By use case · Browserless vs Firecrawl

Browserless vs Firecrawl pricing and cost per 1,000 rendered pages

The short answer

Browserless Starter costs about $0.78 per 1,000 rendered pages billed yearly at one unit per page, slightly below Firecrawl Standard at $0.83, but Browserless returns a browser you drive and parse yourself. Choose Browserless for logins, clicks, screenshots, captchas and existing Puppeteer or Playwright workflows; choose Firecrawl for pages or whole sites returned as markdown or JSON without writing parsing code. ClawEngine has the lowest allowance-based cost per public page among these plans from Startup up, with typed fields in the same call subject to extraction limits, but cannot replace a browser you control.

Clean markdown & JSON · JavaScript rendered · robots.txt respected

Extraction demo

Endpoint: POST /v1/extract · paste a URL, or pick a sample below

POST

Try:

Hit Extract to turn this page into clean, LLM-ready data.

robots.txt respected · public data only ·

Markdown · JSON · structured fields, from one API call. Crawling, rendering and extracting ... Samples are recorded. Your own URL is crawled live.

Browserless and Firecrawl solve different parts of scraping. Browserless supplies browser infrastructure that your Puppeteer, Playwright or CDP code drives. You own navigation, interactions and parsing, and can keep an existing browser workflow. Firecrawl takes URLs and returns page content, with JavaScript rendering included and crawl and map endpoints for discovering a site. The first choice is therefore whether you need a programmable browser or finished data. A lower browser unit price does not remove the work of turning the browser result into records.

Browserless meters a browser started and used for up to 30 seconds as one unit, then adds another unit for every further 30 seconds. A fresh connection for each page that finishes inside 30 seconds gives the comparison below. A page lasting 31 to 60 seconds uses 2 units. Reconnects start a fresh charge, while several quick navigations on the same connection inside the same 30 seconds can lower cost per page, depending on your script. Firecrawl scrape and crawl instead charge 1 credit a page with rendering included, and typed JSON adds 4 credits.

The small gap between $0.78 and $0.83 is only the starting point. Browserless residential proxy traffic costs 6 units per MB and datacenter proxy traffic costs 2 units per MB, on top of browser time. A successful captcha solve adds 10 units. Firecrawl lists no surcharge for its enhanced proxy, but that is not a promise that every defended target will work. Its separate Interact browser-control endpoint bills by the minute. Keep page extraction, browser interaction and proxy traffic separate when estimating a job, or a cheap page assumption can become an expensive session.

ClawEngine is our product and appears third. For public pages from Startup up, it has the lowest per-page allowance rate among the plans compared here and returns typed fields in the same call. Model-mapped extraction is capped, while mapping published schema.org data does not use that model allowance. ClawEngine has no browser automation, clicking, form filling, logged-in sessions, captcha solving or MCP server, and does not defeat anti-bot systems. Choose Browserless when those browser controls are essential, Firecrawl when markdown, crawl, map or self-hosting is the requirement, and ClawEngine when public page cost and supported typed extraction decide the purchase.

For the complete plan ladders, read the Browserless pricing breakdown and Firecrawl pricing. The Firecrawl vs Browserbase cost comparison works through another browser-time versus finished-page decision.

Backend engineer comparing two monthly usage reports beside a laptop with a request volume chart

CRAWL RENDER JS EXTRACT MARKDOWN JSON

Any URL in LLM-ready data out

robots.txt respected public data only

Why it works

Three questions that settle Browserless vs Firecrawl

Do you need to drive the browser?

Choose Browserless when the work is a login, a sequence of clicks, a form submission, a screenshot or an existing Puppeteer or Playwright script. You retain the browser control and accept the parsing work. Firecrawl scrape and crawl suit a different contract, where a URL goes in and markdown or JSON comes back. Its Interact endpoint adds browser control, so compare the actual workflow instead of assuming every Firecrawl call is page extraction. Browser minutes themselves are close in price, about $0.0016 on Browserless Starter yearly against $0.0017 for Firecrawl Interact on Standard yearly. ClawEngine loses this decision whenever you need browser automation, authenticated sessions, captcha solving or an MCP server. Public page extraction cannot replace those requirements.

What does each page actually consume?

