vs Firecrawl
Firecrawl alternative with 98% on protected sites.
Looking for a Firecrawl alternative with reliable anti-bot bypass for your AI applications? While Firecrawl focuses on converting websites to LLM-ready data, many protected sites require robust bypass technology. Scrapfly delivers 98% success rate on anti-bot protected sites with markdown output, AI-powered extraction, and production-grade reliability.
Firecrawl works, until it doesn't.
Teams come to this page for one of three reasons: success rate degraded after an antibot vendor update, cost surprised them via credit multipliers or "premium domain" surcharges, or they need features Firecrawl doesn't ship (JS rendering, Extraction API, unified billing). Scrapfly addresses all three on the same key.
Sites Scrapfly actually handles.
Scrapeway benchmarks test every major scraping API with default, out-of-box configs.
E-commerce
Professional & Jobs
News & Content
Real Estate
Why Bypass Reliability Matters for AI Applications
Building AI agents, RAG pipelines, or LLM-powered tools? Your application needs consistent data access, not intermittent failures. Scrapfly's Anti-Scraping Protection (ASP) delivers reliable results on protected sites that generic scrapers fail on, while still providing LLM-ready output formats.
Full Stack Ownership
- Active anti-bot monitoring 24/7
- Bypass restoration in days, not weeks
- No third-party proxy dependencies
- Real browser TLS fingerprint matching
AI-Ready Features
- Markdown, text, and clean HTML output
- AI-powered structured data extraction
- Screenshot capture for multimodal AI
- Batch scraping for training data
Scrapfly vs Firecrawl, one row at a time.
What matters for production scraping: protected-site success, cost, reliability.
| Metric | Scrapfly | Firecrawl |
|---|---|---|
| Success Rate (Protected Sites) | 98% | Struggles with anti-bot bypass |
| Free Trial | 1,000 API credits | 500 credits |
| Anti-Bot Bypass | ASP (full stack ownership) | Stealth Mode |
| Markdown Output | format=markdown | |
| AI Extraction | LLM prompts, auto-detection, templates | JSON mode with schema |
| Bandwidth Optimization | Proxy Saver (50% savings) | |
| Browser Automation | JS Scenarios | Actions |
| Screenshot API | Full page + element capture |
How Scrapfly's Anti-Scraping Protection works.
Set asp=True. The engine handles everything else.
Adaptive bypass
Handles Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX automatically. Detects the challenge type, submits a valid solution.
Session intelligence
Reuses unblocked stealth-browser sessions when the target allows it, cutting cost without sacrificing success rate.
Credits vary by actual complexity.
Scrapfly ASP costs 30+ credits (varies by target). You don't overpay for simple targets. Full pricing.
| Configuration | Scrapfly | Firecrawl |
|---|---|---|
| Basic scrape (no JS) | 1 credit | 1 credit |
| JavaScript rendering | 6 credits | 1 credit (included) |
| Residential proxy | 30 credits | Stealth mode (plan-based) |
| Protected site bypass | 30+ credits (varies by target) | Stealth mode (limited) |
Why AI Developers Choose Scrapfly
Building AI agents, RAG systems, or data pipelines? Scrapfly provides the reliability and features you need for production AI applications.
Reliable Anti-Bot Bypass
Firecrawl's "Stealth Mode" may struggle with heavily protected sites. Scrapfly's ASP uses full technology ownership. We control proxies, browsers, and fingerprinting.
When anti-bot systems update, we restore bypasses in days, not weeks.
98% success on protected sitesLLM-Ready Output Formats
Get content in the format your AI application needs:
- Markdown: Clean formatting for RAG and LLM context
- Text: Plain text extraction for embeddings
- Clean HTML: Structured content without noise
AI-Powered Extraction API
Extract structured data without maintaining CSS selectors. Scrapfly's Extraction API offers:
- Auto-extraction: Detect and extract common data types automatically
- LLM prompts: Natural language extraction instructions
- Templates: Reusable extraction rules
What developers say.
4.9/5 · 219 reviewsWhat teams complain about with Firecrawl
- Silent success-rate degradation after antibot vendor updates
- Credit multipliers on "premium" targets blow up invoices
- Support tickets routed through tier-1 scripts before real answers
Three things that stop happening
- 5 engine deploys/day on real error telemetry — no silent rot
- Variable credit cost by actual target complexity — no premium-domain surprise
- Every support agent is a web-data developer — no tier-1 script
Most teams migrate in under 2 hours.
No downtime, no data loss. Run both vendors in parallel during evaluation.
- Sign up for 1,000 free credits No credit card. Full API access from minute one.
- Install the SDK Python, TypeScript, Go, or Scrapy.
- Update request parameters Parameter mapping in the getting-started guide.
- Test your critical targets Run Scrapfly alongside Firecrawl during evaluation.
# Firecrawl → Scrapfly: Simple parameter changes
from scrapfly import ScrapflyClient, ScrapeConfig
client = ScrapflyClient(key='YOUR_API_KEY')
result = client.scrape(ScrapeConfig(
url='https://example.com',
render_js=True, # Replaces Firecrawl's default JS rendering
asp=True, # More reliable than Firecrawl's stealth mode
format='markdown', # Same as Firecrawl's markdown format
country='us' # Replaces location.country
))
print(result.content)Full parameter mapping, multiple language examples, and AI-assisted migration tool:
View Full Migration GuideFrequently Asked Questions
Does Scrapfly really hit 98% on protected sites?
Yes. Scrapeway benchmarks every major scraping API on identical protected targets — LinkedIn, Walmart, Zillow, Glassdoor. Scrapfly consistently hits 98%.
Can I test Scrapfly on my targets before committing?
Yes. The free plan is 1,000 API credits, no credit card. Test your exact targets before upgrading.
Why is Firecrawl expensive?
Firecrawl's pricing can run up due to high credit multipliers on premium features. Scrapfly's ASP costs 30+ credits (varies by target), varying by actual target complexity — you don't overpay for simpler sites.
How does Scrapfly handle heavy protection?
ASP adapts to Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, Akamai, and custom antibot systems. Real TLS handshake, matching fingerprints, adaptive challenge solving. No manual tuning.
Why is Firecrawl not working on my target?
Usually insufficient antibot bypass. Cloudflare, DataDome, and PerimeterX have all tightened detection recently. Scrapfly's ASP stays current via daily deploys and holds 98%.
What happens on a failed request?
Scrapfly returns detailed error diagnostics (block, timeout, target issue). Automatic retries handle transient failures. Failed requests don't cost credits.
Does Scrapfly support JavaScript rendering?
Yes. Dedicated cloud browser instances handle full JS execution for React, Vue, Angular, SPAs. Enable render_js.
What proxies does Scrapfly include?
Residential and datacenter proxies across 50+ countries, rotating by default. All included in API credits, no separate fees.
Does Scrapfly have an Extraction API?
Yes. The Extraction API transforms raw HTML into structured JSON. Auto-extract, LLM prompts, or reusable templates.
Run Scrapfly in parallel. Switch when ready.
1,000 free credits, full API access, migration support. Your Firecrawl integration stays live during evaluation.
Methodology: Scrapeway benchmarks test scraping APIs using default, out-of-box configurations — the real-world experience developers encounter on day one.