Firecrawl Alternative with 98% Success Rate 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.
Where Scrapfly Succeeds on Protected Sites
Scrapeway benchmarks test web scraping APIs using default configurations. Scrapfly achieves 98% success across protected sites where most APIs struggle.
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
Quick Comparison: Scrapfly vs Firecrawl
What matters most for production web scraping: success rate on protected sites, cost efficiency, and reliability with JavaScript rendering.
| Metric | Scrapfly | Firecrawl |
|---|---|---|
| Success Rate (Protected Sites) | 98% | Varies by site |
| 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 |
Success rate data from Scrapeway benchmark (at time of writing)
How Scrapfly's ASP Works
Scrapfly's Anti-Scraping Protection (ASP) achieves 98% success using stealth browser technology that mimics genuine browser behavior. Enable asp=True and the system handles everything automatically.
Real Browser Fingerprints
Matches authentic Chrome and Firefox signatures including TLS/JA3 fingerprints, HTTP/2 fingerprints, WebGL properties, and canvas rendering.
Adaptive Challenge Solving
Automatically solves Cloudflare, DataDome, and PerimeterX challenges. Recognizes challenge types and submits valid solutions.
Session Intelligence
Reuses unblocked stealth browser sessions when possible, reducing costs while maintaining high success rates.
ASP runs in dedicated cloud browser instances with full JavaScript execution and persistent sessions. Test your fingerprint with our free fingerprinting tools.
Transparent Pricing for Protected Sites
Scrapfly's ASP costs 30+ credits per request, varying by target complexity. You pay for what's actually needed, not a flat premium rate. View full pricing details.
| 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
Developers Who Switched from Firecrawl
Capterra Rating: 4.9/5 (183 reviews)
"The price, success rate and uptime. It was trivial changing over from another provider."
"Switching to Scrapfly took us less than 15 minutes to integrate with our existing project."
"I could scrape multiple pages of reviews for companies on Glassdoor. I used the discovery and I had more than enough for my research."
Migration Takes 2 Hours
Most teams migrate from Firecrawl to Scrapfly in under 2 hours with zero downtime and no data loss.
Migration Process
- Sign up for free 1,000 API credits
- Install the SDK (Python, TypeScript, Go, or Scrapy)
- Update client initialization and request parameters
- Test on your critical targets
Run both services in parallel during testing. Test Scrapfly on your targets while Firecrawl handles production traffic.
# 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 achieve 98% success on protected sites?
Yes. Scrapeway benchmarks all major web scraping APIs on identical protected targets, consistently showing Scrapfly achieving 98% success. This includes sites like LinkedIn, Walmart, Zillow, and Glassdoor where anti-bot protection is most aggressive.
Can I test Scrapfly on my specific targets before committing?
Yes. The free plan includes 1,000 API credits with no credit card required. Test your exact targets before upgrading.
How does Scrapfly compare to Firecrawl for AI applications?
Both Scrapfly and Firecrawl provide LLM-ready output formats like markdown and structured JSON extraction. The key difference is bypass reliability. Firecrawl focuses on AI data preparation, while Scrapfly's ASP technology provides industry-leading success rates on protected sites.
For AI applications that need to scrape protected sites (news paywalls, e-commerce, social media), Scrapfly's full technology ownership ensures consistent data access, which is critical for production AI systems.
Does Scrapfly support markdown output like Firecrawl?
Yes. Scrapfly supports format=markdown to get clean markdown output, ideal for LLM context windows and RAG applications. You can also use format=text for plain text or format=clean_html for structured HTML without ads and navigation.
See the format parameter documentation for all available options.
Can Scrapfly extract structured JSON data like Firecrawl's JSON mode?
Yes, and Scrapfly's Extraction API offers more flexibility:
- LLM prompt extraction: Describe what you want in natural language
- Auto-extraction: Automatically detect products, articles, jobs, etc.
- Template extraction: Define reusable extraction schemas
Unlike Firecrawl's JSON mode which requires a predefined schema, Scrapfly's prompt-based extraction adapts to any page structure.
Does Scrapfly have an MCP server like Firecrawl?
Yes. Scrapfly provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for integration with AI coding assistants like Claude, Cursor, and Windsurf. The Scrapfly MCP server provides web scraping, screenshot capture, and extraction capabilities directly within your AI-assisted development workflow.
How does Scrapfly handle heavily protected sites?
Our ASP (Anti-Scraping Protection) automatically adapts to Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, and custom anti-bot systems by matching real browser TLS handshakes, fingerprints, and HTTP headers. No manual configuration required.
Why is Firecrawl not working on protected sites?
Firecrawl's "Stealth Mode" provides basic anti-bot bypass, but may struggle with heavily protected sites like LinkedIn, Walmart, or Zillow. These sites use advanced protections (Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX) that require sophisticated bypass technology.
Scrapfly's ASP achieves 98% success on protected sites because we own the entire technology stack: proxies, browsers, fingerprinting, and challenge solving. When anti-bot systems update, we restore bypasses in days, not weeks.
What happens when a request fails?
Scrapfly provides detailed error diagnostics showing why requests fail (blocks, timeouts, site issues). Automatic retries handle transient failures, and you're not charged for unsuccessful requests.
Does Scrapfly support JavaScript rendering?
Yes. Scrapfly uses dedicated cloud browser instances with headless browser JavaScript rendering for dynamic content. Enable the render_js parameter to capture content from React, Vue.js, Angular apps and SPAs.
What proxies does Scrapfly include?
Scrapfly includes residential and datacenter proxies in all plans. Both rotate across 50+ countries. All proxies are included in API credits with no separate fees.
Does Scrapfly have an Extraction API?
Yes. Scrapfly's Extraction API transforms raw HTML into structured JSON data automatically. Choose from auto-extraction for common data types, LLM-powered extraction using natural language prompts, or template-based extraction with reusable rules.
See How Scrapfly Compares to Other APIs
Explore more comparisons to find the best web scraping solution for your needs.
Start For Free Today
Test Scrapfly on your targets before committing.
- 1,000 free API credits
- No credit card required
- Full API access
- Migration support
Methodology Note: Scrapeway benchmarks test web scraping APIs using default, out-of-the-box configurations, representing the real-world experience developers encounter when first integrating an API.