Measure browser time, reconnects and proxy traffic together. At one time unit per page, Browserless Starter yearly is about $0.78 per 1,000, but a 2 MB page over its residential proxy consumes 12 proxy units plus 1 time unit, or 13 units. The arithmetic is 1,000 pages multiplied by 13 units multiplied by $140 divided by 180,000 units, about $10.11 per 1,000 pages before any captcha solves. A successful solve adds another 10 units. Reusing a connection for quick navigations may reduce time units per page, depending on your script, but it does not remove metered proxy traffic. Firecrawl keeps the scrape page meter simpler, with rendering included and no listed enhanced proxy surcharge, subject to actually retrieving the target.

Who turns the site into typed records?

Firecrawl is the direct choice for whole sites returned as markdown or JSON without maintaining browser parsing code, with crawl, map and AGPL self-hosting. Browserless leaves discovery and extraction to your application, which can be sensible when that code already exists. ClawEngine is cheaper per public page from Startup up among these allowance rates and combines crawling, rendering and typed fields in the same call. That does not mean unlimited model extraction. Startup caps model-mapped pages at 900 a month, Scale at 3,500 and Enterprise at 7,500. Mapping pages that publish schema.org data does not use the model and is not capped by those limits. Confirm the source markup and the extraction path before treating a large typed dataset as covered by the page allowance.

What it handles

Any URL in, clean structured data out

Point ClawEngine at a public page and it crawls, renders the JavaScript and extracts clean markdown or typed JSON in one call. Define a schema for structured fields, and respect robots.txt and Terms of Service by default.

Compares vendor pricing verified on 24 October 2026
Separates browser units from finished-page credits
Prices five monthly workloads across all three products
Shows proxy units, captcha charges and overage triggers
Explains where browser control and whole-site extraction win
States ClawEngine browser limits and model-mapped caps plainly

POST /v1/extract extraction result

200 · JSON

{
  "url": "https://example.com/products/atlas",
  "title": "Atlas Field Notebook",
  "markdown": "# Atlas Field Notebook\n\nDurable...",
  "data": {
    "name": "Atlas Field Notebook",
    "price": 24.00,
    "currency": "USD",
    "rating": 4.7
  },
  "links": [ "/products", "/cart" ],
  "metadata": { "rendered": true }
}

JS rendered · boilerplate stripped ✓ robots.txt respected

Head to head

Browserless vs Firecrawl side by side

Every Browserless and Firecrawl figure below was read from the vendor pricing page or documentation on 24 October 2026. ClawEngine is the third column and loses every row that needs a browser you control.

