> SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. This is the Markdown copy of https://specstream.ai/alternatives/crawl4ai. Every page, with what SpecStream does and costs: https://specstream.ai/llms.txt # Best Crawl4AI alternatives in 2026 | SpecStream Compared on Nov 9, 2026. # Crawl4AI alternatives in 2026 **Finished rows from one request, at 5¢ to $1 a row.** Crawl4AI is an open-source library, free on your own hosting, with a hosted API sold in credits: $10 a month for 10,000, $99 for 125,000 and $499 for 750,000. A page costs 0.5 credits and a hard site 2. It works one URL at a time: `/scrape` returns Markdown and `/extract` returns JSON for the page you send, and your code finds the pages, joins the facts and keeps them up to date. SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents, and the best alternative to Crawl4AI for a product or an agent that needs records. One request in plain words returns structured rows that meet every condition you wrote, with the facts from every site joined into one record. You see the most the job can cost before it runs, and you pay 5¢, 15¢ or $1 for each row delivered. [Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-crawl4ai&utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=crawl4ai&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fagents%3Ftab%3Dkeys) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. ## SpecStream and Crawl4AI side by side | | SpecStream | Crawl4AI | | --- | --- | --- | | What you send | The data you want in plain words, with the conditions every row must meet | A URL to `/scrape` or `/extract`, a query to `/search` or `/serp`, or many URLs at once to `/scrape/batch` and `/scrape/jobs` | | What you get back | Structured rows, one record per company, place or filing, with facts from many sites joined. Source URL and read time on every value | One page at a time: `/scrape` returns a page as Markdown and `/extract` returns it as JSON. `/serp` returns Google's results page as data | | The unit you pay for | A delivered row: 5¢, 15¢ or $1 by how much the row needs, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phone. The same rate on every plan | A credit, worth $0.001. A page costs 0.5 credits, a search 1, a page from its archive 0.25, a real browser 1 and a hard site 2. Plans: Free with 1,000 credits a month, Starter at $10 for 10,000, Builder at $99 for 125,000 and Scale at $499 for 750,000 | | What failed or empty work costs | Nothing. A row left out, a retry and a run that finds nothing are not charged | A request that fails on Crawl4AI's side is not charged. A page that returns costs its credits, 0.5 to 2, whether or not it holds the data you need | | The cost cap before a run | The most the run can cost, quoted before it starts. Nothing runs until you approve it, and there are no automatic overages | A monthly pool of credits. Past it, extra credits cost $1 per 1,000 on Starter, $0.79 on Builder and $0.67 on Scale | | Credit you do not use | What a run does not use goes back to your balance, and a top-up never expires | The month's credits are used first and do not carry over to the next month. Extra credits you buy never expire | | How much one job does | One request runs until it reaches the count you asked for, up to four hours on the largest jobs | One call reads one page or one search. Free allows 10 calls a minute and 2 at a time, Starter 120 and 10, Builder 600 and 20, Scale 1,500 and 50 | | Data already held | Public databases read every morning at [specstream.ai/data](https://specstream.ai/data?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=crawl4ai): every company that filed a Form D since 2023 with its filing history, nearly 2 million US nonprofits, every US bank failure since 1934, federal rules, open federal contracts and grants, and local businesses. Signals such as funding rounds, new executives and layoffs at [specstream.ai/signals](https://specstream.ai/signals?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=crawl4ai). Ask for your own cut of any of them | Pages. One served from its archive costs 0.25 credits in place of 0.5 | | A list you already have | Import a CSV, Excel file, Google Sheet or Airtable base of up to 20,000 rows. SpecStream fills in or checks each row and matches it to one identity, with any namesakes shown alongside their evidence. Import is free. A row that matches pays its rate, and a row that does not costs 5¢ | `/scrape/batch` and `/scrape/jobs` take many URLs at once and return each page | | What you host | Nothing. The workspace, the API and the MCP server run on SpecStream | The open-source library is licensed under Apache 2.0 and free on your own hosting. The hosted API starts at $10 a month | | MCP and API | MCP server, REST API, Python and TypeScript SDKs, a CLI and A2A. An agent can buy one request with no account, by card or in USDC | A REST API. One key works for `/scrape`, `/extract`, `/search`, `/serp` and `/answer` | | Where the data goes | Google Sheets, Excel, Airtable, Notion, monday.com, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Slack, Teams, Zapier, Make, n8n and signed webhooks | The API response. Its docs example