# ScraperAPI vs Firecrawl in 2026: one key answers both calls Compared on Nov 12, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/compare/scraperapi-vs-firecrawl ScraperAPI starts at $49 a month for 100,000 credits, Firecrawl at $19 for 5,000. A ScraperAPI page costs 1 to 75 credits by site and setting, a Firecrawl page 1. Unused credits end with the month on both, except on Firecrawl Scale. SpecStream answers both calls with one key: `https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi` and `https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl`. Every page costs $0.80 per 1,000 on any site, from credit that never expires. The Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB, on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scraperapi-vs-firecrawl) page. [Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-scraperapi-vs-firecrawl&utm_source=alternatives-md&utm_campaign=scraperapi-vs-firecrawl&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fagents%3Ftab%3Dkeys) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 12,500 pages. ## SpecStream, ScraperAPI and Firecrawl side by side | | SpecStream | ScraperAPI | Firecrawl | |---|---|---|---| | The call your code sends | Both, on one key. `GET https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi?api_key=&url=`, and `POST https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl/v2/scrape` with the key as the Bearer token | `GET https://api.scraperapi.com?api_key=&url=`, with the key as a mandatory parameter | `POST https://api.firecrawl.dev/v2/scrape` with `{"url"}` and `Authorization: Bearer` | | Entry plan | No plan. $19 reads 23,750 pages, $49 reads 61,250 and $99 reads 123,750 | Hobby is $49 a month for 100,000 credits, Startup $149 for 1,000,000 | Hobby is $19 a month for 5,000 credits, Standard $99 for 100,000 | | Price of a page | $0.80 per 1,000 pages, the same for every site. A page that refuses a plain read is tried again in a real browser at the same price | 1 credit for a standard page, 10 with `render=true`, 25 for Google and Bing, 30 for LinkedIn. On Hobby that is $0.49 to $14.70 per 1,000 pages | 1 credit a page, and the enhanced proxy costs no more. JSON format adds 4 credits. That is $3.80 per 1,000 pages on Hobby and $0.99 on Standard | | Search | `POST /firecrawl/v2/search` answers in Firecrawl's shape at $1 per 1,000 searches. The Search API answers at $5 per 1,000, or $1 with `speed=fast` | A Google results page costs 25 credits, $12.25 per 1,000 on Hobby | 2 credits per 10 results, $7.60 per 1,000 searches on Hobby | | Credit you do not use | Credit you buy never expires. There is no monthly plan | The credit balance resets when the subscription renews | Hobby, Standard and Growth credits do not roll over. Scale carries them one month | | Pages that fail | A page that gives no text is not charged, and the Extract API does not charge a site's `404`. A busy call answers `429` with `Retry-After` and charges nothing | `200` and `404` are charged. A request that fails after 70 seconds of retries is not charged | A 403 or 404 page is returned and costs 1 credit. A scrape that returns no document costs 0 | | Requests at once | Up to 20 pages a call on the Extract API, with no plan setting the volume. A call past the account's calls for the minute answers `429` with `Retry-After` and charges nothing | 20 concurrent threads on Hobby, 50 on Startup. Going over returns a `429` at no charge | 5 concurrent requests on Hobby, 25 on Standard | | Crawls and site maps | Firecrawl's map and crawl calls, v2 and v1, answer at `/firecrawl`. Each crawled page with text is one page read at $0.0008, and a map is one page read | One `url` per call | Crawl costs 1 credit a page, Map 1 credit a call | | Free to start | $10 of credit, no card, which covers 12,500 pages or 10,000 searches on the Firecrawl path | A 7-day trial with 5,000 credits, no card, then 1,000 credits a month with 5 concurrent threads | 1,000 free credits a month, no card, with 2 concurrent requests | | Structured data | Deep Search: a request in plain words returns every match on the live web as rows that meet each condition you wrote, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts | Autoparse returns JSON or CSV for Amazon, eBay, Google, Redfin and Walmart | JSON format with a schema adds 4 credits a page | ## Why teams choosing between ScraperAPI and Firecrawl use SpecStream ### Keep both calls and change two lines Your ScraperAPI call and your Firecrawl call keep their parameters and their parsers. Each one changes its address, and both carry the same key. ``` # ScraperAPI: was https://api.scraperapi.com curl -G https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi \ --data-urlencode "api_key=$SPECSTREAM_KEY" \ --data-urlencode "url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping" \ --data-urlencode "output_format=markdown" # Firecrawl: was https://api.firecrawl.dev curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl/v2/scrape \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"}' ``` A team that has not chosen yet writes to either format and moves nothing later. The parameter tables are in the [ScraperAPI migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/scraperapi?