cost $200+/mo for a managed dashboard you outgrow quickly. This Actor is the cheaper, agentic version: ~$0.075/run, drop it into any workflow that knows how to call an Apify Actor. The differentiator over generic pricing scrapers is the `trackingFilters` object — CSS selectors + regex patterns that tell a change-detection system exactly what to monitor on the page. Hand them to changedetection.io, set up an n8n flow, or call the Actor again next week — your choice. ### What it does 1. **Fetches the pricing page** (Playwright by default for modern React SPAs; HTTP mode available for server-rendered pages at lower cost). 2. **JSON-LD short-circuit** — if the page exposes `Product.offers[]` schema.org data (rare on modern SaaS sites, common on older marketplaces), parses it deterministically. Zero LLM cost on this path. 3. **LLM extraction (default path)** — uses Defuddle to extract clean content, then `gpt-4.1-mini` populates a strict zod schema with each tier's name, monthly/annual prices, currency, features list, CTA, and "Most popular" flag. 4. **Tracking filters (the wedge)** — runs the same smart-config engine that powers production change-detection services. Returns `includeFilters` (where pricing lives), `subtractiveSelectors` (ads/cookies/nav to strip), `triggerText` (regex for price-change patterns), and `ignoreText` (regex for noise like view counters). ### Inputs | Field | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|:-:|---| | `urls` | string[] | one of `urls`/`url` | **Preferred for batch monitoring.** Each URL produces its own dataset row. | | `url` | string | one of `urls`/`url` | Single-URL convenience field. Ignored when `urls` is set. | | `currencyHint` | string | no (default `USD`) | ISO 4217 code — USD, EUR, GBP, BRL, etc. | | `fetchMode` | `http` \| `playwright` | no (default `playwright`) | `http` is cheaper but doesn't render JS | | `extractTrackingFilters` | bool | no (default `true`) | Return CSS/regex filters for ongoing change detection | | `screenshot` | bool | no (default `false`) | Save a full-page PNG (Playwright mode only) | | `useEasyList` | bool | no (default `true`) | Strip ads + cookie banners before analysis | | `userAgent` | string | no | Override the default User-Agent | ### Output One row per analyzed page: ```jsonc { "url": "https://stripe.com/pricing", "fetchedAt": "2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z", "fetchMode": "playwright", "source": "llm", "plans": [ { "name": "Standard", "monthly_price": null, "annual_price": null, "currency": "USD", "billing_period": "usage_based", "features": ["Pay-as-you-go 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction", "Online + in-person", "24/7 support"], "cta_text": "Start now", "is_highlighted": false }, { "name": "Custom", "monthly_price": null, "annual_price": null, "currency": "USD", "billing_period": null, "features": ["Volume discounts", "Country-specific rates", "Multi-product discounts"], "cta_text": "Contact sales", "is_highlighted": false } ], "hasFreeTier": false, "hasUsageBased": true, "explanation": "Stripe presents one usage-based standard tier plus a custom enterprise tier.", "trackingFilters": { "includeFilters": ["main"], "subtractiveSelectors": [".cookie-banner", "nav"], "triggerText": ["/(\\$|€|£)\\d+(\\.\\d+)?\\/(mo|month|yr|year)/i"], "ignoreText": ["/\\d+\\s*(customers|companies)/i", "/©\\s*20\\d{2}/"] }, "screenshotKey": null, "aiTokens": { "input": 1840, "output": 380 } } ```` The `trackingFilters` object plugs directly into: - **[changedetection.io](https://github.com/dgtlmoon/changedetection.io)** — paste `includeFilters` + `subtractiveSelectors` into the watch's filter fields. - **n8n / Zapier / Make.com** — pass the regex patterns to your scheduled scraper step. - **Your own code** — match `triggerText` regex against future fetches to detect pricing changes. - **Any MCP-compatible AI agent** — agents can read `trackingFilters` and set up monitoring autonomously. ### Pricing Pay-per-event. Configured in the Apify Console: | Event | Price | When it fires | |---|---|---| | `init` | $0.01 | Once per run | | `page-fetched` | $0.01 | When the pricing page loads successfully | | `ai-call` | $0.05 | When the LLM extracts plan tiers (skipped on JSON-LD short-circuit) | | `screenshot` | $0.005 | When `screenshot: true` | | `result-pushed` | $0.005 | Once per dataset row | **Typical run** (Playwright + LLM extraction + tracking filters, no screenshot): **~$0.075**. **Best case** (JSON-LD short-circuit, no LLM): ~$0.025. Rare on modern SaaS pages — don't count