# Firecrawl

> AGPL-3.0 OSS + cloud scrape API — LLM-ready pages

**Category:** AI Agents  
**Pricing:** freemium  
**URL:** https://www.firecrawl.dev/  
**GitHub:** https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl  
**Added:** 2026-09-16

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## The Hook

Firecrawl is the scrape/crawl API that returns LLM-ready markdown — self-host the AGPL engine or burn cloud credits.

## What's Good

AGPL-3.0 core (firecrawl/firecrawl; org moved from mendableai). Scrape/crawl/map/search APIs aimed at agents and RAG. Cloud Free plan: 1,000 credits/mo (~1k basic pages), no card (firecrawl.dev/pricing). Self-host path exists for the OSS engine. Massive adoption (~181k★).

## The Catch

AGPL-3.0 on the open engine — network copyleft if you modify and offer it as a service. cloud: Free is only 1k credits/mo with low concurrency; Hobby starts ~$16–19/mo for 5k credits — past that you pay. Vs Scrapling/Crawl4AI (self-run libraries) and Agent Reach (zero-API-fee eyes CLI): Firecrawl is API-first with a metered cloud; self-host trades SaaS bill for AGPL+ops. Distinct from Scrapling/Crawl4AI — do not treat as the same card.

## Verdict

AGPL+cloud scrape API. Freemium credits vs Scrapling/Crawl4AI self-run; license and Free-tier limits are loud.