Crw vs Spider Cloud

Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and ratings

Analysis reviewed Live tool data as of 2026-09-01
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At a glance

DimensionCrwSpider Cloud
PricingFreemium (one-time 500 credits free, then pay-as-you-go from $0.003/page)Freemium (pay-as-you-go ~$0.03/1k pages, AI Studio $6/mo add-on)
LATEST NEWS2024-07-03: anti-bot scraping APIs comparison; 2024-07-02: vs Firecrawl/fastCRW feature scope2024-03-05: Browser AI commands (Act/Extract/Observe); 2024-02-25: scraper catalog 1,000+ examples
IntegrationsPython, Node.js, Go, Rust SDKs; LangChain, CrewAI, n8n, MCP, Cursor, Vercel, DifyLangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, FlowiseAI, AutoGen, Agno, Dify; S3, GCS, Sheets, Azure, Supabase
Feature HighlightsOpen-source AGPL-3.0; Firecrawl-compatible endpoints; 63.74% truth-recall; self-host ~8MB binaryAI Studio for NL crawling; Browser AI WebSocket commands; AI unblocker; 1,000+ scraper examples
Best ForAI agent devs needing low-latency, open-source Firecrawl replacementDevs needing high-success-rate scraping with AI-powered extraction & data connectors
Self-HostingYes (single binary ~8MB, ~6MB RAM)Open-source core on GitHub, but cloud is primary offering

Choose Crw if you want an open-source, drop-in Firecrawl replacement with tiny self-host footprint and a proven 63.74% truth-recall rate. Choose Spider Cloud if you need a high-success (99.9%) cloud API with AI Studio, Browser AI commands, and 1,000+ ready-made scrapers. For budget-conscious, open-source-first teams, Crw wins; for convenience and anti-bot muscle, Spider Cloud leads.

Try CrwTry Spider Cloud
Crw
Crw

Open-source web scraping & search API for AI agents, cheaper than Firecrawl.

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Spider Cloud
Spider Cloud

AI web scraping API: crawl, scrape, search any site into markdown or JSON at 10k req/min.

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Pricing
Freemium
Freemium
Plans
$0/mo
$11/mo (billed $132/yr)
$59/mo (billed $708/yr)
$237/mo (billed $2,844/yr)
$467/mo (billed $5,604/yr)
$0
Custom
$1/GB + $0.001/min compute
$40/mo (2 concurrency)
$6/mo
Popularity
6 views
7.5k views
Skill Level
Intermediate
Intermediate
API Available
Platforms
APICLIPlugin
WebAPICLI
Categories
🌐 Web Scraping & Search APIs
🌐 Web Scraping & Search APIs🖱️ Browser & Computer-Use Agents
Features
AI-powered search with full page content
Scrape any URL to markdown, JSON, or HTML
Full JS rendering for SPAs
Crawl entire sites with robots.txt respect
Map domain URLs for sitemap generation
Parse PDFs to clean markdown (CPU-only)
Extract structured JSON via prompt or schema
Monitor pages for changes with AI verdict and webhook
MCP server for AI agent integration
Self-host single ~8MB binary, ~6MB RAM
Python SDK (pip install crw)
Node.js SDK (npm install crw-sdk)
CLI tool (brew install us/crw/crw)
Docker image for self-hosting
Interactive browsing via CDP (click, scroll, type)
Scrape any website into markdown, JSON, or raw HTML
Full-site crawling at 100K+ pages/sec
10,000 core API requests per minute default
Web Search API: SERP + scraping + extraction in one call
/ai/search endpoint with relevance gate to skip irrelevant pages
Silk AI model: HTML-to-structured data and captcha solving on GPUs
Browser Cloud: full browser sessions over CDP
AI commands (Act, Extract, Observe) via WebSocket with AI Studio
Multiple output formats: HTML, raw, plain text, markdown, JSON, JSONL, CSV, XML
Stealth browser layer and Unblocker for anti-bot sites
Proxy pool with 215M+ residential and ISP IPs across 199+ countries
Robots.txt compliance on by default, disable per-request
data_connectors parameter: pipe results to S3, GCS, Google Sheets, Azure Blob, Supabase
extraction_schema parameter: AI output conforms to JSON schema
1,000+ ready-made scraper examples across 32 categories
Integrations
LangChain
CrewAI
Dify
Agno
n8n
Make
Zapier
Claude Code
Cursor
Windsurf
Cline
Continue.dev
Codex
Gemini
Copilot
LlamaIndex
FlowiseAI
AutoGen

What real users say: Crw vs Spider Cloud

Not marketing copy and not our opinion — a structured sweep of public discussion (reviews, forums, communities and video comments), showing what people praise and what they complain about for each tool.

