Pre-activation Requirements
Network Environment
Use a US Residential IP (Critical Success Factor)
Ensure the IP is clean and geolocated in the US
MPChat Funds Preparation
Prepare $50–150 equivalent in USDT (Personal plan starts at $49/mo)
It is recommended to keep extra funds for verification fees
Technical Requirement Analysis
Determine monthly compute usage (Compute Units)
Evaluate data storage requirements
Consider proxy usage needs
Detailed Steps
Phase 1: MPChat Virtual Card Preparation
USDT Deposit
Path: MPChat App → Wallet → Deposit - Copy USDT deposit address - Transfer sufficient USDT ($100+ recommended) - Wait for network confirmation
Apply for a US MPCard
Path: MPChat App → MPCard → Apply for New Card - Issuing Country: Must select "United States" - Card Type: Virtual Card (Instant generation) - Securely record Card Number, Expiry Date, and CVV code
Funds Transfer
Path: MPChat App → Wallet → Transfer - From: MP Wallet (USDT) - To: MPCard (USD) - Amount: $60–80 (Adjust based on subscription plan)
Phase 2: Apify Account Registration
Visit Official Site to Register
Access apify.com using a US IP
Click "Sign Up" or "Start Free Trial"
Select Subscription Plan
Plan Type | Price | Compute Units | Storage | Recommendation
Personal | $49/mo | 100 CUs | 1GB | ⭐⭐⭐
Team | $499/mo | 1000 CUs | 10GB | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Business | Custom | Custom | Custom | Enterprise Users
Pay-as-you-go | $2.5/CU | Flexible billing | On-demand | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Account Verification
Register an account using email
Complete email verification
Set up account information
Phase 3: Entering Payment Information
Payment Interface Navigation
Go to "Billing" page after logging in
Click "Upgrade Plan" or "Add Payment Method"
Select billing cycle
MPCard Information Entry
Information Source: MPChat App → MPCard → Card Details - Card number: 16-digit virtual card number - Expiration date: Expiry (MM/YY) - CVV: 3-digit security code - Name on card: Pinyin recommended
Billing Address Entry (Critical Step)
Country: United States
Use a professional US address generator
Example Format:
Address Line 1: 1234 Crawler Street City: San Francisco State: CA ZIP Code: 94102 Phone: Generate a US phone number
Verification & Activation
Instant Verification
Apify will perform a small authorization hold (refunded immediately)
Verification of card validity and address matching
Service Activation
Service activates immediately after successful payment
Receive Compute Unit allocation
API tokens automatically generated
Function Verification
Test Actor running functionality
Verify data storage
Check proxy settings
Apify Plan Comparison
Feature | Free | Personal Plan | Team Plan
Compute Units/mo | 10 | 100 | 1000
Storage | 100MB | 1GB | 10GB
Proxy Support | ❌ | ✅ | ✅
Parallel Runs | 1 | 5 | 20
Support Priority | Community | Standard | Priority
Troubleshooting Guide
Common Causes of Payment Failure
Region Detection Failure (Solution: Use US residential IP; clear browser cache)
Strict Address Validation (Solution: Use a real, existing US address)
Account Verification (Solution: Ensure account info is authentic and valid)
Service Activation Issues
Charged but not active (Wait 5-10 mins for sync; check email for confirmation; contact Apify support)
API Access Issues
Check if API token is correct
Confirm if quota is sufficient
Verify network connection
Subscription Management Guide
Account Management
View Status: Settings → Billing
Usage Stats: Monitor Compute Unit usage
Token Management: Manage API access tokens
Resource Management
Compute Units: Monitor monthly usage
Storage: Manage dataset storage
Proxy Usage: Configure proxy settings
Cost Optimization Suggestions
Pay-as-you-go: Choose pay-as-you-go mode in the initial stage
Resource Monitoring: Regularly check resource usage
Actor Optimization: Optimize Actor performance to reduce CU consumption
Security Reminders
API Token Protection: Keep API tokens secure
MPCard Protection: Set reasonable spending limits
Data Security: Encrypt sensitive data
Detailed Apify Core Features
Actor Development & Execution
Actor Creation
Based on Node.js environment
Support for Puppeteer and Playwright
Containerized deployment
Execution Management
Real-time monitoring of run status
Log viewing and debugging
Performance metrics analysis
Data Storage & Management
Dataset Storage
Structured data storage
Supports JSON, CSV formats
Data export functionality
Key-value Storage
Persistent configuration storage
State management
Caching mechanism
Usage Examples
Basic Actor Example
JavaScript
// Basic Apify Actor Example const Apify = require('apify'); Apify.main(async () => { // Create a request queue const requestQueue = await Apify.openRequestQueue(); // Add start URL await requestQueue.addRequest({ url: 'https://example.com' }); // Create a crawler const crawler = new Apify.CheerioCrawler({ requestQueue, handlePageFunction: async ({ request, $ }) => { // Extract data const title = $('title').text(); // Store data await Apify.pushData({ url: request.url, title: title }); }, }); await crawler.run(); });API Call Example
JavaScript
// Run Actor via API const axios = require('axios'); const runActor = async (actorId, input) => { const response = await axios.post( `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/${actorId}/runs`, { inputs: input }, { headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.APIFY_TOKEN}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' } } ); return response.data; };Advanced Configuration
Proxy Configuration
JavaScript
// Configure Proxy const crawler = new Apify.PuppeteerCrawler({ proxyConfiguration: await Apify.createProxyConfiguration({ groups: ['RESIDENTIAL'], countryCode: 'US' }), // ...other configs });Concurrency Control
JavaScript
// Optimize concurrency settings const crawler = new Apify.CheerioCrawler({ maxConcurrency: 10, // Control concurrency maxRequestsPerMinute: 100, // Limit request frequency // ...other configs });Technical Specifications
Runtime: Node.js 16+
Browser Automation: Puppeteer, Playwright
Data Storage: Datasets, Key-value stores
Proxy Support: Datacenter, Residential proxies
API Interface: RESTful API
Best Practice Suggestions
Performance Optimization
Request Optimization: Set reasonable request delays; use request queue management; avoid redundant requests.
Resource Management: Monitor memory usage; optimize selector performance; clean up resources promptly.
Cost Control
Compute Unit Optimization: Reduce unnecessary page loads; use efficient selectors; optimize data processing logic.
Storage Optimization: Compress stored data; clean up old data regularly; use appropriate data formats.
Supported Features
Web Scraping: Full web content capture
Data Extraction: Structured data extraction
Form Submission: Automated form handling
Screenshot/PDF: Page screenshots and PDF generation
API Integration: Integrate with other services
Compliance Reminders
Respect robots.txt: Follow website crawler protocols
Rate Limiting: Control request frequency reasonably
Data Copyright: Abide by data terms of use
Privacy Protection: Do not scrape personal sensitive information
By following this guide, you can successfully activate Apify services using an MPChat virtual card, enjoying powerful web automation and data extraction features. Apify uses a Compute Unit billing model; we recommend starting with pay-as-you-go and adjusting your subscription plan based on actual usage. Optimizing Actor performance can significantly reduce costs while achieving better results.