Crawl4AI

What it is for

Crawl4AI is an open-source crawler plus a hosted scrape API: the signed-out cloud console (see the cover: scrape / extract / search / answer / serp tabs, URL field, Run) is the product. Use it when the job is URL → clean Markdown for an agent, not when you need a click-through browser session.

The library is Apache-2.0. Self-host is $0. Cloud Free is 1,000 credits/month. Starter is the first public paid card.

What makes it unique: the cover is the live api.crawl4ai.com scrape composer with a real Hacker News URL — not a star-count banner.

Key features

• Cloud composer — scrape / extract / search / answer / serp plus Run (cover).
• OSS library — pip install -U crawl4ai then AsyncWebCrawler.
• Credits — 1 credit = $0.001; archive hits cost half on the API table.
• MCP — claude mcp add --transport http crawl4ai https://api.crawl4ai.com/mcp.
• Self-host — Docker server with a token; Cloud is the billed path.

Who it's for

Best fit: RAG and agent authors who want Markdown out and will stay on Cloud or Docker.

Poor fit: teams that need a stealth CDP grid (Steel) or neural web ranking (Exa).

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) from docs.crawl4ai.com and api.crawl4ai.com/llms.txt (GET /v1/prices). Re-check the live table before you buy.

• Library / self-host — $0. Apache-2.0. You run the browsers.
• Cloud Free — 1,000 credits every month; 10/minute; 2 at a time. No card.
• Starter — $10/month. 10,000 credits; 120/minute; 10 at a time.
• Builder — $99/month.
• Scale — $499/month.
• Extra credits on a plan never expire. Soft-launch note: the public table can move.

Limitations / costs

• Free is 10 requests/minute and 2 at a time. Credits left do not lift that pace.
• Cloud prices are a soft launch. GET /v1/prices is the live table.
• Self-host needs a token on 0.9+ or the server binds loopback.
• Not a click agent. For act/extract in a real browser, see Stagehand.

Alternatives

• Firecrawl — scrape/crawl playground; Hobby $16 annual / $19 monthly.
• Tavily — search/extract credits for agents.
• AgentQL — shaped queries on a live page; Professional $99.

Official tutorial

Official Unclecode channel video: Crawl4AI Official Tutorial, Full 1hr with Quickstart Examples (oEmbed author: Unclecode).

Written path: Docs home plus the Cloud console.

Website

https://crawl4ai.com

Repository

https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the live Cloud scrape composer (scrape tab + Hacker News URL). Dollars checked on docs + /v1/prices (Free 1,000/mo; Starter $10; Builder $99; Scale $499). License Apache-2.0. Tutorial: Official Tutorial on @unclecode788 (oEmbed).

Last verified

2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.