on it. **20 pricing pages monthly**: ~$1.50/mo. **100 pricing pages monthly** (large competitor coverage): ~$7.50/mo. ### MCP usage (any MCP client) Apify exposes Store Actors as MCP tools natively. Add the Apify MCP server to your client and this Actor appears as a callable tool with the inputs above. Works in: - **Claude Desktop** — `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` - **Cursor** — `~/.cursor/mcp.json` - **OpenAI Codex / Codex CLI** (with MCP enabled) - **Google Gemini Code Assist** (when MCP is enabled) - **Cline** (VS Code extension) - **Continue.dev** - Any custom MCP client ```jsonc { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@apify/actors-mcp-server"], "env": { "APIFY_TOKEN": "" } } } } ``` Then ask your agent: > *"Track Stripe and Notion's pricing pages weekly. Alert me if any plan's monthly price changes by more than 10%."* The agent calls this Actor for both pages, captures the `trackingFilters` for ongoing monitoring, and uses the structured `plans` data to detect price deltas across runs. ### Examples ```jsonc // Batch — track your top 5 competitors in one run (PREFERRED for monitoring) { "urls": [ "https://stripe.com/pricing", "https://www.notion.so/pricing", "https://linear.app/pricing", "https://vercel.com/pricing", "https://www.cloudflare.com/plans/" ], "currencyHint": "USD", "fetchMode": "playwright", "extractTrackingFilters": true } // Single URL — one-off scrape { "url": "https://www.anthropic.com/pricing", "currencyHint": "USD" } // Cheap one-off scrape — HTTP mode, no filters, no screenshot { "url": "https://www.example-saas.com/pricing", "fetchMode": "http", "extractTrackingFilters": false } // Non-USD pricing page { "url": "https://www.example-saas.de/preise", "currencyHint": "EUR" } ``` ### Limits - Single URL per run. For multi-page workflows, run the Actor once per URL or use Apify's Task scheduler. - Modern SaaS pricing pages are JS-rendered React apps — use `fetchMode: "playwright"` (the default). HTTP mode works for server-rendered pages and is cheaper. - LLM uses `gpt-4.1-mini` under the hood. The Actor handles cost; no API key for you to manage. - Currency detection works best when the page consistently displays a single currency. For multi-region pricing pages, set `currencyHint` to disambiguate. - "Custom" / "Contact us" / "Enterprise" tiers return `monthly_price: null` — that's correct, not a bug. ### Source & methodology Engine: `@site-spy/smart-config-core` — the same module used in production by a change-detection service. **Tested on 1,066 real production pages with 99.4% configure-success** — works on sites that break generic scrapers (A/B-tested layouts, hashed CSS classes, JS-heavy SPAs, non-English content). Two-stage extraction architecture: 1. **JSON-LD fast path** — deterministic parse of `Product.offers[]` when available. Free, no LLM call. Empirically rare on modern React-rendered pricing pages. 2. **LLM fallback** — Defuddle-cleaned markdown + `gpt-4.1-mini` with a zod-validated extraction schema. Handles "Custom" pricing, multi-region pages, non-English content, missing annual/monthly disambiguation. Source is bundled into the Actor image at publish time. # Actor input Schema ## `urls` (type: `array`): Track multiple competitor pricing pages in one run. Each URL produces its own dataset row. Use this for monitoring 10-30 competitor brands in one task. If empty, the single 'url' field is used. ## `url` (type: `string`): Single pricing page URL. Convenience field for one-off runs. Ignored when 'urls' (batch) is set. ## `currencyHint` (type: `string`): ISO 4217 code (USD, EUR, GBP, BRL, JPY, etc.). Helps the engine pick the right currency on multi-region pricing pages or pages with ambiguous currency display. Defaults to USD. ## `fetchMode` (type: `string`): 'http' is cheaper but doesn't render JS — works for server-rendered marketing pages. 