Firecrawl

What it does

Done-for-you service

NoYou run software against a hosted API: every plan up to a million credits a month is self-checkout, and Enterprise adds a support SLA and dedicated controls rather than people who build the integration for you.Scale checks out instantly, no sales call needed.firecrawl.dev/pricing ↗

How much it does unattended

Runs autonomously

YesThe /agent endpoint takes a prompt with URLs optional, then discovers sources and navigates them unattended as an async job you poll or receive a webhook for. It is labelled a Research Preview with five free runs a day.It uses AI agents to autonomously search, navigate, and gather data from across the web.docs.firecrawl.dev/developer-guides/usa… ↗

Multi-agent

PartlyOne agent run spans an orchestrator plus its own subagents, each emitting trace events under a separate agent id. But that topology is internal and undocumented as a feature: there is no parameter to compose, name or budget the subagents.producerSequence is monotonic per emitting agent, so a single global sort interleaves an orchestrator's events with its subagents' incorrectly.docs.firecrawl.dev/features/agent.md ↗

Agent permissions

PartlyAny caller can fence a run per request with strictConstrainToURLs, a maxCredits ceiling defaulting to 2,500, and a low/medium/high effort budget. A server-enforced, non-bypassable organisation policy exists only on Enterprise, and only team admins may set it.If true, the agent only visits the URLs provided in the urls arraydocs.firecrawl.dev/features/agent.md ↗

Which models it runs on

Claude

NoFirecrawl names exactly one model for its own agent, its proprietary Spark 2, and states every run executes on it. Claude appears on vendor pages only as a client that calls Firecrawl over MCP, which is the opposite claim.Firecrawl Agent runs on Spark 2 — cheaper and faster than the earlier Spark 1 models, at comparable accuracy.docs.firecrawl.dev/features/agent.md ↗

GPT

PartlyFirecrawl Cloud never lets you name an LLM. Self-hosting is the only path: you point the open-source stack at an OpenAI-compatible provider for LLM-backed extraction formats, and that path excludes the agent endpoint entirely.Connect an OpenAI-compatible provider or Ollama, then test that path separately.docs.firecrawl.dev/contributing/self-ho… ↗

Open models

PartlyOllama is a documented provider option, but only in the open-source column of the vendor's own comparison table. The matching Cloud cell reads 'Managed provider path', so a hosted customer cannot run an open-weight model.Connect an OpenAI-compatible provider or Ollamadocs.firecrawl.dev/contributing/open-so… ↗

Model choice

PartlyThe model parameter has exactly one live value on Cloud, with deprecated Spark 1 names silently rerouted to it, so the vendor picks. Self-hosters choose their own provider, but never for the agent endpoint, which is Cloud-only.Defaults to spark-2, the model every run executes on. Spark 1 models are deprecated and route to spark-2docs.firecrawl.dev/features/agent.md ↗

Where you use it

In your editor

YesReaches named editors as an MCP tool the host agent calls, with one-command setup for Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Windsurf, OpenCode, Amp and Antigravity. There is no Firecrawl extension of its own; the IDE agent drives it.Firecrawl has an official MCP server so agents in Cursor, Claude, Windsurf, and other MCP-compatible tools can search, scrape, and interact with the…firecrawl.dev/index.md ↗

On the command line

YesA first-party npm CLI covers every endpoint, installs agent skills for coding harnesses, and can be pointed at a self-hosted instance with an api-url flag. Several commands run with no login at all.Search, scrape, interact, crawl, map, and run agent jobs directly from the terminal.docs.firecrawl.dev/sdks/cli.md ↗

In your pipeline

NoThe integrations page enumerates coding agents, app builders, agent frameworks, visual builders, workflow automation and data platforms, and names no CI system. Nothing in the product acts on a pull request; CI use means calling the REST API yourself.Don't see your platform? Firecrawl works anywhere you can make an HTTP request.docs.firecrawl.dev/integrations.md ↗

In a browser

YesA hosted dashboard carries API keys, activity logs, credit usage and billing, plus playgrounds where an agent run can be started from a CSV and shared by public link with no code written.The Agent Playground supports CSV upload for batch processing.docs.firecrawl.dev/features/agent.md ↗

Whose machine it runs on

Self-hosted

PartlyA pinned Docker Compose release runs scrape, crawl, map and search on your own machine, and the CLI and MCP server can be pointed at it. But the vendor's own table excludes Agent, Interact, screenshots, page actions, the dashboard and the Fire-engine anti-bot path from that stack.Self-host Firecrawl with Docker Compose when you need source or infrastructure control.docs.firecrawl.dev/contributing/self-ho… ↗

Open source

YesThe engine repository is copyleft AGPL-3.0 with SDKs and some UI under MIT, so the core is fully inspectable. The hosted service adds Fire-engine, which the vendor itself calls proprietary infrastructure and which is not in the repo.This project is primarily licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). The SDKs and some UI components are licensed under…github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl ↗

