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Improving Mara's docs on actors in store #535

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4 changes: 2 additions & 2 deletions sources/platform/actors/index.md
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Expand Up @@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ A single isolated actor consists of source code and various settings. You can th
* [Examples](./examples.md)


## Public, private, and paid actors
## Public and private actors

Actors can be [public](./running/store.md) (free or paid) or private. Private actors are yours to use and keep, and no one will see them if you don't want them to. Public actors are [available to everyone](./running/store.md) in [Apify Store](https://apify.com/store). You can make them free to use, or you can [charge for them](https://blog.apify.com/make-regular-passive-income-developing-web-automation-actors-b0392278d085/).
Actors can be [public](./running/store.md) or private. Private actors are yours to use and keep, and no one will see them if you don't want them to. Public actors are [available to everyone](./running/store.md) in [Apify Store](https://apify.com/store). You can make them free to use, or you can [charge for them](https://blog.apify.com/make-regular-passive-income-developing-web-automation-actors-b0392278d085/).

53 changes: 23 additions & 30 deletions sources/platform/actors/running/store.md
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Expand Up @@ -9,27 +9,29 @@ slug: /actors/running/actors-in-store

---

> Anyone is welcome to [publish actors](/platform/actors/publishing) in the store, and you can even [monetize your actors](https://get.apify.com/monetize-your-code) by renting them to users of the platform. For more information about how to monetize your actor, best practices and SEO and promotion tips and tricks, head over to the [Getting the most of your public actors on Apify Store](/academy/get-most-of-actors) section of the Apify Developers Academy.
> Anyone is welcome to [publish actors](/platform/actors/publishing) in the store, and you can even [monetize your actors](https://get.apify.com/monetize-your-code) by renting them out to users of the platform. For more information about how to monetize your actor, best practices and SEO and promotion tips and tricks, head over to the [Getting the most of your public actors on Apify Store](/academy/get-most-of-actors) section of the Apify Developers Academy.


Some actors are free to use (you will be charged only for the Apify platform usage), while the others are paid with different pricing models. This page will explain to you all the approaches.

## Pricing models

### Free vs paid
All actors in [Apify Store](https://apify.com/store) fall into one of these three pricing models:
1. [**free**](#free-actors) - you can run the actor freely and you only pay for platform usage the actor generates.
2. [**paid**](#paid-actors) - same as free, but in order to be able to run the actor after the trial period, you need to rent the actor from the developer and pay a flat monthly fee on the top of the platform usage the actor generates.
3. [**paid per result**](#actors-paid-per-result) - you do not pay for platform usage the actor generates and only pay for the results it produces.
### Free actors

There are two types of public actors in [Apify Store](https://apify.com/store): **free** and **paid**.

If you use free actor then you don't pay and extra fee on the top of the Apify platform usage but you are still charged the platform usage in terms of compute units, data transfer, proxy and storage costs.

Platform usage includes components such as [compute](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/compute-units), operations on [storages](https://docs.apify.com/platform/storage), and usage of [residential proxies](https://docs.apify.com/platform/proxy/residential-proxy) or [SERPs](<https://docs.apify.com/platform/proxy/google-serp-proxy>). You can find the details of your actor usage on the run detail page.
When you use a free actor you are only charged the platform usage the runs of this actor generate. Platform usage includes components such as [compute](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/compute-units), operations on [storages](https://docs.apify.com/platform/storage), and usage of [residential proxies](https://docs.apify.com/platform/proxy/residential-proxy) or [SERPs](<https://docs.apify.com/platform/proxy/google-serp-proxy>). You can find the details of your actor usage on the run detail page.

![Example run usage](./images/store/example_run_usage.png)

> With this model, it is quite difficult to know beforehand exactly how much usage the actor will generate when you run it, so you cannot easily estimate your costs upfront. The easiest approach to do so is to try out the actor on a limited scope, for example on a small number of pages, and evaluate the consumption.


Paid actors are a new feature in [Apify Store](https://apify.com/store). They're like any other public actors, but with a slight difference. When you use a paid actor, you pay a fee to the actor developer. This empowers the developer to dedicate more time and effort to their actors. It ensures that these actors are of the **highest quality** and receive **ongoing maintenance**.
### Paid actors

Paid actors are like free actors, but with a slight difference. When you use a paid actor, you pay a fee to the actor developer. This empowers the developer to dedicate more time and effort to their actors. It ensures that these actors are of the **highest quality** and receive **ongoing maintenance**.

![Free and paid actors in Apify Store](./images/store/free_vs_paid_actors.png)

Expand All @@ -41,19 +43,13 @@ Each paid actor has a **free trial,** where the trial's length is always shown f

![Paid actors free trial](./images/store/paid-actors-trial.png)

After a trial one of the following two **pricing models** starts and the associated cost will be automatically subtracted from your platform usage credits:
- Monthly actor rental
- Price per result

### Actor rental

A flat monthly **actor rental** fee that is automatically charged from your platform usage credits in advance for the following month. This fee goas directly to the developer and it's paid on the top of the platform usage generated by the actor.
After a trial, a flat monthly **actor rental** fee that is automatically charged from your prepaid platform usage in advance for the following month. This fee goes directly to the developer and it is paid on the top of the platform usage generated by the actor.