'playwright' renders modern React-based pricing pages (Stripe, Notion, Linear, etc.). ## `extractTrackingFilters` (type: `boolean`): When true, returns CSS selectors + regex filters alongside the pricing data so you can wire ongoing change detection into changedetection.io, n8n, Zapier, your own code, or any MCP-compatible AI agent. The differentiator over plain pricing scrapers. ## `screenshot` (type: `boolean`): Save a full-page PNG of the pricing page to the key-value store. Only available with Playwright fetch mode. Adds a screenshot event to billing. ## `useEasyList` (type: `boolean`): Apply EasyList + Fanboy's Cookie List to strip ads and cookie banners before analysis. Improves accuracy on pricing pages that bury content behind GDPR banners. ## `userAgent` (type: `string`): Override the default User-Agent string. Leave empty to use the Apify default. ## Actor input object example ```json { "urls": [ "https://stripe.com/pricing", "https://www.notion.so/pricing", "https://linear.app/pricing" ], "currencyHint": "USD", "fetchMode": "playwright", "extractTrackingFilters": true, "screenshot": false, "useEasyList": true } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "urls": [ "https://stripe.com/pricing", "https://www.notion.so/pricing", "https://linear.app/pricing" ], "currencyHint": "USD" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("vkuprin/saas-pricing-watcher").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "urls": [ "https://stripe.com/pricing", "https://www.notion.so/pricing", "https://linear.app/pricing", ], "currencyHint": "USD", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("vkuprin/saas-pricing-watcher").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "urls": [ "https://stripe.com/pricing", "https://www.notion.so/pricing", "https://linear.app/pricing" ], "currencyHint": "USD" }' | apify call vkuprin/saas-pricing-watcher --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=vkuprin/saas-pricing-watcher", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "SaaS Pricing Watcher", "description": "Track 10-30 competitor SaaS pricing pages in one batch run — Stripe, Notion, Linear, Vercel, OpenAI, Anthropic, or any URL in any language. Extract plans + features + billing cycles. Returns change-detection filters for ongoing monitoring. No API key needed. MCP-ready.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "dpuZH7QmzX2VQRZW5" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/vkuprin~saas-pricing-watcher/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-vkuprin-saas-pricing-watcher", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/vkuprin~saas-pricing-watcher/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-vkuprin-saas-pricing-watcher", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/vkuprin~saas-pricing-watcher/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-vkuprin-saas-pricing-watcher", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "urls": { "title": "Pricing page URLs (batch)", "uniqueItems": true, "type": "array", "description": "Track multiple competitor pricing pages in one run. Each URL produces its own dataset row. Use this for monitoring 10-30 competitor brands in one task. If empty, the single 'url' field is used.", "items": { "type": "string", "pattern": "^https?://" } }, "url": { "title": "Pricing page URL (single)", "pattern": "^https?://", "type": "string", "description": "Single pricing page URL. Convenience field for one-off runs. Ignored when 'urls' (batch) is set." }, "currencyHint": { "title": "Expected currency (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "ISO 4217 code (USD, EUR, GBP, BRL, JPY, etc.). Helps the engine pick the right currency on multi-region pricing pages or pages with ambiguous currency display. Defaults to USD." }, "fetchMode": { "title": "Fetch mode", "enum": [ "http", "playwright" ], "type": "string", "description": "'http' is cheaper but doesn't render JS — works for server-rendered marketing pages. 'playwright' renders modern React-based pricing pages (Stripe, Notion, Linear, etc.).", "default": "playwright" }, "extractTrackingFilters": { "title": "Also return change-detection filters", "type": "boolean", "description": "When true, returns CSS selectors + regex filters alongside the pricing data so you can wire ongoing change detection into changedetection.io, n8n, Zapier, your own code, or any MCP-compatible AI agent. The differentiator over plain pricing scrapers.", "default": true }, "screenshot": { "title": "Capture screenshot", "type": "boolean", "description": "Save a full-page PNG of the pricing page to the key-value store. Only available with Playwright fetch mode. Adds a screenshot event to billing.", "default": false }, "useEasyList": { "title": "Filter ads & cookie banners", "type": "boolean", "description": "Apply EasyList + Fanboy's Cookie List to strip ads and cookie banners before analysis. Improves accuracy on pricing pages that bury content behind GDPR banners.", "default": true }, "userAgent": { "title": "Custom User-Agent (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Override the default User-Agent string. Leave empty to use the Apify default." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```