Migrate from Tavily to fastCRW — Search API Migration Guide

Verdict

Migrating from Tavily to fastCRW takes about 15 minutes because fastCRW exposes a Tavily-style REST search API on POST /v1/search — most of the work is renaming parameters (max_results → limit, time_range → tbs, topic → sources). The upside beyond search: fastCRW also runs /v1/scrape, /v1/crawl, and /v1/map, which Tavily does not.

This page is honest about Tavily-only features fastCRW does not match. The compatibility matrix labels every gap.

Who this is for

• Teams whose product needs search plus scraping — Tavily is search and answer only; fastCRW consolidates search, scrape, crawl, and map on one key.
• Teams sensitive to search latency — fastCRW averaged 880 ms versus Tavily's 2000 ms on a 100-query benchmark.
• Teams that want self-hosting — Tavily is cloud-only; fastCRW is AGPL-3.0 with a bundled SearXNG sidecar.

If you actively use Tavily's include_domains/exclude_domains filtering, country targeting, or the /research agentic endpoint, stay on Tavily — fastCRW does not match those, and this guide says so plainly. (Tavily's include_answer does have an equivalent — fastCRW's answer: true — but it is BYOK; see below.)

Before and after: Tavily search to fastCRW search

A typical Tavily search call:

# Before — Tavily
from tavily import TavilyClient

client = TavilyClient(api_key="tvly-YOUR_KEY")
result = client.search(
    "agentic search benchmarks",
    max_results=10,
    topic="news",
    time_range="week",
)
for item in result["results"]:
    print(item["title"], item["content"])

The fastCRW equivalent is a POST /v1/search with renamed params:

# After — fastCRW
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://fastcrw.com/api/v1/search",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer fcrw_YOUR_KEY"},
    json={
        "query": "agentic search benchmarks",
        "limit": 10,            # was max_results
        "sources": ["news"],    # was topic
        "tbs": "qdr:w",         # was time_range="week"
    },
)
for item in response.json()["data"]:
    print(item["title"], item["description"])  # content -> description

Note the response field rename: Tavily's results[].content is data[].description in fastCRW. The Tavily alternative page ships a ~50-line CrwTavilyShim adapter that absorbs these renames so a Tavily-shape call hits fastCRW unchanged.

Parameter mapping table

This table maps Tavily's search surface onto fastCRW and marks every gap honestly. (Endpoint surface verified 2026-05-22; re-verify the live route list before quoting.)

Tavily endpoint / param	fastCRW equivalent	Migration note
POST /search	POST /v1/search	1 credit per query. SearXNG-backed.
max_results (default 5, max 20)	limit (default 5, max 20)	Rename only.
time_range (day/week/month/year)	tbs (qdr:d/qdr:w/qdr:m/qdr:y)	Semantic match.
topic (general/news)	sources (["web"]/["news"])	topic="finance" has no equivalent.
include_raw_content	scrapeOptions.formats	Shape differs; the adapter wires it through.
search_depth (basic/advanced)	(no equivalent)	Gap — no depth control.
include_domains / exclude_domains	(no equivalent)	Gap — no domain filtering.
country (195+ codes)	(no equivalent)	Gap — no country targeting.
include_answer (bundled LLM)	answer: true (BYOK)	Supported — but you pass your own LLM key (llmApiKey / llmProvider).
results[].content	data[].description	Response field renamed.
results[].score	data[].score	Scale differs; treat as ordinal.
answer (response)	present when answer: true	Returned only in BYOK answer mode.
/extract (batched, ≤20 URLs)	/v1/scrape (single URL)	Iterate /v1/scrape or use /v1/crawl for batches.
/crawl	/v1/crawl	Async → job id; poll GET /v1/crawl/:id.
/map	/v1/map	URL discovery. 1 credit.
/research (async + SSE)	(no equivalent)	Tavily-only agentic endpoint.
MCP tools tavily-search	built-in /mcp (crw_search, crw_scrape, …)	Tool names differ.

Step-by-step migration

The numbered steps below mirror the howToSteps schema for this page.

1. Inventory your Tavily calls

Grep for Tavily usage. List search, extract, and any /research calls. Flag anything using include_answer, include_domains, exclude_domains, country, or search_depth — those are the gaps that need a decision.

2. Provision a key or self-host

Sign up at fastcrw.com for a fcrw_ key — the Free tier ships 500 one-time lifetime credits that never reset. To self-host, run the AGPL-3.0 stack; it ships a single static Rust binary plus a bundled hardened SearXNG sidecar for the search backend.

3. Point search calls at /v1/search

Change the endpoint from Tavily's POST /search to fastCRW's POST /v1/search. Search costs 1 credit per query.

4. Rename the parameters

Apply the renames: max_results → limit, time_range → tbs (with the qdr: value mapping), topic → sources. include_raw_content becomes scrapeOptions.formats.

5. Drop in the adapter shim

Use the CrwTavilyShim adapter from the Tavily alternative page. It translates a Tavily-shape search() call into the fastCRW body and remaps the response — results[].content ← data[].description — so most call sites stay untouched.

6. Remove or adapt unsupported calls

include_answer maps to answer: true, but it is BYOK — supply llmApiKey and llmProvider, or handle synthesis in your own LLM layer. Drop include_domains/exclude_domains and country, or post-filter results client-side. There is no /research equivalent.

7. Optionally adopt scrape, crawl, and map

This is the migration's payoff. Add /v1/scrape, /v1/crawl, and /v1/map where your product previously needed a second vendor. They share the same API key and credit pool as search.

What does not carry over

Be explicit with your team about these Tavily-only features:

• Answer synthesis is BYOK. Tavily's include_answer uses a bundled model; fastCRW's answer: true works but requires your own LLM key (llmApiKey + llmProvider).
• No domain filtering. include_domains and exclude_domains are not supported; post-filter client-side.
• No country parameter and no search_depth control.
• No /research agentic endpoint and no streamed results.
• Response field names and error envelopes differ. results[].content → data[].description; score scale differs. fastCRW is Tavily-style, not byte-identical.
• /extract is single-URL via /v1/scrape — Tavily's batched extract (≤20 URLs) is not matched.

Performance and pricing context

On a 100-query benchmark (triple-bench.ts), fastCRW search averaged 880 ms versus Tavily's 2000 ms, with 73 of 100 latency wins and 100% success. Treat this as a point-in-time snapshot on that query set, not a universal guarantee — the methodology is published and the benchmark page documents the run.

On price, fastCRW is credit-based: search 1 credit/query, scrape 1, crawl 1/page, map 1. The Free tier ships 500 one-time lifetime credits that never reset; Hobby is $13/mo launch (3k credits) and Standard $69/mo (100k). The AGPL-3.0 self-host build is $0 in license terms. Launch pricing ends 2026-06-01. For Tavily's current rates, check tavily.com.

Related

• Tavily alternative comparison
• Migrate from Firecrawl
• Migrate from Jina Reader
• fastCRW vs Tavily benchmark
• fastCRW search docs
• fastCRW pricing