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scraperapi-vs-firecrawl) and the [Firecrawl migration guide](https://specstream.ai/migrate/firecrawl?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scraperapi-vs-firecrawl). ### What each path reads and returns On `/scraperapi`, `api_key`, `url` and `output_format` for markdown or text work as on ScraperAPI, and ScraperAPI's Python SDK reaches it through its `api_endpoint` argument. The site's `404` passes through. Errors come in ScraperAPI's own form: `400` with no `url`, `401` for a wrong key, `403` with no credit left. On `/firecrawl`, `POST /v2/scrape` with `{"url"}` answers as `data.markdown` and `data.metadata`, and `POST /v2/search` answers as `data.web[]` with `url`, `title` and `description`. Map and crawl answer on the same base address. Firecrawl's SDKs, firecrawl-py among them, reach `/v2/scrape` and `/v2/search` at `https://api.specstream.ai` too. ### What 100,000 rendered pages cost in a month ScraperAPI charges 10 credits for `render=true`, so 100,000 rendered pages take 1,000,000 credits: the Startup plan at $149. Firecrawl charges 1 credit a page, so they fit its Standard plan at $99, and JSON output makes each page 5 credits. On SpecStream the same 100,000 pages cost $80, and a page that gives no text costs nothing. For plain pages that load without a browser, ScraperAPI's Hobby plan comes to $0.49 per 1,000 when every credit is used in the month. SpecStream's $0.80 does not move with the site, where ScraperAPI charges 25 credits for a Google page and 30 for LinkedIn, and it stays in the account until you spend it. ### Check the price on your own pages ScraperAPI returns the credits each call took in its `sa-credit-cost` response header. On SpecStream every charged reply carries `X-Balance-Cents`, a Firecrawl reply carries the price of the call under `specstream`, and `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/requests` lists each call with its `price_usd`. Send the same 100 URLs through each and compare the totals. ``` curl https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/requests \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_KEY" ``` ### Scores published on official benchmarks The SpecStream Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. The Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions and 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks. The scores and the method are at [specstream.ai/benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scraperapi-vs-firecrawl). ### Search, crawls and rows on the same key A scraper reads the pages you already know. The same key finds them: the [Search API](https://specstream.ai/search-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scraperapi-vs-firecrawl) at $5 per 1,000 searches, `POST /v1/map` for a site's links and `POST /v1/crawl` for a whole site, each page with text at the page price. [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=scraperapi-vs-firecrawl) returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, and a saved request reruns hourly to yearly with each row labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching. ## Other scraping APIs ### Scrape.do A scraping API by monthly credits: Hobby is $29 for 250,000, and a page takes 5 credits with `render=true` and 10 with `super=true`. SpecStream answers Scrape.do's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapedo`, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. ### ScrapeOps Routes each request to one of 20+ scraping APIs, from $9 a month for 25,000 credits, and `render_js=true` costs 10 credits. SpecStream reads the same pages with its own Extract API at `POST /v1/extract`, up to 20 a call. ### ScrapingBee Hobby is $19 a month for 75,000 credits, and each request with JavaScript rendering costs 5. SpecStream answers ScrapingBee's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapingbee/api/v1/`, at one price for every page. ### Scrapfly Discovery is $30 a month for 200,000 credits, and `render_js` adds 5 credits a call. SpecStream answers Scrapfly's call at `https://api.specstream.ai/scrapfly/scrape`, at $0.0008 a page. ## How to run your ScraperAPI and Firecrawl calls on SpecStream 1. Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace. A new account gets $10 of credit, no card, which covers 12,500 pages. 