Crw

35 mentions across 5 sources · 4% positive — critical

Hacker News, Product Hunt, App Store, Stack Overflow, Lemmy

What users praise

  • • Drop-in replacement for Firecrawl - just change base URL.
  • • Extremely lightweight: ~8MB binary, ~6MB RAM.
  • • Open source with self-host option free forever.
  • • Public benchmark shows higher truth-recall than Firecrawl.

What frustrates them

  • • No real user reviews or community testimonials exist.
  • • Name confusion with multiple unrelated CRW products.
  • • AGPL license may restrict commercial usage.
  • • Managed cloud pricing details are not transparent.

Researched Jul 3, 2026

Spider Cloud

41 mentions across 2 sources · 0% positive — critical

YouTube, Lemmy

What users praise

  • • Competitive pay-as-you-go pricing at $1/GB with no expiry.
  • • Default rate limit of 10,000 requests per minute is generous.
  • • Broad output formats (HTML, markdown, JSON, CSV) cover diverse needs.
  • • Integrated Web Search API bundles SERP and extraction for AI agents.

What frustrates them

  • • No community feedback to confirm reliability or performance.
  • • Self-reported metrics lack independent verification.
  • • Stealth browser success may vary across real sites.
  • • Potential legal risks from scraping; compliance is user's responsibility.

Researched Aug 26, 2026

Who should pick which

  • Solo founder building an AI agent
    Pick: Crw

    Crw's low-cost self-hosting and Firecrawl-compatible endpoints make it easy to migrate and control costs. The 63.74% truth-recall benchmark is ideal for agent accuracy.

  • RAG pipeline developer needing reliable, high-volume scraping
    Pick: Spider Cloud

    Spider Cloud's 99.9% success rate, data connectors (S3, GCS, etc.), and AI extraction (Browser AI commands) streamline feeding fresh data into vector stores.

  • Enterprise team needing SOC 2/HIPAA compliance
    Pick: Crw

    Crw can be self-hosted on compliant infrastructure, giving full control over data handling. Spider Cloud lacks explicit SOC 2/HIPAA in its description.

  • Developer migrating from Firecrawl to open-source
    Pick: Crw

    Crw is explicitly a drop-in replacement for Firecrawl with identical endpoints, minimizing migration effort. Benchmarks show better truth-recall.

  • Automation engineer needing browser-level interaction
    Pick: Spider Cloud

    Spider Cloud's Browser AI commands (Act/Extract/Observe) via WebSocket enable complex browser automation, which Crw lacks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Crw vs Spider Cloud: which should you choose?

Choose Crw if you want an open-source, drop-in Firecrawl replacement with tiny self-host footprint and a proven 63.74% truth-recall rate. Choose Spider Cloud if you need a high-success (99.9%) cloud API with AI Studio, Browser AI commands, and 1,000+ ready-made scrapers. For budget-conscious, open-source-first teams, Crw wins; for convenience and anti-bot muscle, Spider Cloud leads.

Is Crw fully open-source?

Yes, Crw (fastCRW) is licensed under AGPL-3.0, meaning the source code is freely available and you can self-host.

Does Spider Cloud offer a self-hosted version?

Spider Cloud has an open-source core on GitHub, but the cloud-hosted service is the primary offering with full features.

Which is cheaper at scale?

Crw self-hosted is the cheapest at high volume (only infrastructure cost). Spider Cloud's cloud pricing is $0.03/1k pages, which is extremely cost-effective compared to Crw's $0.003/page cloud rate.

Can I use Crw as a drop-in for Firecrawl?

Absolutely. Crw's API endpoints are designed to be compatible with Firecrawl's /v1 endpoints, so you only need to change the base URL.

Does Spider Cloud have AI-powered extraction?

Yes, it offers AI extraction via two-phase fallback, and the AI Studio add-on for natural language crawl commands. Also Browser AI commands (Extract, Act, Observe) via WebSocket.

What integrations does each support for AI agents?

Crw integrates with LangChain, CrewAI, n8n, MCP, Cursor, Vercel, Dify, plus SDKs. Spider Cloud integrates with LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, FlowiseAI, AutoGen, Agno, Dify, and data connectors to cloud storage.

Which is better for scraping behind anti-bot measures?

Spider Cloud likely wins with its unblocker endpoint, rotating proxies, and silent AI unblocker. Crw's approach is simpler; it relies on robots.txt respect but may struggle with aggressive bot walls.

Do both offer free credits?

Crw offers a one-time 500 free credits. Spider Cloud does not mention a free tier, but pay-as-you-go starts immediately; failed requests are not billed.

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Explore each tool further

Crw
View Crw reviewCrw alternatives
Spider Cloud
View Spider Cloud reviewSpider Cloud alternatives

Browse these categories

Best AI Web Scraping & Search APIs toolsBest AI Browser & Computer-Use Agents tools
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Last reviewed: July 3, 2026