Swipe to compare all columns →

What you are comparing	Browserless	Firecrawl	ClawEngine
What it is	Browser infrastructure driven by Puppeteer, Playwright or CDP. You write the navigation and parsing	Page extraction and whole-site crawl API with markdown and JSON output, plus separate Interact browser control	Public-site crawl, JavaScript rendering and typed extraction in the same API call, without browser automation
What the meter counts	Units per browser connection and each 30 seconds of running time, plus proxy and captcha units. Reconnects cost a fresh unit	Scrape and crawl cost 1 credit per page with rendering. PDF costs 1 per PDF page, map 1 per call, search 2 per 10 results	Pages in an approximate monthly allowance. Rendering is not billed extra. Model-mapped extraction has its own cap
Entry price	Prototyping $25/mo billed annually, about $35 monthly, for 20,000 units	Hobby $16/mo billed yearly or $19 monthly for 5,000 credits	Hobby $24/mo billed yearly or $49 monthly for about 50,000 pages, without schema extraction
Free usage	$0 for 1,000 units a month, 2 concurrent browsers and a 2-minute maximum session. Requests past the limit are rejected	$0 for 1,000 credits a month and 2 concurrent requests	No free plan. Paid page allowances start on Hobby
Cost per 1,000 rendered pages	At 1 unit per page, Prototyping $1.25 yearly or $1.75 monthly, Starter about $0.78 or $1.11, Scale $0.70 or $1.00	Standard $0.83 yearly or $0.99 monthly, Growth about $0.67 yearly, Scale about $0.60 yearly. Rendering included	About $0.98 Hobby, $0.40 Startup and $0.27 Scale at monthly rates and full allowance use. Rendering included
Cost per 1,000 plain HTML pages	The same unit arithmetic if you use a fresh browser connection per page. A plain page does not remove the connection charge	The same page rate as rendered content, including $0.83 on Standard yearly and about $0.60 on Scale yearly	The same page allowance as rendered content. No separate rendering surcharge to remove
Typed JSON against your schema	Your code extracts the fields. Browser units do not include a hosted markdown or typed JSON extraction service	JSON extraction adds 4 credits, for 5 per page. $4.15 per 1,000 on Standard yearly, about $3.00 on Scale yearly	From Startup. Model-mapped caps are 900 pages monthly on Startup, 3,500 Scale and 7,500 Enterprise. Published schema.org mapping is not capped
Browser minute cost	2 time units per running minute, about $0.0016 on Starter yearly within the allowance, before proxies, captchas or reconnects	Interact costs 2 credits per browser minute, about $0.0017 on Standard yearly within the allowance. Scrape uses the page meter	No browser you can drive. No clicking, form filling or logged-in sessions. This browser-minute workload is not supported
Proxies and captcha solving	Residential proxy 6 units per MB, datacenter 2 units per MB, successful captcha solve 10 units, all added to browser time	No enhanced proxy surcharge is listed. Do not infer a captcha success guarantee or an unlisted solve rate	No captcha solving and no browser controls for routing an interactive session. Choose Browserless when that workflow is required
Defended sites	Browser control, proxies and paid captcha solves give your script tools for defended workflows. Success still depends on the target	Test target retrieval before budgeting. The published enhanced proxy pricing does not establish a bypass success rate	Not supported. ClawEngine does not defeat anti-bot systems and cannot substitute for an authenticated browser
Whole-site crawl	Your script implements link discovery, queues and parsing using the browser connection	Crawl costs 1 credit per page and map 1 per call. Built for getting pages or a site back without writing parsing code	Crawls public sites from a start URL and returns markdown or supported typed records. No interactive browser flow
Session limits	Maximum session length is 2 minutes Free, 15 Prototyping, 30 Starter and 60 Scale. Enterprise is custom	Interact has a browser-minute meter. Check its session cap against your workflow before replacing a long-running browser script	No user-controlled browser session, login state, clicks or form filling to extend across pages
Concurrency	2 Free, 10 Prototyping, 40 Starter and 100 Scale. Annual billing adds 5, 10 and 20 to the paid tiers respectively	2 Free, 5 Hobby, 25 Standard, 50 Growth and 100 Scale	1 crawl at a time on Hobby and 3 on Startup. Crawl jobs are not a pool of programmable browser sessions
Overage behavior	Paid overage is $0.0020 per unit Prototyping, $0.0017 Starter and $0.0015 Scale. Billed at the subscription-dollar threshold, on plan change or month end	Budget against included credits and confirm additional usage terms before exceeding them. These calculations assume no unlisted overage rate	Budget against the approximate page allowance and model-mapped cap. No additional overage rate is assumed in these comparisons
Self-hosting	Browserless offers a self-hosted Docker and Kubernetes setup. Check the deployment terms directly rather than assuming a license here	Open source under AGPL and self-hostable. Hosting, operations and compliance with the license remain your responsibility	This comparison prices the hosted API. It does not offer a browser runtime or MCP server
Output format	A browser connection. Your Puppeteer, Playwright or CDP code produces HTML, screenshots or parsed fields	Markdown or JSON from page extraction and crawl, with separate browser control through Interact	Markdown or typed JSON from public pages, without logged-in sessions or browser automation

USD subscription rates are monthly equivalents when billed yearly. Browserless Starter is $140 yearly or about $200 monthly for 180,000 units, and Scale $350 or about $500 for 500,000. Annual billing saves 30% and adds concurrency. Firecrawl Standard is $83 yearly or $99 monthly for 100,000 credits, Growth $333 or $399 for 500,000 and Scale $599 or $749 for 1,000,000. Both offer custom Enterprise pricing. ClawEngine Startup is $49 yearly or $99 monthly for about 250,000 pages, Scale $199 or $399 for about 1.5M and Enterprise $798 monthly for about 3M. Unit rates assume full allowance use, not a pay-as-you-go invoice for a smaller job.

Why ClawEngine

One API that crawls, renders and extracts

Not a raw HTML dump, not a headless browser fleet to run, and not a brittle parser to maintain. One call crawls a public page, renders its JavaScript and returns clean markdown or typed JSON, built for RAG pipelines and AI agents.

LLM-ready output

Clean markdown or typed JSON with the boilerplate stripped, so the data drops straight into a vector store, a prompt or an agent without a cleanup step.

JavaScript rendered

Each page loads in a real browser environment before extraction, so single-page apps and client-rendered content come back complete, not as an empty shell.

