Skip to content
Spicrawl homeBeta
Contact usStart building

Firecrawl alternatives for AI agents

Need a different web scraping API? Here are honest options and when each one fits.

In short

For scraping known URLs, logged-in pages and big batches, try Spicrawl. For crawling whole sites with open source, try Crawl4AI. For ready-made scrapers, try Apify.

Firecrawl alternatives

  1. 1. Spicrawl

    A hosted web scraping API for apps and AI agents. Free during beta, no credit card.

    What it does

    • Turns a URL into clean Markdown or JSON with one request.
    • Scrapes up to 10,000 URLs in one batch call.
    • Keeps logins going with cookies and storage, and runs browser actions.
    • Lets you use your own proxy, and connects to AI agents through MCP.

    What it does not do yet

    • No crawling of a whole site.
    • No managed proxies, stealth mode or remote browser yet.
    • No prompt-based AI extraction yet.

    Scrape APIBatch scrapingScrape behind a loginMCP serverSpicrawl vs Firecrawl

  2. 2. Crawl4AI

    Crawl4AI is open source under Apache-2.0, so you can run and change it. It crawls whole sites and has stealth mode.

    Pick it if you want to host it yourself or use LLM extraction with your own model.

    Spicrawl vs Crawl4AI

  3. 3. Jina Reader

    Jina Reader lets you start with no sign-up or key. It can read images, scanned PDFs and Office files, and it has web search.

    Pick it if you want to read one URL at a time, or want open-source code to self-host.

    Spicrawl vs Jina Reader

  4. 4. Apify

    Apify has thousands of ready-made scrapers for specific sites. You can also run your own scraping code in its cloud.

    Pick it if a ready-made scraper already exists for the site you need.

    Spicrawl vs Apify

  5. 5. ZenRows

    ZenRows gives you a remote browser for Puppeteer or Playwright. It takes batches of up to 100,000 URLs.

    Pick it if you need managed residential proxies today or SDKs in Python, Node.js or Go.

    Spicrawl vs ZenRows

How to choose

  • You already know your URLs: pick a scrape API like Spicrawl.
  • You need every page on a site: pick a tool that crawls.
  • You want to run it yourself: pick open source.
  • You need managed proxies today: check that the tool has them.

When Firecrawl is still the best choice

  • You need to crawl a whole site or find its URLs.
  • You need built-in web search.
  • You want managed proxies with country targeting.
  • You need many SDK languages or self-hosting.
Read the full Spicrawl vs Firecrawl comparison

Firecrawl alternatives: common questions

What is the best Firecrawl alternative?

It depends on your job. Spicrawl fits known URLs, logins and batches. Crawl4AI fits open source crawling. Apify fits ready-made site scrapers.

Can Spicrawl crawl a whole site like Firecrawl?

No. Spicrawl scrapes the URLs you send. If you need to crawl a site or find its URLs, Firecrawl or Crawl4AI fit better.

Is there an open-source Firecrawl alternative?

Yes. Crawl4AI is open source under Apache-2.0. Jina Reader also has open-source code you can self-host.

Is Spicrawl free?

Spicrawl is free during beta. You do not need a credit card to sign up.

What can Spicrawl not do yet?

Spicrawl does not crawl whole sites. It has no managed proxies, stealth mode, remote browser or prompt-based AI extraction yet. You can bring your own proxy.

Try Spicrawl free while it’s in beta

Run the pages you scrape today and compare the results yourself. No credit card required.

Get free beta access