Firecrawl MCP vs ScraperAPI

Firecrawl MCP

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

ScraperAPI

One GET request with a key and a URL returns a page, and the MCP server's 28 tools carry read-only and destructive hints. No status page, OpenAPI file, security.txt or certification was found, and the documented default puts the API key in the URL query string.

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

ScraperAPI

1. Set the client timeout to 70 seconds. The API retries for that long before it returns 500, and a request cancelled earlier is still charged
2. Send the key as the x-sapi-api_key header to keep it out of URLs and logs
3. Pass max_cost on each request, or call /account/urlcost first, because domain and anti-bot surcharges vary from 1 to 75 credits
4. Use output_format=markdown or text to cut response size, and autoparse=true only on supported domains
5. On 429 reduce concurrency to the plan limit (5 on Free, 20 on Hobby). The request is rejected, not queued