Last updated 08-10-2026
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Firecrawl
Firecrawl is a web scraping API that turns URLs into LLM-ready markdown, JSON, screenshots, or structured extracts for AI agents and data pipelines. One REST call handles JavaScript rendering, proxy rotation, and cleanup so you get page content without maintaining your own headless browser farm.
Plenty of scrapers return raw HTML you still have to parse. Firecrawl markets itself as a context layer: /search returns full-page markdown for each result, /scrape strips nav and ads (the site claims 93% fewer input tokens), and the newer /interact endpoint clicks through logins or multi-step flows. Official Python, Node, Go, Rust, Java, and Elixir SDKs plus an MCP server let Cursor and Claude agents call the same API your backend uses.
The project is open source on GitHub with 150K+ stars, while the hosted service adds Fire-engine infrastructure, dashboards, and higher rate limits. Firecrawl says 1.25M developers and 150,000+ companies use it, including teams at Apple and Canva, for deep research agents, RAG ingestion, lead enrichment, and onboarding scrapers.
Free tier includes 1,000 credits per month with no credit card required
Standard plan ($83/mo billed yearly) includes 100,000 page scrapes and 50 concurrent requests
Search endpoint costs 2 credits per 10 results and returns markdown for each hit
Interact costs 2 credits per browser minute for click, type, and navigation actions
Official MCP server and CLI (
npx firecrawl-cli init) connect agents in Cursor and ClaudeSDKs for Python, Node.js, Go, Rust, Java, Elixir plus REST and cURL examples
Open-source repo reports 150K+ GitHub stars and 2.5M+ weekly npm/PyPI downloads
Returns markdown tuned for LLM context instead of forcing you to strip HTML yourself.
Bundles search plus full-page content in one call, which saves a separate scrape step for RAG workflows.
Open-source core with a large GitHub community lowers lock-in compared to closed scrapers.
MCP and CLI integrations let coding agents fetch web data without custom glue code.
Self-serve credits do not roll over month to month unless you are on Scale or Enterprise.
Interact and agent features still carry preview or per-minute pricing that adds up on long sessions.
Successful fetches on 4xx/5xx pages still burn credits, so noisy URLs can waste quota.
Is Firecrawl free to use?
Yes. Firecrawl's Free plan costs $0 per month and includes 1,000 credits (about 1,000 page scrapes) with 2 concurrent requests. Paid Hobby, Standard, Growth, and Scale tiers raise credit limits and concurrency when you need more volume.
What can I build with Firecrawl?
Firecrawl is built for AI workflows that need live web context, including deep research agents, RAG pipelines, lead enrichment, competitive monitoring, and onboarding scrapers. Teams use its search, scrape, crawl, map, and interact endpoints to feed LLMs clean markdown or JSON.
How many credits does a Firecrawl scrape cost?
Firecrawl charges 1 credit per page for scrape, crawl, map, and monitor requests. Search costs 2 credits per 10 results, and interact costs 2 credits per browser minute. Advanced options such as JSON extraction or Enhanced Mode add extra credits per the pricing table.
Does Firecrawl work with AI agents and MCP?
Yes. Firecrawl ships an official MCP server plus a CLI and agent skills so tools like Cursor, Claude, and Windsurf can search and scrape the web. The docs also list an agent onboarding skill at firecrawl.dev/agent-onboarding/SKILL.md for automated API key setup.
Is Firecrawl open source?
Yes. Firecrawl publishes its core project on GitHub with 150K+ stars, while the hosted API adds proprietary Fire-engine infrastructure, dashboards, interact features, and higher rate limits. You can self-host the open repo or call the managed API with an API key.
What formats does Firecrawl return?
Firecrawl defaults to clean markdown optimized for LLM context windows. You can also request HTML, screenshots, metadata, or structured JSON by passing a schema to the scrape endpoint, and the service renders JavaScript-heavy pages automatically.