Cheaper than Firecrawl.
More capable, too.
One API for Scrape · Crawl · Map · Search · Extract. First-class MCP integration. AGPL-3.0 — self-host free, forever.
How many pages a month? Move the slider to find your plan.
Plan comparison
| FreeFreeNo cost500 cr · no cardTry free | Launch pricingHobby$11/mobilled $132/yrStart Hobby | PopularStandard$59/mobilled $708/yrMatches your volumeStart Standard | Launch pricingGrowth$237/mobilled $2,844/yrStart Growth | Launch pricingScale$467/mobilled $5,604/yrStart Scale | Open sourceSelf-Host$0AGPL-3.0 you run infraView docs → | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limits | ||||||
| Credits / monthresets monthly on paid plans | 500one-time · lifetime | 5,000 | 100,000 | 500,000 | 1,000,000 | Unlimitedno meter |
| Concurrent requests | 2 | 5 | 50 | 100 | 150 | your hardware |
| Top-up creditsbuy more any time | — | $9 / 1k | $47 / 35k | $177 / 175k | $299 / 500k | no credit meter |
| Endpoints | ||||||
| Scrape · Crawl · MapCore extraction endpoints | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Search1 credit / 10 results | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓bring your own index |
| Extract (structured)Managed LLM, metered by usage — paid plans | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| MCP serverFirst-class AI agent integration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Support | ||||||
| Support channel | Community | Basic | Standard | Priority | Priority | Community / docs |
| Security & Hosting | ||||||
| API key ownership | Managed by fastCRW | Managed by fastCRW | Managed by fastCRW | Managed by fastCRW | Managed by fastCRW | Bring your own index |
| Infrastructure | fastCRW cloud | fastCRW cloud | fastCRW cloud | fastCRW cloud | fastCRW cloud | Your hardware |
| Data residency | fastCRW infra | fastCRW infra | fastCRW infra | fastCRW infra | fastCRW infra | All data stays local |
| Open-source audit | AGPL-3.0 engine | AGPL-3.0 engine | AGPL-3.0 engine | AGPL-3.0 engine | AGPL-3.0 engine | AGPL-3.0 engine |
| EnterpriseCustom volume & SLA | Enterprise Custom 1M+ credits/mo · dedicated clustersCredits/mo1M+, custom ConcurrentCustom InfrastructureDedicated SupportPremier + SLA | |||||
Concurrency figures show each plan's provisioned target. During the current capacity rollout (as of 2026-05-17), sustained concurrent throughput may be lower than the figure shown while infrastructure scaling completes; requests over live capacity receive a 503 with a Retry-After header. See Rate Limits for retry guidance.
Self-host for free — forever
CRW is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Deploy on your own infrastructure at zero license cost. Set CRW_BASE_URL to point any fastCRW client at your instance. Need a private deployment without copyleft? A commercial license is available.
- Binary size
- single ~8 MB binary
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Recall accuracy
- 63.74% vs 56.04% (Firecrawl)
Benchmark: 63.74% truth-recall (of 819 labeled URLs) on Firecrawl's public 1,000-URL dataset (diagnose_3way.py, 2026-05-08) — higher than Firecrawl's 56.04%.
Base credit cost per API call
Base rates; browser-rendering, proxy, and search-then-scrape can add credits — see docs.
| Endpoint | Cost |
|---|---|
| Scrape | 1 credit / page |
| Crawl | 1 credit / page |
| Map | 1 credit / page |
| Search | 1 credit |
| Extract | Dynamic — by token usageManaged LLM, metered in credits by usage. Paid plans only — not available on Free. |
In plain terms: because a scrape, crawl, or map page costs 1 credit, your 500 free credits ≈ 500 page scrapes to try it — no credit card. Hobby's 5,000 monthly credits ≈ 5,000 scrapes a month.
Frequently asked questions
Are the 500 free credits monthly?
No — they are a one-time lifetime allocation for the account, not a monthly reset. Paid plans include a fresh monthly credit allowance that renews each billing period.
Can I really self-host for free?
Yes. CRW is licensed under AGPL-3.0, so you can deploy it on your own infrastructure at zero license cost. The engine ships as a single ~8 MB binary — no runtime dependencies. You pay only for your own hardware and bandwidth.
Does self-hosting put my app under AGPL?
Only if you distribute a modified version of the CRW engine itself. Using the cloud API, or self-hosting the unmodified binary internally, places no copyleft obligation on your own application code. Need a private self-hosted deployment without any copyleft concern? A commercial license is available — contact hello@fastcrw.com.
Is the API the same between cloud and self-host?
Yes — the scrape, crawl, map, and search endpoints are identical between the managed cloud and the self-hosted binary. Point your existing integration at your own instance by setting CRW_BASE_URL and nothing else changes.
What happens when I run out of credits?
API requests return a 402 status code. You can buy a top-up pack instantly from the billing dashboard, or enable auto-recharge to keep jobs running automatically when your balance falls below a threshold. Top-up credits carry over until fully consumed — they do not expire.
Can I switch plans or cancel anytime?
Yes. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel from the billing dashboard at any time. Upgrades take effect immediately; downgrades and cancellations apply at the end of the current billing period. There are no lock-in contracts.
Compare and explore further
See how fastCRW stacks up: Firecrawl alternative, Tavily alternative, Exa alternative. Or browse all alternatives and benchmarks. Building an agent? See the AI agents use case and MCP integration. Full reference at docs.fastcrw.com.