ScrapeSelect

Head-to-head

Firecrawl vs ScraperAPI

Firecrawl Firecrawl API is cheaper at two of the three volumes. 100,000 pages: ScraperAPI ScraperAPI is $149/mo on Startup, Firecrawl Firecrawl API is $399/mo on Growth; 500,000 pages: Firecrawl Firecrawl API is $399/mo on Growth, ScraperAPI ScraperAPI is $475/mo on Scaling; 2 million pages: Firecrawl Firecrawl API is $1,749/mo on Scale, ScraperAPI ScraperAPI is $1,975/mo on Advanced. All prices are for 20% JavaScript, medium bot protection, US targets, 40 concurrent requests, monthly billing.

Pricing checked Nov 14, 2026 · 0.1.0 · cost wins Firecrawl 2 – ScraperAPI 1

MetricFirecrawl Firecrawl API

Scraping API · Credits

ScraperAPI ScraperAPI

Scraping API · Credits

Cost for the same workload
100,000 pagesper month

$399

Growth · $3.99 per 1K pages

$149

Startup · $1.49 per 1K pages

Cheaper at this volume

500,000 pagesper month

$399

Growth · $0.798 per 1K pages

Cheaper at this volume

$475

Scaling · $0.95 per 1K pages

2 million pagesper month

$1,749

Scale · $0.8745 per 1K pages

Cheaper at this volume

$1,975

Advanced · $0.9875 per 1K pages

BillingCreditsCredits
Capabilities
JavaScript renderingYesYes
Country targetingYesYes
Premium proxyYesYes
ScreenshotYesYes
Cookie persistenceYesNot documented
Json outputYesNot documented
City targetingNot documentedNo
Sticky sessionNot documentedYes
Async requestNot documentedYes
Limits
max queued jobs
  • 50,000 jobs · free
  • 50,000 jobs · hobby
  • 50,000 jobs · standard
  • 100,000 jobs · growth
  • 200,000 jobs · scale
  • 200,000 jobs · enterprise
Not documented
requests per minute
  • 10 requests · free
  • 100 requests · hobby
  • 500 requests · standard
  • 5,000 requests · growth
  • 10,000 requests · scale
Not documented
session durationNot documented
  • 900 seconds
request timeoutNot documented
  • 60 seconds
geotargeting countriesNot documented
  • US · hobby
  • US · startup
Things to know
Billing notes
  • One credit per scraped page. JSON extraction adds 4 credits/page; PDF parsing adds 1 per PDF page; Zero Data Retention adds 1; question, query, highlights, audio and video formats add 4 each; PII redaction adds 4; the prompt-injection check adds 4 (or 5 when the scrape fails after the check).
  • Enhanced proxy is free (+0 credits); basic and enhanced requests both cost 1 credit.
  • Search costs 2 credits per 10 results (rounded up) plus scrape costs for results that are scraped. Map costs 1 credit per call. Interact costs 2-7 credits per browser minute with a one-minute minimum. Agent has 5 free runs per day, then dynamic pricing.
  • A scrape that returns no document costs 0 credits. A 403 or 404 returned as a document costs 1 credit. Threat protection adds 2 credits per scanned URL.
  • Plan credits reset monthly and do not roll over, except annual Scale (1 month) and annual Enterprise (2 months). Purchased credits stay until used and expire if the subscription is cancelled.
  • Pay-as-you-go needs a paid plan. Credits are bought in $5 increments and a user-set monthly cap applies; the temporary overage buffer is headroom, not kept credits.
  • X/Twitter URLs use the Grok API and cost 30 credits for a typical request (34 with JSON). LinkedIn URLs are served by third-party providers at their credit cost.
  • Location sets an appropriate proxy if one is available and emulates the country's language and timezone; it is not a guarantee that every country has an exit IP.
  • Credit costs are an absolute lookup table, not stacked multipliers (premium + render = 25, not 10 x 10).
  • How domain costs combine with render/premium parameters is not documented; the provider points to its urlcost endpoint. Only the documented case (a standard page without render/premium) is encoded; other combinations fall back to the generic rows and are flagged as unverified.
  • PAYG credits exist on Scaling and above but the per-credit rate is not published, so no overage is modelled; lower plans must upgrade.
  • Professional and Advanced currently show limited-time bonus credits (+250K / +500K), not included here.
  • Requests cancelled by the client before 70 seconds are billed.

“Not documented” means the provider's pages don't say, not that the capability is missing. Estimates use list prices and exclude promotions and taxes; the provider's checkout is authoritative.

Cheapest at each volume

  • 100k: ScraperAPI ScraperAPI — $149/mo on Startup
  • 500k: Firecrawl Firecrawl API — $399/mo on Growth
  • 2M: Firecrawl Firecrawl API — $1,749/mo on Scale

Switch to ScraperAPI when…

  • It documents sticky session, which the other does not.
  • It documents async request, which the other does not.

Stay with Firecrawl when…

  • It is cheaper for this workload: $399/month versus $475/month.
  • It documents cookie persistence, which the other does not.
  • It documents json output, which the other does not.

Firecrawl vs ScraperAPI FAQ

Is Firecrawl cheaper than ScraperAPI?

It depends on volume. 100,000 pages: $399/mo on Growth vs $149/mo on Startup; 500,000 pages: $399/mo on Growth vs $475/mo on Scaling; 2 million pages: $1,749/mo on Scale vs $1,975/mo on Advanced. Prices are list prices for 20% JavaScript, medium bot protection, US targets, 40 concurrent requests, monthly billing, checked Nov 14, 2026.

What is the difference between Firecrawl and ScraperAPI?

Firecrawl bills by credits; ScraperAPI bills by credits. The capability and limit tables above list the documented differences; billing notes list the add-ons that change the headline price.

Which is better for JavaScript-heavy pages?

For Firecrawl Firecrawl API, JavaScript rendering is documented as supported. For ScraperAPI ScraperAPI, JavaScript rendering is documented as supported. The cheaper option at your volume is in the cost table above.

Can I switch from Firecrawl to ScraperAPI?

The APIs are not drop-in replacements: endpoints, parameters and billing units differ. Check each product's docs before switching; this page compares published prices and documented capabilities, not migration effort.

More ways to compare

Product pages list the official sources and check dates. The methodology explains what the cost engine does and does not model.