README.md
★ Check OSS self-host version
from the docs You know the library. This is the same crawler, hosted. No browsers, no proxies, no cookies to babysit: one key with free credits every month, and it works in Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Cursor. Always open source, forever.
NEW Finally, your favorite open-source crawler is now a hosted API.Your open-source crawler, now hosted.
Crawl4AI now available on Cloud
One key:
/scrape a page to Markdown, /extract it to JSON, /search the web, /serp for Google's results page as data, /answer a question with sources. Free: 10 a minute, 2 at a time, 1,000 credits every month. Plans: 120 a minute, 10 at a time, from $10 a month.
$ crawl scrape
--instruction
Live · play limits✓ 200 OK
# Type a URL above and hit Run - real output renders here
## What you get #
- /scrape URL → clean Markdown, boilerplate stripped, ready for a prompt.
- /extract URL + a plain-English ask → typed JSON records. No selectors.
- /search query → ranked results as JSON - add
rich=1for follow-ups, related & more. - /answer a question → a direct answer with its sources. Experimental.
- /serp query → Google's results page as data: true ranks, every block, localised to a place. For rank tracking. Beta since 8 Oct 2026.
- at scale queues, jobs, retries, and solid proxies - handled for you.
## Use it in Claude Code, Cursor & agents - paste one line #
Same key everywhere. Mint one above and it drops into each line below.
set up crawl4ai - https://crawl4ai.com/llms.txt with key: sk_live_…Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, OpenClaw, or any agent that reads a URL · open llms.txt
claude mcp add --transport http crawl4ai https://api.crawl4ai.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_…"~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.crawl4ai] url = "https://api.crawl4ai.com/mcp" http_headers = { Authorization = "Bearer sk_live_…" }opencode.json
"mcp": { "crawl4ai": { "type": "remote", "url": "https://api.crawl4ai.com/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_live_…" } } }~/.cursor/mcp.json · Windsurf: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
"crawl4ai": { "url": "https://api.crawl4ai.com/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_live_…" } }~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, the mcp.servers block
mcp: { servers: { crawl4ai: { url: "https://api.crawl4ai.com/mcp", transport: "streamable-http", headers: { Authorization: "Bearer sk_live_…" } } } }Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI, VS Code, n8n, or your own client · streamable HTTP
url https://api.crawl4ai.com/mcp · header Authorization: Bearer sk_live_…export CRAWL4AI_URL=https://api.crawl4ai.com CRAWL4AI_KEY=sk_live_…curl -s "https://api.crawl4ai.com/search?q=web+scraping" -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_…"## Self-host, or skip the setup #
// run it yourself
Self-host
It's Apache-2.0. pip install crawl4ai, point it at your own boxes and proxies. No gate, no token. It's yours.
// let us run it
Hosted
Or forget the infra. We've operated this crawler at scale for years - proxies, queues, jobs, the hard parts. You keep the key; we keep it fast.
Who runs it better than the people who built it? Self-host for control; host with us to move fast. Same crawler either way.
## Pricing #
Your favourite open-source crawler, now in the cloud. One monthly plan, credits inside: you pay very little and get more than anywhere else.
Try it now: 20 free credits, no signup. Verify your email for 1,000 free credits every month.
tier
price
for
Free
$0 · no card
Prototypes and side projects. 1,000 credits every month, 10 a minute, 2 at a time. Get a key
Starter
$10 a month
Builder
$99 a month
Scale
$499 a month
Enterprise
Let's talk
Volume, regions, SLA. Contact us
1 credit = $0.001 · page 0.5 · search 1 · from our archive 0.25 · real browser 1 · hard site 2 *
The same money elsewhereper 1,000 calls, at each seller's cheapest paid plan
a page
a web search
Google results
Crawl4AI Starter$10 a month
$0.50browser $1.00 · hard site $2.00
$1.00
$1.00
Firecrawl Hobby$19 a month
$3.80
$7.60
not offered
Tavily Project$30 a month
$1.50
$7.50
not offered
SerpApi Starter$25 a month
not offered
not offered
$25.00
$10 here buys 20,000 pages a month; Firecrawl's $19 Hobby plan buys 5,000. Their prices are from their own pricing pages on 14 October 2026 and can change; ours are live at /v1/prices.
Soft launch
Prices and the free credit can change while we learn; the live table is /v1/prices. Extra credits you buy stay yours and never expire.## Philosophy #
# we don't hide.
every result carries where it came from - the origin travels with the data.
# and the whole "block the bots" arms race? a phase.
let crawlers crawl.
every result carries where it came from - the origin travels with the data.
# and the whole "block the bots" arms race? a phase.
let crawlers crawl.