Firecrawl
API for AI agents to search, scrape, crawl, and interact with the live web, returning clean Markdown, structured JSON, or screenshots from any page.
Technical Profile & Specs
verified 2026-11-07
- Cost
- $0 / forever (Open Source)
- License
- Open Source
- Hosting Model
- Self-host (your server)
- Platforms
- webself-hosteddocker to self-host
- Installation
- Clone https://github.com/mendableai/firecrawl or deploy with Docker Compose
- Operational Setup
- Deploy via Docker or binary release from GitHub and configure environment variables.
- Where Your Data Lives
- All application data and configuration live on your own server or local database.
- The Catch / Trade-off
- Requires self-hosting setup, updates, and server maintenance compared to managed Apify.
Replaces 7 paid apps
up to $105/mo ($1,260/yr) in subscriptions
Firecrawl FAQ
Common questions
Is Firecrawl free and open source?+
Firecrawl is an open-source tool licensed under Open Source that runs on self-host. API for AI agents to search, scrape, crawl, and interact with the live web, returning clean Markdown, structured JSON, or screenshots from any page.
What paid software does Firecrawl replace?+
Firecrawl serves as a free replacement for 7 paid SaaS applications: Apify, Browserbase, Context.dev, Jina AI, Octoparse, ScrapingBee, Tavily, saving up to $105/month ($1,260/year) in subscription bills.
How do you install and set up Firecrawl?+
Installation: Clone https://github.com/mendableai/firecrawl or deploy with Docker Compose. Setup notes: Deploy via Docker or binary release from GitHub and configure environment variables.
What is the catch or trade-off with Firecrawl?+
Requires self-hosting setup, updates, and server maintenance compared to managed Apify.