reads the `markdown` field of the reply | ## Why Crawl4AI users move to SpecStream ### You describe the data, and SpecStream finds the pages Crawl4AI's `/scrape` and `/extract` start from the URL you send, and your code turns the pages into records. On SpecStream the request is the whole job. It can be companies, places, filings, tenders or products: "AI developer tool companies founded since 2024 that publish a pricing page, with the starting price, the free plan and the docs URL", or "open school HVAC tenders in Texas, with the agency and due date". SpecStream reads the request back as parts you can edit, the conditions every row must meet and the facts to bring back, before anything runs. You write no scrapers, and you have none to fix when a site changes. ### There is nothing to host Crawl4AI's library is free, and its docs price self-hosting as "free (your hosting)": the servers and browsers are yours to run. SpecStream runs the search, the reading and the reruns. Your product sends a request to the API, your agent sends one to the MCP server at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp`, and the rows come back. ### You pay for rows, and dead ends cost nothing Crawl4AI spends credits on each action: 0.5 for a page, 1 for a search, 1 for a real browser and 2 for a hard site. SpecStream bills the rows that meet your request: 5¢ for a row with up to 5 facts, 15¢ for up to 15 facts and one set of related records, and $1 for a deep row with no limit. At 5¢ a row, 200 companies cost $10, and the searches and pages behind them cost nothing. A company left out costs nothing, a retry costs nothing, and a run that finds nothing costs nothing. ### The price is set before the run On Crawl4AI the month's credits do not carry over, and past them extra credits cost $1 per 1,000 on Starter. On SpecStream every request gets a quote of the most it can cost, good for 30 minutes. Nothing runs until you approve it, the charge never goes past that amount, and whatever the run does not use goes back to your balance. Reading and pricing a request cost nothing. ### The most accurate web search API in the world SpecStream's Search API scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct), and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. The Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. Scores and method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=crawl4ai). A search costs $5 per 1,000 with up to 10 results each. A page read costs $0.80 per 1,000, up to 20 pages or documents a call, and a page with no text is not charged. ### Reruns label every row and land in your tools Save the request and it reruns hourly to yearly. Each row comes back labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching. A changed or new row costs half its rate and an unchanged row costs 1¢, so rechecking 1,000 rows that did not change costs $10. New matches and changes land in Sheets, HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, Teams or a signed webhook with no code, or in your agent through the MCP server. Rows you already own are never charged again. ## Other Crawl4AI alternatives ### SpecStream The live web data engine for teams and agents. One request in plain words returns structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a delivered row, under a maximum you approve before the run. The Search API costs $5 per 1,000 searches and the Extract API $0.80 per 1,000 pages. New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. ### Firecrawl Search, Scrape, Crawl and Agent endpoints billed in credits. The Free plan has 1,000 credits a month at 10 requests a minute, Standard costs $99 a month for 100,000 credits, Growth $399 for 500,000 and Scale $749 for 1,000,000. On SpecStream the pages read to find a row are not billed. ### Apify A platform for cloud programs called Actors, paid from a monthly usage amount. The Free plan includes $5 of usage a month, and Starter costs $19 a month with $19 of usage included. SpecStream has one rate card for every request, the same on every plan, and a top-up never expires. ### ScrapeGraphAI An extraction API sold in credits. The Free plan has 500 credits once at 10 requests a minute, Starter has 10,000 credits a month at 100 requests a minute, Growth 100,000 and Pro 750,000. SpecStream names the most a run can cost before it starts, and the charge never goes past it. ## How SpecStream scores The same numbers as the benchmarks page, from the official tasks and scorers. ResultsWideSearchCostSimpleQA Verified | | SpecStream | ![](https://specstream.ai/images/benchmarks/parallel.svg)Parallel | ![](https://specstream.ai/images/benchmarks/exa.svg)Exa | ![](https://specstream.ai/images/benchmarks/tavily.svg)Tavily | ![](https://specstream.ai/images/benchmarks/perplexity.svg)Perplexity | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Web research**WideSearch, GPT-5.6 Luna | 60.9 | 45.5 | 53.0 | 47.9 | 47.0 | | **Factual accuracy**SimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Luna | 96 | 94 | 91 | 94 | 94 | | **Factual accuracy**SimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Sol | 99 | 97 | 91 | 92 | 95 | ## How to switch from