# fastCRW vs Scrape.do

> fastCRW scores 64.3 (B) to Scrape.do's 44 (E) for scraping. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrape-do
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrape-do.md (~5,250 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

fastCRW scores 64.3 (B) on agent readiness against Scrape.do's 44 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do scraping.

- fastCRW: grade B, 64.3/100, rank #478 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/crw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/crw.json
- Scrape.do: grade E, 44/100, rank #1219 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scrape-do.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/scrape-do.json
- Best web scraping and crawling APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/web-scrapers/index.md
- All 501 scrapers comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/web-scrapers/index.md

## Which one, for what

### fastCRW (B)

Good for: Agents that want Firecrawl-style scrape, crawl, map, search and extract at lower per-page cost, or a small self-hosted engine.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 50 against 40
- Schema & documentation, 91 against 57
- Agent ergonomics, 91 against 62
- Security & auth, 40 against 23
- Maintenance & community, 93 against 45
- Transparency & trust, 60 against 49

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source

Watch for: The status page shows a live check and an uptime objective but no incident history

### Scrape.do (E)

Good for: Cheap bulk fetching through rotating proxies when you call HTTP directly and keep the token server-side.

Watch for: Token travels in the query string on the main API


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: fastCRW +48

- fastCRW (93): v0.41.0 on 4 November 2026, matching the registry and npm (30). 16 dated releases in the 90 days from 8 August, from 0.37.0 to 0.41.0 (20). Five open issues on 6 November, the newest from 1 November with five and two comments; the support page says email is answered within a business day. Reply authors weren't read (18 of 25). In the official MCP registry as io.github.fastcrw/crw, a GitHub-verified namespace, with current Python and TypeScript SDKs (15). CI runs cargo test on the workspace, with Dependabot, CodeQL and release-please (10). 30 + 20 + 18 + 15 + 10 = 93.
- Scrape.do (45): Last changelog entry on 31 July 2026, a Gemini scraper API (20). Two dated entries since 3 July, 29 and 31 July, against the three the rubric asks for (10 of 20). Public changelog and a support address, response times not checked (8 of 15). The only official SDK, @scrape-do/client, hasn't shipped since 13 November 2024 (5 of 15). No public repository or CI to check (2 of 10).

### Schema & documentation: fastCRW +34

- fastCRW (91): OpenAPI 3.1 for 11 paths at version 0.41.0 in docs/openapi.json, checked against the server in CI, and typed JSON Schema inputs on every MCP tool (25). llms.txt (86 lines), llms-full.txt and Markdown sources for every docs page (10). Tool descriptions state purpose and how to chain them (crawl returns a job id to poll, map returns URLs only, extract needs an LLM), and the docs have a choose-an-endpoint page, but few descriptions say when not to use a tool (14 of 20). Inputs are typed with required fields and a renderer enum, though crawl and extract take a free-form JSON Schema object (12 of 15). Examples on every page and an errors page with each HTTP status, errorCode and next step (15). Semver releases with a dated CHANGELOG that flags breaking changes (15). 25 + 10 + 14 + 12 + 15 + 15 = 91.
- Scrape.do (57): No OpenAPI file found (0 of 25). llms.txt at scrape.do/documentation/llms.txt with Markdown pages (10). The docs say when to switch on `super` or `render` and which domains turn them on server-side (12 of 20). Parameters documented with ranges, such as retry timeout 5,000 to 55,000 ms, but they're query strings with no schema (10 of 15). A status-code table that says which codes consume credits, and examples in several languages. The error body format isn't documented (13 of 15). Dated public changelog, no API versioning (12 of 15).

