# Cloudflare Web Search API vs Firecrawl MCP

> Firecrawl MCP scores 75.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do web search. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md (~2,700 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-06

Firecrawl MCP scores 75.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do web search.

- Cloudflare Web Search API: grade B, 62.1/100, rank #226 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-web-search.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json
- Firecrawl MCP: grade BB, 75.5/100, rank #32 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/firecrawl-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/firecrawl-mcp.json

## Which one, for what

### Cloudflare Web Search API (B)

Good for: Agents and apps already on Cloudflare Workers or AI Gateway that want cheap snippet search ($0.25 per 1,000 with Ceramic.ai) on the same bill and logs as their inference.

Watch for: Open beta, with no SLA found for AI Gateway

### Firecrawl MCP (BB)

Good for: Agents that need the whole pipeline (find URLs, scrape to markdown, crawl, monitor) from one server, and for trying without an account.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 55
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 81
- Agent ergonomics, 92 against 63
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 71

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5

Watch for: No x402 or other machine payment


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Cloudflare Web Search API | Firecrawl MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 70 | Firecrawl MCP +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 88 | Firecrawl MCP +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 92 | Firecrawl MCP +29 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 67 | Cloudflare Web Search API +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 50 | Firecrawl MCP +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 87 | Firecrawl MCP +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 76 | Firecrawl MCP +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62.1 · B** | **75.5 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cloudflare Web Search API | Firecrawl MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Cloudflare, Inc. | Firecrawl (Mendable) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://mcp.firecrawl.dev/v2/mcp` |
| Transports | HTTP | stdio, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy) |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Price for web search | $0.25 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Cloudflare's terms. Each search provider's own terms are linked from the providers page | MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 26 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.firecrawl/firecrawl-mcp-server` |
| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-01 |
| Popularity | none | 7.5k stars, 29k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**Cloudflare Web Search API.** One endpoint that sends a search to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and returns results in one format, logged and billed through AI Gateway. Ceramic.ai costs $0.25 per 1,000 searches. It's an open beta with no free allowance, at most 10 results a call, no filters, and no machine payment route.

**Firecrawl MCP.** Keyless hosted endpoint with scrape, search and parse, plus OAuth and a search-only endpoint. No x402 or other machine payment.

## Before you call either

### Cloudflare Web Search API

1. Set `options.gateway.id`. Every account has a gateway named `default`
2. Pass `provider` explicitly. It defaults to Ceramic.ai, whose descriptions can run to 8,000 characters a result
3. Set `limit` to the results you'll read, between 1 and 10
4. Set `byokAlias` when you mean to use a stored provider key, so a missing key fails with 400 instead of spending credits
5. Send `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` if queries shouldn't be stored in gateway logs

### Firecrawl MCP

1. Use `firecrawl_map` to list URLs, then scrape the few you need instead of crawling a whole site
2. On the keyless endpoint only scrape, search and parse work. A 429 carries a `signup_url` for the human
3. Ask for markdown only. JSON, question and highlight formats add 4 credits a page
4. Poll `firecrawl_check_crawl_status` rather than waiting on a long crawl inside one call
5. Check the URL before scraping. Dead pages still cost a credit

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Web Search API or Firecrawl MCP?

Firecrawl MCP scores 75.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Cloudflare Web Search API's 62.1 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Cloudflare Web Search API and Firecrawl MCP need an API key?

Cloudflare Web Search API needs an API key. Firecrawl MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Cloudflare Web Search API and Firecrawl MCP without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. Firecrawl MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.firecrawl.dev/v2/mcp.

### Are Cloudflare Web Search API and Firecrawl MCP open source?

No open-source release is listed for Cloudflare Web Search API. Firecrawl MCP is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-web-search-vs-firecrawl-mcp.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cloudflare-web-search", "b": "firecrawl-mcp"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cloudflare-web-search firecrawl-mcp`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-web-search.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/firecrawl-mcp.json

## Other comparisons with Cloudflare Web Search API or Firecrawl MCP

- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Cloudflare Web Search API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-cloudflare-web-search.md)
- [Brave Search API + MCP vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brave-search-mcp-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)
- [Bright Data vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bright-data-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)
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- [Firecrawl MCP vs Jina Reader](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-jina-reader.md)
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