Crawl4AI Write the data you want in plain words, in place of the URLs and endpoints you call today. Sign up and you get $10 of credit, no card. At 5¢ a row, that is up to 200 rows. Or send the request from code. This call spends nothing: the `402` reply shows how SpecStream read the request, the columns and the most it can cost. ``` curl -i https://api.specstream.ai/v1/agent/lists \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"request": "AI developer tool companies founded since 2024 that publish a pricing page, with the starting price, the free plan and the docs URL", "count": 25}' ``` Approve that maximum by card through Stripe's Link agent wallet, or in USDC on Base, Arbitrum or Polygon, and you pay for the rows found. On an account, your agent uses the MCP server at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` and your team uses the workspace, from the same balance. [Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-crawl4ai&utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=crawl4ai&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fagents%3Ftab%3Dkeys) ## Frequently asked questions Something we didn't answer? [Talk to a human](https://specstream.ai/talk-to-a-human.md) How much does Crawl4AI cost? Crawl4AI's hosted API costs $0, $10, $99 or $499 a month: Free has 1,000 credits a month, Starter 10,000, Builder 125,000 and Scale 750,000. A credit is worth $0.001, a page costs 0.5 credits and a hard site 2. The open-source library is free under Apache 2.0 on your own hosting. What is the best Crawl4AI alternative? SpecStream, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a delivered row. You describe the data in plain words with every condition, approve the most the run can cost, and get structured rows that meet all of them in your sheet, your CRM, Slack or your agent. The same request reruns on your schedule. Is there a hosted alternative to running Crawl4AI yourself? Yes. SpecStream is hosted, and a new account starts with $10 of credit, no card. You send a request to the API or the MCP server and get rows back, with no servers or browsers to run. Does SpecStream have an API? Yes, three. The Search API costs $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, the Extract API costs $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and Deep Search returns every match for a request as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. Python and TypeScript SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server use the same key and balance. How accurate is SpecStream's search? The SpecStream Search API scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct, and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. Scores and method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=crawl4ai). What does SpecStream cover? SpecStream covers the whole job of getting data from the web, from a request in plain words to rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 each. It searches the live web, reads every page that holds the facts, and extracts them into rows. It draws on the public databases it already holds, fills in or checks a list you bring, reruns on a schedule with every change labeled, shows places on a map, and delivers the rows to your sheet, CRM, Slack or agent through MCP and the API. Crawl4AI covers the page step: `/scrape` and `/extract` return Markdown and JSON from the URLs you send, billed in credits. Does SpecStream have an MCP server? Yes, at `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` over Streamable HTTP, with OAuth or an API key. Your agent sends the data it needs in plain words, sees the most the run can cost, and reads rows that meet every condition, inside the limits you set on its key. ### Sources SpecStream wrote this page. Each rival figure comes from that company's own page. 1. [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing)specstream.ai/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026 2. [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md)specstream.ai/agents.md, read Nov 9, 2026 3. [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks)specstream.ai/benchmarks, read Nov 9, 2026 4. [SpecStream data](https://specstream.ai/data)specstream.ai/data, read Nov 9, 2026 5. [SpecStream signals](https://specstream.ai/signals)specstream.ai/signals, read Nov 9, 2026 6. [Crawl4AI pricing](https://www.crawl4ai.com/pricing)crawl4ai.com/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026 7. [Crawl4AI docs](https://docs.crawl4ai.com/)docs.crawl4ai.com/, read Nov 9, 2026 8. [Crawl4AI terms](https://www.crawl4ai.com/terms)crawl4ai.com/terms, read Nov 9, 2026 9. [Crawl4AI license](https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/blob/main/LICENSE)github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/blob/main/LICENSE, read Nov 9, 2026 10. [Firecrawl pricing](https://firecrawl.dev/pricing)firecrawl.dev/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026 11. [Apify pricing](https://apify.com/pricing)apify.com/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026 12. [ScrapeGraphAI pricing](https://scrapegraphai.com/pricing)scrapegraphai.com/pricing, read Nov 9, 2026