Compliance-first

ClawEngine works on public, permitted data only. It respects robots.txt and site Terms of Service and honors crawl-delay, so responsible scraping is the default.

Code examples

Public-site crawling and typed fields in one request

Use this path when the job is reading public pages rather than controlling a browser. The crawl renders JavaScript and returns typed records in the same call. Schema extraction starts on Startup, subject to the model-mapped cap; mapping published schema.org data does not use that model allowance. It cannot log in, click, fill forms, solve captchas or defeat anti-bot systems, and there is no MCP server.

curl Crawl public documentation and return typed records per page

curl https://clawengine.ai/v1/crawl \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLAWENGINE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://docs.example.com/guides",
    "limit": 100,
    "render": true,
    "format": "structured",
    "schema": {
      "title": "string",
      "section": "string",
      "summary": "string",
      "last_updated": "string"
    }
  }'

# The POST answers 202 with the crawl id. Read the pages when it completes.
curl https://clawengine.ai/v1/crawl/<id> \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLAWENGINE_API_KEY"

# Typed extraction requires Startup or above and respects model-mapped caps.

Browserless vs Firecrawl, the questions buyers ask

Is Browserless cheaper than Firecrawl?

At one unit per rendered page and full allowance use, Browserless Starter yearly is slightly cheaper per page than Firecrawl Standard yearly. The rates are about $0.78 versus $0.83 per 1,000. A smaller job can favor Firecrawl on subscription cost, while proxies, captchas and longer sessions increase Browserless usage. Browserless also leaves parsing to your code.

What is a Browserless unit?

A Browserless unit is a browser started and used for up to 30 seconds. Every additional 30 seconds of a running session adds a unit, and reconnecting starts a fresh connection charge. Proxy traffic adds 6 units per MB residential or 2 datacenter, while each successful captcha solve adds 10 units beyond the time meter.

Does Firecrawl use a headless browser?

Yes, Firecrawl includes JavaScript rendering in its scrape and crawl page price. That does not make a scrape response a browser connection that your Puppeteer code can drive. Scrape and crawl cost 1 credit per page, typed JSON adds 4, and the separate Interact browser-control endpoint costs 2 credits per browser minute.

Can Firecrawl replace Puppeteer?

Yes, when Puppeteer only renders pages so your code can extract their content, Firecrawl can replace that page-reading pipeline. For existing scripts that drive logins, clicks or multi-step flows, Browserless is the direct fit. Firecrawl also offers Interact browser control, but evaluate workflow compatibility separately from its scrape and crawl page rates.

How much does Browserless cost per page?

At one unit per page, Browserless costs $1.25 per 1,000 on Prototyping yearly, about $0.78 on Starter and $0.70 on Scale. Monthly equivalents are $1.75, $1.11 and $1.00. Those rates assume full allowance use. Longer sessions, reconnects, proxies and captchas add units; quick navigations sharing a connection can lower usage depending on your script.

Which is better for AI agents, Browserless or Firecrawl?

Browserless is the better fit for an agent that needs to drive a real browser through existing Puppeteer or Playwright code. Firecrawl is the better fit for reading pages and whole sites as markdown or JSON without writing parsing code, with Interact priced separately for browser control. Choose from the actual tool actions your agent needs.

Does Browserless charge for proxies?

Yes, Browserless adds 6 units per MB for residential proxy traffic and 2 units per MB for datacenter traffic. A 2 MB residential page plus one time unit uses 13 units, about $10.11 per 1,000 on Starter yearly. Firecrawl lists no enhanced proxy surcharge, but retrieval success still needs testing against your targets.

Can I self-host Browserless or Firecrawl?

Yes, Browserless offers a self-hosted Docker and Kubernetes setup, and Firecrawl is self-hostable open source under AGPL. Check Browserless deployment terms directly rather than inferring a license from the cloud unit prices. For either product, self-hosting means budgeting your own infrastructure and operations instead of treating the hosted subscription comparison as the complete cost.

What happens when Browserless runs out of units?

Browserless rejects requests past the limit on Free and bills extra units on paid plans. Overage is $0.0020 per unit on Prototyping, $0.0017 on Starter and $0.0015 on Scale. It is billed when accumulated overage reaches the dollar amount of your subscription, when you change plans or at month end, so charges can arrive during the month.