What it costs to run

How it meters

YesBilling is per credit on top of a monthly plan allowance, and the unit is published per endpoint: one credit a page for scrape, crawl, map and monitor, two per ten search results, two per browser minute of interact, plus four for JSON extraction.Credits are consumed for each API request, varying by endpoint and feature.firecrawl.dev/pricing.md ↗

Free tier

YesA standing free plan gives 1,000 credits every month with no card, two concurrent requests and low rate limits. There is also a keyless tier that runs search, scrape, interact and parse from official clients with no account at all.Firecrawl gives you 1,000 free credits every month, which covers about 1,000 pages, and no card is required.firecrawl.dev/pricing.md ↗

API access

YesThe API is the product, not a bolt-on: a bearer-token REST surface on every plan including Free, with first-party SDKs across six languages and no tier that withholds programmatic access.Firecrawl has official SDKs for Python, Node.js, Go, Rust, Java, and Elixir, plus a CLI for terminal workflows. You can also call the REST API…firecrawl.dev/index.md ↗

MCP server

YesA hosted MCP endpoint another agent can query with no credential at all, exposing search, scrape and parse; adding a key unlocks the full tool surface. An open-source local server over stdio is also documented.Keyless MCP is rate limited and exposes Search, Scrape, and Parse. Add an API key to unlock the full tool surface or higher limits.docs.firecrawl.dev/mcp-server/keyless.md ↗

Bring your own key

PartlyBringing your own inference means self-hosting: the open-source path lets you choose where the stack runs and connect your own providers. Firecrawl Cloud accepts no customer LLM key on any endpoint or tier.You need control over source or infrastructure. You can inspect the code, choose where the stack runs, and connect your own providers.docs.firecrawl.dev/contributing/open-so… ↗

Buying it for a team

A company can buy it

YesThe team is the account unit that owns API keys, credits and limits, the contract runs to a person or entity, and a non-self-serve Order Form path exists alongside Enterprise contact-sales for organisational procurement.If the user agrees to an Order Form, then the user will be billed for use of the Services in accordance with the applicable Order Form.firecrawl.dev/terms-of-service ↗

Seat model

NoNothing is priced per seat: every plan on the current rate card is metered in monthly credits and concurrent requests, with no seat count, no seat minimum and no seat ceiling on Free through Enterprise.A $5 batch is 1,000 credits on Hobby, 2,000 on Standard, 2,500 on Growth, and 5,000 on Scale.firecrawl.dev/pricing.md ↗

Pooled budget

YesOne balance for the whole team, not a per-member allowance: credits attach to the team, minting an extra key grants no additional credits, and rate-limit counters are shared across every key on the team.Credits are scoped to the Firecrawl team/org, not to an individual API key.firecrawl.dev/auth.md ↗

Admin controls

PartlyThreat Protection is a genuine organisation-wide floor, blocking risky URLs by blacklist, TLD, risk score or a Zscaler tenant, and rejecting per-request overrides with a 403 once disabled. It is double-gated: Enterprise plan and team-admin role only.Full-document update. Unspecified fields reset to defaults. Enterprise feature, team admins only.docs.firecrawl.dev/api-reference/endpoi… ↗

Audit log

PartlySIEM Audit Logging streams one event per URL fetched to Microsoft Sentinel, but it is Enterprise-gated per organisation, attributes to an API key rather than a named person, and audits fetches only. No log of administrative actions is documented anywhere.SIEM Audit Logging is an enterprise feature and is gated per organization. Contact your Firecrawl account team to have it enabled for your account.docs.firecrawl.dev/features/siem.md ↗

Single sign-on

PartlySSO is asserted as a bare noun in the Enterprise plan's feature line and nowhere else in depth. No vendor page names SAML, OIDC or SCIM, and no plan below Enterprise offers it, so the protocol a buyer must integrate is undisclosed.Features: Dedicated support and SLA, bulk discounts, zero-data retention, SSO and advanced securityfirecrawl.dev/pricing.md ↗

What happens to your code

Data residency

YesUnited States only, stated plainly, with an explicit warning to European users that their information leaves their home country. No region choice is offered on any tier, and no transfer mechanism such as Standard Contractual Clauses is named.Our business is operated in the United States and, as far as we are aware, third parties with whom we share your information are as well. Our servers…firecrawl.dev/privacy-policy ↗

Getting out

PartlyUnused credits are forfeited: they do not roll over below Scale, and the terms give no refunds for a customer-initiated exit. Agent results leave the API after 24 hours, staying only in the dashboard logs, and no bulk export of past job results is documented.Credits do not roll over on self-serve plans. Credit rollover is available on our Scale and Enterprise plans.firecrawl.dev/pricing.md ↗

Certifications

PartlySOC 2 Type II is the one certification Firecrawl claims in prose, published only in an Enterprise sales context with no report, audit period or trust centre offered. ISO 27001 and HIPAA are never claimed, no DPA is offered, and encryption at rest is conditional on request.Independently audited security controls ensuring the highest standards of data protection and operational security.firecrawl.dev/enterprise.md ↗

Not established: Opt out of training