### Agent ergonomics: fastCRW +29

- fastCRW (91): 11 compact MCP tools, two of them the data-source tools added in 0.41.0. Content is capped near 15,000 characters with `truncated: true` and a resume offset, and map returns at most 100 URLs by default (20 of 25). Formats, main-content filtering, include and exclude selectors, maxLength, startIndex, limit and crawl depth and page caps (20). Errors carry `errorCode` values such as anti_bot, insufficient_credits and llm_not_available with a retry table, though an anti-bot wall answers HTTP 200 with `success: false` (19 of 20). Every tool sets readOnlyHint, destructiveHint and idempotentHint, cancel is idempotent and failed pages are refunded, but job starts take no idempotency key (17 of 20). Only `url` is required, with official Python and TypeScript SDKs (15). 20 + 20 + 19 + 17 + 15 = 91.
- Scrape.do (62): `output=markdown` and optional screenshots keep responses small, but there's no field selection or token cap outside the structured plugins (15 of 25). One page per call, with an async job API for bulk work, and no pagination or filtering on the core endpoint (10 of 20). Status codes documented with billing behaviour (15 of 20). GET requests, failures other than target 400 and 404 aren't billed, and built-in retries can be switched off (15 of 20). Two required parameters, but the only official SDK is the Node client last released on 13 November 2024 (7 of 15).

### Security & auth: fastCRW +17

- fastCRW (40): The hosted MCP server publishes RFC 9728 metadata naming its own authorisation server, with PKCE S256, dynamic client registration and one scope, `mcp:tools`, and the API takes revocable Bearer keys from the dashboard. No key scopes or second scope found (22). The authentication page documents fastcrw.com/mcp/<API_KEY> as a way in, a key in the URL path, so less 10 (12 of 30). Tools mostly read, and data-source calls check approvals, but there is no read-only key or confirmation step for monitors (8 of 20). Managed LLM extraction, summaries and answers wrap scraped text in a nonce fence (crates/crw-extract/src/untrusted.rs), and the hardening guide treats pages as untrusted, but the MCP docs give agents no guidance on scraped content (7 of 15). Each response reports `creditsUsed`; no per-call log in the docs (5 of 15). SECURITY.md names security@fastcrw.com and GitHub private reporting with a 48-hour acknowledgement, and CI runs CodeQL and OpenSSF Scorecard. security.txt answers 404, and no bounty or certification found (8 of 20). 12 + 8 + 7 + 5 + 8 = 40.
- Scrape.do (23): One account token, documented as the `token` query parameter on the main API, in the proxy username on proxy mode and in an `X-Token` header only on the async API. We found no scopes or rotation for it. Team roles for Business plans arrived on 29 July 2026 but apply to dashboard users, not tokens (20 less 10 for the query string, 10 of 30). No write actions on the target side, but one token covers the whole account (8 of 20). Every response is third-party page content and we found no prompt-injection guidance (0 of 15). Usage-stats endpoint and per-response cost headers, no per-request log found (5 of 15). No security.txt, security page or disclosure policy found. Proxy mode needs Scrape.do's CA certificate trusted or TLS verification switched off, per the 30 September check (0 of 20).

### Transparency & trust: fastCRW +11

- fastCRW (60): The engine and MCP server are AGPL-3.0 and the SDKs MIT, while the hosted control plane is closed under terms that name no legal entity (25 of 30). The terms say crawled data is handled transiently with zero data retention for approved accounts, but the privacy policy is undated, names no controller, gives no retention periods and mentions no DPA (10 of 30). The CHANGELOG flags breaking changes, deprecated v2 extract routes return a warning on every response, and the October 2026 402 change is dated in the docs, with no standing notice policy (10 of 20). Local data-source telemetry is disclosed with an opt-out. The privacy policy names Stripe, Google Analytics, Google Ads and an X pixel, but infrastructure and search providers are unnamed and no data location is given (8 of 20). 25 + 10 + 10 + 8 = 53.
- Scrape.do (49): Closed service with published terms of use under PACKEND, LLC (15). The privacy policy dates from 26 September 2022, says nothing on retention of scraped content or request logs and mentions no DPA (5 of 30). Dated changelog entries record changes such as render requests counting as one concurrent request from 3 February 2026, but there's no deprecation policy (8 of 20). Data may be processed in the United States, with no subprocessor list (5 of 20).

