The Apify $1M Challenge is a global competition for developers building Actors on the Apify platform. Actors are cloud-based programs that package automation tools to make them easy to develop, share, and integrate. Over 8,000 Actors are already live on Apify Store for use cases like AI agents, social media monitoring, competitive intelligence, and lead generation.
Running until January 31, 2026, the Apify 1M Challenge offers multiple ways to win while creating Actors that generate ongoing passive income.
The opportunity: Build a scraper for a niche logistics API. Maybe 100 companies need it. Earn $500-2K/month in passive income. This is the model already working for thousands of developers from all over the world on Apify.
Apify has already paid out over $4M to developers building Actors. In September 2025 alone, payouts hit $563K, 6x more than the previous year. The challenge adds $1M in prizes to reward builders and accelerate growth to 10,000 Actors.
The challenge: Build and publish Actors on Apify Store. Earn up to $2K per Actor based on active users (up to $10K across 5 Actors). Compete for $30K/$20K/$10K grand prizes and $2K weekly spotlights. The first 5 Actors published after registration are automatically entered.
What to build: Web scrapers, API wrappers, data processors, MCP servers, AI agent tools, or any automation solution. If you need inspiration, check out the idea list.
The real prize? On top of the special incentives as part of the challenge, recurring revenue from your Actors continues long after the challenge ends. Join thousands of developers in 100+ countries already building on Apify.
