Choose Firecrawl if
- Agents that need scrape/search/crawl tools over one shared credit balance
- Small recurring website ingestion with a published free monthly allowance
Firecrawl supplies managed scrape, map, search, crawl and browser Interact tools, while Scrapfly centers a feature-dependent Scrape API with MCP and separately documented Cloud Browser. Both charge credits, but a site-discovery operation and a protected rendered page draw different features and units.
Published entry offers, reviewed 2026-09-14
Compare usable output and required integration work under each API contract. Request the same permitted pages with equivalent rendering and output requirements; validate the returned fields before comparing the bill.
| Decision | Firecrawl | Scrapfly | ProxyLane |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example route for this job | FirecrawlScrape API (Markdown/structured output) | ScrapflyScrape API | ProxyLaneResidential proxy gateway for your own fetcher or browser; no managed scraping API |
| Charging basis | Product-specific requests, results or credits | Product-specific requests, results or credits | Prepaid GB that never expires |
| How you pay | The free tier refreshes 1,000 credits monthly. Paid plans include monthly credits, with pay-as-you-go top-ups in $5 increments under a configurable limit. Basic scrape/crawl/map costs one credit per page; search costs two per ten results, browser Interact two per minute, and structured formats can add credits. Included-credit rollover depends on plan. | Scrape API plans contain monthly credits; requests consume credits according to proxy pool, rendering, protection and response size. Overage rules depend on plan and unused monthly quota does not roll over. Cloud Browser documentation describes a separate session-time plus bandwidth credit meter; verify access and current terms in the account. | 350 MB trial for $1.95, then prepaid packages from $6.50/GB for 1 GB down to $2.50/GB for 1 TB. Unused traffic never expires. |
| Integration work | Send authorized requests to Firecrawl's Scrape/Crawl/Search endpoints or configure the official MCP server with an API key via the hosted URL or local FIRECRAWL_API_KEY environment variable. Choose basic Markdown or higher-credit structured/browser modes per job. | Call api.scrapfly.io/scrape with a target URL, API key and optional proxy_pool=public_residential_pool or render_js=true; use the MCP endpoint for agent tools. Cloud Browser documentation describes CDP/WebSocket integration subject to account availability. | HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 endpoints on three regional gateways: Europe, the Americas and Asia. Export proxy lists in 8 formats for scripts, scrapers and antidetect browsers. |
| A small or irregular job | Use the 1,000-credit monthly free tier for simple pages and compare the $19 Hobby plan only after pricing search, structured output or browser minutes separately. | Estimate credits per actual scrape configuration, including residential routing and rendering, then compare included monthly quota and overage controls. | Start with the 350 MB trial for $1.95 or a 1 GB package. Unused traffic never expires. |
| Browser workflow | Use Interact for managed browser minutes when clicks are needed; a basic scrape credit does not buy the same interactive work. | Scrape API can render JavaScript without exposing a browser session; the separately documented Cloud Browser is the relevant CDP path, with access to confirm. | Sticky sessions from 1 second to 72 hours, with a named session ID for each browser profile. |
| Connecting an agent | Connect the first-party hosted or local MCP server and cap paid-plan top-ups before allowing autonomous crawl or extract loops. | The official MCP server exposes scraping tools, and the API is directly callable; budget agent retries and any adaptive feature upgrades. | Point your agent's fetcher or browser tool at the proxy endpoint. ProxyLane supplies the network, not a hosted browser. |
| A growing production workload | Track credits across endpoints, rate/concurrency limits and rollover terms; higher tiers change both quota and throughput. | Set project credit budgets and concurrency controls and measure credits per successful target result; monthly unused quota does not carry forward. | Target by country, region, city, ZIP, ISP or ASN across 195 countries. Larger packages lower the rate to $2.50/GB. |
| Check before moving |
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For known pages, test Firecrawl Scrape and Scrapfly Scrape API against the same output fields. On Scrapfly, select residential routing, JavaScript rendering or protection only when needed; those options and response size affect credits. Firecrawl's basic page credit can rise for structured formats or browser actions. Record usable records and retries rather than equating one credit with one completed page. Both have monthly included credit rules that matter when batches stop.
For an agent exploring a site, Firecrawl's official MCP includes Search, Map and Crawl, whereas Scrapfly's official MCP exposes scraping, screenshot and usage tools. Test a bounded discovery-to-extraction sequence, including any extra application steps around Scrapfly. Firecrawl Interact consumes browser minutes; Scrapfly's separately documented Cloud Browser uses session-time and bandwidth credits with account access to confirm. Compare those only after scripting an interaction, and cap any Firecrawl paid top-ups before the loop.
ProxyLane offers premium residential IPs with ultra-low fraud scores, from ethically sourced, real devices.
Test your workload for $1.9598.7%
of 1,000 sampled IPs rated low risk by Scamalytics
Low risk: scores 0–19 on Scamalytics’ 0–100 scale. Aggregate sample result; individual countries vary.
Advertised starting offers use different products and billing units. Price the matched route before choosing a plan.
$19per month
Free: 1,000 credits/month, no card. First paid Hobby: $19/month billed monthly or $16/month billed annually for 5,000 credits/month; $5 top-ups on a paid plan provide 1,000 Hobby credits. Prices effective September 4, 2026.
$30per month
1,000 free Scrape API credits advertised; first listed paid Discovery plan is $30/month with 200,000 included credits. Residential routing, JS rendering and other features consume more than one credit per scrape.
$1.95350 MB trial
350 MB trial for $1.95. Packages from $6.50/GB for 1 GB down to $2.50/GB for 1 TB, with traffic that never expires.
Try 350 MB for $1.95Same targets, same fields. Compare the cost of each usable record. Worksheet
Same targets on both routes
Not just 200 responses
Minimums, expiry, add-ons
Keep a rollback ready
From $2/GB. Buy the traffic you need, keep it until you use it.
Test our IP quality: 350 MB$1.95
For your first requests
per GB · Traffic never expires
For projects taking shape
per GB · Traffic never expires
For everyday workflows
per GB · Traffic never expires
For growing workloads
per GB · Traffic never expires
For bigger operations
per GB · Traffic never expires
For high-volume data
per GB · Traffic never expires
For your business, at your scale
Let's build your setup together
Firecrawl starts at $19 per month (5,000 credits), Scrapfly at $30 per month (200,000 Scrape API credits). Billing units differ, so compare the cost of a usable record on the same workload, not the headline rate.
Compare usable output and required integration work under each API contract. Firecrawl: Scrape API (Markdown/structured output). Scrapfly: Scrape API.
Yes. The 350 MB trial costs $1.95 and runs on the same residential network as paid packages. Unused traffic never expires.
Country, region, city, ZIP, ISP and ASN targeting across 195 countries. Sessions can rotate on every request or stay sticky from 1 second to 72 hours, over HTTP(S) or SOCKS5.
No. ProxyLane is a residential proxy network for the client, scraper or browser you already run. Your team keeps control of fetching, rendering and parsing.
Run the targets you would send to Firecrawl or Scrapfly. Get 350 MB of residential traffic with sticky sessions up to 72 hours. Keep any unused traffic for later.