Good questions

Questions about Browserless vs Firecrawl

Browserless fits Prototyping at $25 a month billed yearly or about $35 monthly, assuming 20,000 pages multiplied by 1 unit equals 20,000 units with no proxy or captcha additions. Firecrawl needs 20,000 pages multiplied by 1 credit, so Standard covers the job at $83 yearly or $99 monthly with 100,000 credits included. Do not quote $0.83 per 1,000 as the invoice for this smaller job, because unused allowance is still part of the subscription. ClawEngine Hobby covers about 50,000 pages for $24 yearly or $49 monthly, so 20,000 public rendered pages fit without an extra rendering charge. Hobby does not include schema extraction. At this volume Browserless beats Firecrawl on the subscription bill, while ClawEngine suits public content that needs no browser interactions. Browserless still requires your parsing code.

Browserless Starter covers 100,000 pages multiplied by 1 unit, or 100,000 units, for $140 a month billed yearly or about $200 monthly. There is a cheaper monthly-billing option if Prototyping concurrency and session limits are sufficient. Its 20,000 included units leave 80,000 overage units, so about $35 plus 80,000 multiplied by $0.0020 equals $195. The equivalent yearly Prototyping calculation is $25 plus $160, or $185, making yearly Starter cheaper. Firecrawl Standard covers exactly 100,000 credits for $83 yearly or $99 monthly. ClawEngine Startup covers about 250,000 public pages for $49 yearly or $99 monthly. Firecrawl wins the vendor pair at this volume because its smaller allowance matches the job, despite Browserless having the lower fully used Starter unit rate. Proxy traffic or longer Browserless pages change that estimate.

Browserless Scale covers 500,000 pages multiplied by 1 unit, or 500,000 units, for $350 a month billed yearly or about $500 monthly. Firecrawl Growth covers 500,000 pages multiplied by 1 credit, or 500,000 credits, for $333 yearly or $399 monthly. ClawEngine Scale covers about 1.5M public pages for $199 yearly or $399 monthly, so this job fits its page allowance. These are subscription totals, not the smaller amount obtained by multiplying the workload by a full-allowance unit rate. Firecrawl is cheaper than Browserless for this stated workload on either billing period. ClawEngine ties Firecrawl on the monthly subscription and costs less on the yearly equivalent, provided the pages are public and need no browser control. Typed extraction would need a separate check against the model-mapped limit rather than the rendered-page calculation alone.

Firecrawl needs 10,000 pages multiplied by 5 credits, or 50,000 credits, so Standard costs $83 a month billed yearly or $99 monthly. Browserless needs 10,000 time units if each fresh connection finishes inside 30 seconds, fitting Prototyping at $25 yearly or about $35 monthly. That buys the browser only. Your deterministic parsing code or separately priced model must produce the typed JSON, so the subscription is not a complete hosted extraction quote. ClawEngine Startup is $49 yearly or $99 monthly if those pages publish schema.org data that can be mapped without the model. If all 10,000 pages require model mapping, no listed ClawEngine plan covers the workload, because even Enterprise at $798 monthly caps model-mapped pages at 7,500. Do not price unsupported model extraction as though the ordinary page allowance includes it.

Browserless Prototyping costs $25 a month billed yearly or about $35 monthly for this example, assuming each session lasts 2 minutes without reconnects, proxies or captchas. Each session uses 4 units, so 2,000 multiplied by 4 equals 8,000 units, within the 20,000-unit allowance and 15-minute session cap. Only Browserless meets the stated requirement here to keep driving the browser with the existing Playwright code. Firecrawl scrape and crawl return content rather than execute that script. Its separate Interact meter would be 2,000 multiplied by 2 minutes multiplied by 2 credits, or 8,000 credits, fitting Standard at $83 yearly or $99 monthly, but that arithmetic is not a compatibility quote for the existing script. ClawEngine cannot do logged-in multi-step sessions at any listed price, so neither its $99 Startup nor $399 Scale monthly plan is a working substitute.

Read every web scraping question

Explore more

More ways to turn the web into data with ClawEngine

See every use case See pricing Back to the web scraping API

Stop wrangling raw HTML. Get LLM-ready data.

Point ClawEngine at a public page and one call crawls, renders the JavaScript and extracts clean markdown or typed JSON, ready for your RAG pipeline or AI agent. Public, permitted data only.

See pricing

Crawl · render JS · extract markdown & JSON · robots.txt respected, public data only