<!-- You can read more about why we released paid actors in [this blog post](tbd) from Apify CEO Jan Čurn. -->

**Can I run paid actors via API or the Apify client?**

Yes, when you are renting a paid actor, you can run it using either our [API](/api/v2) or [JavaScript](/api/client/js) or [Python](/api/client/python) clients as you would do with private or free public actors.
Yes, when you are renting a paid actor, you can run it using either our [API](/api/v2), [JavaScript](/api/client/js) or [Python](/api/client/python) clients as you would do with private or free public actors.

**Do I pay platform costs for running paid actors?**

Expand All @@ -71,33 +67,26 @@ You always prepay the actor rental for the following month. The first payment ha

**How am I charged for actor rental?**

The rental fee for an actor is automatically subtracted from your platform usage credits, similarly to, e.g. [compute units](/platform/actors/running/compute-units). If you don't have enough credits prepaid, you will need to cover any overage in the next invoice.
The rental fee for an actor is automatically subtracted from your prepaid platform usage, similarly to, e.g. [compute units](/platform/actors/running/compute-units). If you don't have enough usage prepaid, you will need to cover any overage in the next invoice.

**Will I be automatically charged at the end of the free trial?**

If you have an [Apify paid plan](https://apify.com/pricing), you will be automatically charged the monthly rental fee at the end of your free trial and you will be able to run the actor for another month. If you aren't subscribed to an Apify plan, you will need to subscribe to one of [Apify's paid plans](https://apify.com/pricing) in order to continue using the actor after the trial has ended.

Apart from the monthly rental fee, you will be charged standard platform costs for running the actor (this is why you need to be subscribed), as you would be for any other actor, including your private ones.
If you have an [Apify paid plan](https://apify.com/pricing), you will be automatically charged the monthly rental fee at the end of your free trial and you will be able to run the actor for another month. If you are not subscribed to an Apify plan, you will need to subscribe to one of [Apify's paid plans](https://apify.com/pricing) in order to continue using the actor after the trial has ended.

**Can I cancel my actor rental?**

During your trial or any time after that, **you can always turn off auto-renewal** so that you are not charged when your current actor rental expires. If you choose to do so, you can always turn it back on later.

**Where can I see how much I have paid for actor rental?**

Since actor rental fees are paid from platform usage credits, these fees conceptually belong under platform usage.
Since actor rental fees are paid from prepaid platform usage, these fees conceptually belong under platform usage.

Hence, you can find the breakdown of how much you have been charged for paid actors on the bottom of the **Platform usage** tab in the [Billing](https://console.apify.com/billing) section. The overall sum will also be visible in the usage bar chart and the table on the top of the same tab.

![Paid actors billing in Apify Console](./images/store/paid-actors-billing.png)
### Actors paid per result

**How do I give general feedback on paid actors?**

Paid actors are still in **beta** stage, and you will likely be one of this feature's very first users. So, if you have any feedback which is not actor-specific, but relates more to the experience of renting an actor or similar topics, please let us know at [community@apify.com](mailto:community@apify.com). Thank you!

### Price per result

With the **pay per result** model, you only pay for the results that an actor returns when you run it, and you are not charged for the underlying platform usage. Technically, **results** you are charged for are the clean items in the default [dataset](https://docs.apify.com/platform/storage/dataset) created by the actor run.
When you run an actor that is **paid per result**, you only pay for the results that an actor returns when you run it, and you are not charged for the underlying platform usage. Technically, **results** you are charged for are the clean items in the default [dataset](https://docs.apify.com/platform/storage/dataset) created by the actor run.

> This makes it transparent and easy to estimate upfront costs. If you have any feedback or would like to ask something, please join our [Discord](https://discord.gg/qkMS6pU4cF) community and let us know!

Expand All @@ -123,7 +112,11 @@ Under the **pay per result** model, all platform costs generated **during the ru

**Do I pay for the storage of results on the Apify platform?**

You will still be charged for the timed storage of the data in the same fashion as before. You can always decide to delete the dataset to reduce your costs after you export the data from the platform. By default, any unnamed dataset will be automatically removed after your data retention period, so in most cases, this is nothing to worry about.
You will still be charged for the timed storage of the data in the same fashion as with any other actor. You can always decide to delete the dataset to reduce your costs after you export the data from the platform. By default, any unnamed dataset will be automatically removed after your data retention period, so in most cases, this is nothing to worry about.

**Can I publish an actor that is paid per result?**

Publishing an actor that is paid per result is not yet available publicly as this pricing model is still in beta.

**Where do I see how much I was charged for the pay-per-result actors?**

Expand All @@ -134,7 +127,7 @@ You can see the overview of how much you have been charged for actors paid by re
<!-- TODO - add info about where to see this at per-actor level -->
<!-- TODO - add info about how to see this on run detail -->

## Issues reporting
## Reporting issues with actors

Each actor has an `Issues` tab present in the Apify Console. There, you can open an issue (ticket) and chat with the actor's author, platform admins,
and other users of this actor. Please, feel free to use the tab to ask any questions, request new features or give feedback. Alternatively, you can
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