### Reliability: fastCRW +10

- fastCRW (50): Graded on the hosted lines, for the hosted API and MCP server an agent would call; the self-hosted engine would read higher on the local lines. fastcrw.com/status is a first-party page with a live health check and a 99.9% monthly uptime objective, but no components with history (10 of 20). It lists no incidents and keeps no history we could read (5). Concurrency per plan is published, 3 on Free to 150 on Scale, while the request-rate guard above it is deliberately unpublished (12 of 15). The rate-limits page documents Retry-After and X-RateLimit headers, gives exponential backoff code, and separates 429 (retry) from 402 (stop). No idempotency keys for crawl, extract or monitor starts (13 of 15). Pricing mentions an SLA only as 'Premier + SLA' on Enterprise, with no terms, and the terms promise no uptime (0). The hosted service is sold on paid plans with no beta label, though the engine is at 0.41.0 (10). 10 + 5 + 12 + 13 + 0 + 10 = 50.
- Scrape.do (40): No public status page. status.scrape.do returned 403 to our fetch again today, as it did on 30 September, and the site doesn't link it (0). No readable incident history, so 5 by the rubric (5). Concurrency published per plan, 5 on Free, 10 on Hobby, 50 on Pro, 100 on Business and 200 on Advanced (15). A 429 means the concurrency limit was hit and isn't billed, a 502 says to try again, and the service retries failed requests itself unless `disableRetry=true`, but there's no Retry-After or backoff guidance (10 of 15). No SLA on the pricing page, which claims a 99.98 per cent success rate instead (0). GA (10).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | fastCRW | Scrape.do | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 40 | fastCRW +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 91 | 57 | fastCRW +34 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 91 | 62 | fastCRW +29 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 23 | fastCRW +17 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 35 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 93 | 45 | fastCRW +48 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 49 | fastCRW +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **64.3 · B** | **44 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | fastCRW | Scrape.do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Nanofy OÜ | Scrape.do |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://fastcrw.com/mcp` | `https://api.scrape.do/` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0 | none |
| Tools exposed | 11 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.fastcrw/crw` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-11-04 | 2026-07-31 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-04-04 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 1.2k stars, 881 npm/wk | 2 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (2) |

## How the scores have moved

### fastCRW

No score change since it was listed.

### Scrape.do

- +0.3 on 27 October 2026: checklist
- -0.3 on 8 October 2026: checklist

## Verdicts

**fastCRW.** Agents get 11 compact, annotated MCP tools with bounded output, a public OpenAPI spec, refunds on failed pages and a free self-hosted engine. The hosted service has no status history, publishes no SLA terms, names its operator only on the support page, and documents an MCP address with the API key in the URL path.

**Scrape.do.** $29 for 250,000 basic credits, and 429s, 502s and most failures aren't billed. Token travels in the query string on the main API.

## Before you call either

### fastCRW

1. Connect to https://fastcrw.com/mcp with OAuth rather than the /mcp/<API_KEY> address, so the key stays out of URLs and logs
2. Branch on `errorCode`. Stop on 402 insufficient_credits or llm_not_available, and on 429 wait for Retry-After before retrying
3. Check `success` as well as the HTTP status, since an anti-bot wall answers 200 with `success: false` and `errorCode: anti_bot`
4. Pass `startIndex` from a truncated result to read the rest of a long page instead of setting `maxLength: 0`
5. Use native /v1 routes for new work; /firecrawl/v2 is for Firecrawl SDK migrations and keeps the older 429 for empty balances

### Scrape.do

1. Start with the default data centre request (1 credit). Add `super=true` or `render=true` only after a block, since they cost 10 and 5
2. Pass `output=markdown` to get LLM-ready text instead of raw HTML
3. Read `Scrape.do-Request-Cost` from the response headers. Some domains cost 10 to 200 credits whatever you pass
4. Treat a 429 as too many concurrent requests and wait for one to finish
5. Keep URLs with `token=` out of logs and shared traces

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, fastCRW or Scrape.do?

fastCRW scores 64.3 (B) on agent readiness against Scrape.do's 44 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do fastCRW and Scrape.do need an API key?

fastCRW takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Scrape.do needs an API key.

