Product types

Compare Foundry product types and when to choose each one.

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AudienceBuyers and developers

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Comparison

Choose the product type by workflow, not by buzzword. Actors are good when a run produces fresh records. Datasets are good when you need a feed. APIs and automations are good when a system needs to react.

Product type	Best for	Delivery format	Typical user	Example output
Apify Actor	Repeatable extraction or monitoring runs	Actor run and dataset	Operations or data teams	Permit, tender, recall, or registry records
Dataset Feed	Consuming a maintained public-data package	JSONL, records API, manifest, diffs	Analysts and data engineers	Normalized records with schema evidence
Developer API	Application integration	Cached public API endpoints	Developers	Search, records, samples, manifests, diffs
Automation Connector	Workflow alerts and enrichment	Triggers, actions, webhooks	Automation builders	New tender, recall, or changed dataset event
AI Tool or MCP Tool	Agent-facing public-data context	Tool metadata and structured calls	AI product teams	Tool results with source context
AgentOps Service	Operational support around products	Service package and request flow	Operators	Monitoring, incident report, repair or launch pack

Limits

Availability varies by product. Some products are self-serve, some need marketplace review, and some are delivered as custom feeds after source and compliance review.