2. Point each call at its SpecStream path. The key goes as `api_key` on the ScraperAPI path and as the Bearer token on the Firecrawl path. In Python: ``` import requests PAGE = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping" # ScraperAPI's call, was https://api.scraperapi.com scraper = requests.get( "https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi", params={"api_key": SPECSTREAM_KEY, "url": PAGE, "output_format": "markdown"}, timeout=70, ) scraper.raise_for_status() print(scraper.text[:300]) # Firecrawl's call, was https://api.firecrawl.dev fire = requests.post( "https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl/v2/scrape", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {SPECSTREAM_KEY}"}, json={"url": PAGE}, timeout=70, ) fire.raise_for_status() data = fire.json()["data"] print(data["metadata"].get("title"), data["markdown"][:300]) ``` 3. In JavaScript: ``` const key = process.env.SPECSTREAM_KEY; const page = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping"; // ScraperAPI's call, was https://api.scraperapi.com const scraper = new URL("https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi"); scraper.search = new URLSearchParams({ api_key: key, url: page }); const html = await fetch(scraper).then((r) => r.text()); console.log(html.length); // Firecrawl's call, was https://api.firecrawl.dev const fire = await fetch("https://api.specstream.ai/firecrawl/v2/scrape", { method: "POST", headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" }, body: JSON.stringify({ url: page }), }).then((r) => r.json()); console.log(fire.data.metadata.title, fire.data.markdown.slice(0, 300)); ``` 4. Leave the rest. Each page is billed at $0.0008, and a page that gives no text is not charged. On a `429`, wait the seconds in `Retry-After` and send the call again; nothing was charged. When you scrape pages to build a list, write the list you want in plain words. SpecStream reads it back as the conditions every row must meet and the facts to bring back, quotes the most it can cost, and delivers the rows after you approve. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is ScraperAPI better than Firecrawl? They price different things: ScraperAPI charges 1 to 75 credits a page by site and setting, Firecrawl 1 credit a page plus 4 for JSON. SpecStream answers both calls on one key at $0.80 per 1,000 pages on any site, and its Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. ### ScraperAPI vs Firecrawl pricing: what does each cost? ScraperAPI's Hobby plan is $49 a month for 100,000 credits, and Firecrawl's Hobby plan is $19 a month for 5,000 credits, with Standard at $99 for 100,000. SpecStream costs $0.80 per 1,000 pages, with no monthly plan. ### What do 100,000 JavaScript pages cost on each? $149 on ScraperAPI, whose `render=true` takes 10 credits and needs the Startup plan, and $99 on Firecrawl's Standard plan at 1 credit a page. On SpecStream they cost $80, from credit that never expires. ### Do unused credits roll over? No on ScraperAPI, whose balance resets when the subscription renews, and no on Firecrawl's Hobby, Standard and Growth plans; Scale carries them one month. SpecStream credit you buy never expires. ### Which one charges for failed pages? Both charge for a `404`: ScraperAPI charges `200` and `404`, and Firecrawl charges 1 credit for a 403 or 404 page. On SpecStream a page that gives no text is not charged, and the Extract API does not charge a site's `404`. ### Do their SDKs work with SpecStream? Yes: ScraperAPI's Python SDK takes `https://api.specstream.ai/scraperapi` as its `api_endpoint`, and firecrawl-py reaches `/v2/scrape` and `/v2/search` at `https://api.specstream.ai`. The key goes where theirs went. ## Sources SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure for ScraperAPI, Firecrawl and the other APIs comes from that company's own page. - [ScraperAPI pricing](https://scraperapi.com/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [ScraperAPI credits and request costs](https://docs.scraperapi.com/getting-started/quick-start/credits-and-requests-costs.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [ScraperAPI first request](https://docs.scraperapi.com/getting-started/quick-start/send-your-first-request.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [ScraperAPI status codes](https://docs.scraperapi.com/responses-and-formats/api-status-codes.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [ScraperAPI Autoparse](https://docs.scraperapi.com/data-pipeline/creating-a-datapipeline-project/results-and-output-formats.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Firecrawl pricing](https://www.firecrawl.dev/pricing.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Firecrawl billing](https://docs.firecrawl.dev/billing.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Firecrawl scrape](https://docs.firecrawl.dev/features/scrape.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Scrape.do pricing](https://scrape.do/pricing/), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Scrape.do request costs](https://scrape.do/documentation/request-costs/), read Nov 12, 2026 - [ScrapeOps Proxy API Aggregator](https://scrapeops.io/proxy-api-aggregator/), read Nov 12, 2026 - [ScrapeOps request costs](https://scrapeops.io/docs/web-scraping-proxy-api-aggregator/account/request-costs/), read Nov 12, 2026 - [ScrapingBee pricing](https://www.scrapingbee.com/pricing/), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Scrapfly pricing](https://scrapfly.io/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026 - [Scrapfly billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/billing), read Nov 12, 2026 - [SpecStream pricing](https://specstream.ai/pricing), read Nov 12, 2026 - [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 12, 2026 - [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 12, 2026