### Can an agent call fastCRW and Scrape.do without installing anything?

Yes. fastCRW has a hosted endpoint at https://fastcrw.com/mcp and Scrape.do at https://api.scrape.do/.

### Are fastCRW and Scrape.do open source?

fastCRW is open source (AGPL-3.0). No open-source release is listed for Scrape.do.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with fastCRW or Scrape.do

- [Apify MCP Server vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Bright Data vs fastCRW](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bright-data-vs-crw.md)
- [Bright Data vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bright-data-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [BrowserAct vs fastCRW](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browseract-vs-crw.md)
- [BrowserAct vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browseract-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Context.dev vs fastCRW](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/context-dev-vs-crw.md)
- [Context.dev vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/context-dev-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Crawl4AI vs fastCRW](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crawl4ai-vs-crw.md)
- [Crawl4AI vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crawl4ai-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [fastCRW vs Decodo Web Data API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-decodo.md)
- [fastCRW vs Diffbot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-diffbot.md)
- [fastCRW vs jevcrawl](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-jevcrawl.md)
- [fastCRW vs Jina Reader](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-jina-reader.md)
- [fastCRW vs Microlink](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-microlink.md)
- [fastCRW vs Olostep](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-olostep.md)
- [fastCRW vs Outcrawl](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-outcrawl.md)
- [fastCRW vs Oxylabs Web Scraper API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-oxylabs-web-scraper.md)
- [fastCRW vs ScrapeGraphAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapegraphai.md)
- [fastCRW vs Scrapeless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapeless.md)
- [fastCRW vs ScrapeOps Proxy API Aggregator](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapeops.md)
- [fastCRW vs ScraperAPI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scraperapi.md)
- [fastCRW vs Scrapewise](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapewise.md)
- [fastCRW vs Scrapfly](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapfly.md)
- [fastCRW vs ScrapingAnt](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapingant.md)
- [fastCRW vs ScrapingBee](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapingbee.md)
- [fastCRW vs Scrapingdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapingdog.md)
- [fastCRW vs Spider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-spider-cloud.md)
- [fastCRW vs WebScraping.AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-webscraping-ai.md)
- [fastCRW vs ZenRows](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-zenrows.md)
- [fastCRW vs Zyte API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-zyte.md)
- [Decodo Web Data API vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decodo-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Diffbot vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diffbot-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [jevcrawl vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jevcrawl-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Jina Reader vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jina-reader-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Microlink vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microlink-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Olostep vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/olostep-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Outcrawl vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/outcrawl-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Oxylabs Web Scraper API vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/oxylabs-web-scraper-vs-scrape-do.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScrapeGraphAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapegraphai.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Scrapeless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapeless.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScrapeOps Proxy API Aggregator](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapeops.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScraperAPI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scraperapi.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Scrapewise](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapewise.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Scrapfly](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapfly.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScrapingAnt](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapingant.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ScrapingBee](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapingbee.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Scrapingdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-scrapingdog.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Spider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-spider-cloud.md)
- [Scrape.do vs WebScraping.AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-webscraping-ai.md)
- [Scrape.do vs ZenRows](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-zenrows.md)
- [Scrape.do vs Zyte API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scrape-do-vs-zyte.md)
- [fastCRW vs Firecrawl MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-firecrawl-mcp.md)
- [fastCRW vs Qovia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-qovia.md)
- [fastCRW vs ScrapeAtlas](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-scrapeatlas.md)
- [fastCRW vs SoldFetch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crw-vs-soldfetch.md)
- [Apify MCP Server vs fastCRW](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apify-mcp-vs-crw.md)
- [Firecrawl MCP vs Scrape.do](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firecrawl-mcp-vs-scrape-do.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp