Comparison
firecrawl vs SurfSense
Verdict
Pick firecrawl if fireCrawl is an API-driven toolkit built for conducting scalable searches, scraping tasks, and interactive operations with the web using AI agents; pick SurfSense if surfSense is a self-hosted platform offering AI agents that can be used for competitive intelligence research. Here are some critical facts to consider when evaluating it.
Markdown twin · firecrawl alternatives · SurfSense alternatives
GraphCanon updated 1d
vs
Trust & integrity
| Signal | firecrawl | SurfSense |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Very active (0d since push) As of 3d · github_public_v1 | Very active (0d since push) As of 1d · github_public_v1 |
| Provenance | Not a fork · Organization account As of 3d · github_public_v1 | Not a fork · Personal account As of 1d · github_public_v1 |
| OSV dependency advisories | No lockfile (source not queried) As of 1mo · osv@v1 | No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11 As of 1mo · osv@v1 |
| deps.dev advisories | Not queried deps.dev@v1 | Not queried deps.dev@v1 |
| OpenSSF Scorecard | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 |
Tagline
- firecrawl
- The API to search, scrape, and interact with the web at scale. 🔥
- SurfSense
- NotebookLM for Competitive Intelligence Research
Stars
- firecrawl
- 168k
- SurfSense
- 16k
Forks
- firecrawl
- 9.4k
- SurfSense
- 1.5k
Open issues
- firecrawl
- 508
- SurfSense
- 119
Language
- firecrawl
- TypeScript
- SurfSense
- Python
Adopt for
- firecrawl
- FireCrawl is an API-driven toolkit built for conducting scalable searches, scraping tasks, and interactive operations with the web using AI agents.
- SurfSense
- SurfSense is a self-hosted platform offering AI agents that can be used for competitive intelligence research. Here are some critical facts to consider when evaluating it.
Persona
- firecrawl
- -
- SurfSense
- -
Runtime
- firecrawl
- -
- SurfSense
- -
License
- firecrawl
- AGPL-3.0 license requires that any changes to FireCrawl's source code also be made available as free software when the adapted version is used.
- SurfSense
- Other
Last pushed
- firecrawl
- Aug 15, 2026
- SurfSense
- Aug 17, 2026
Categories
- firecrawl
- AI Agents, Data & Retrieval
- SurfSense
- AI Agents, Data & Retrieval
Trust and health
Open issues (now)
- firecrawl
- 508
- SurfSense
- 119
Stars delta
- firecrawl
- +16k (30d)
- SurfSense
- +673 (30d)
Open issues delta
- firecrawl
- +106 (30d)
- SurfSense
- +12 (30d)
Owner type
- firecrawl
- Organization
- SurfSense
- User
OSV dependency advisories
- firecrawl
- No lockfile (source not queried)
- SurfSense
- No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11
Full report
- firecrawl
- Trust report
- SurfSense
- Trust report
Typed relationship
firecrawl alternative SurfSenseFirecrawl and SurfSense both allow for web scraping, searching, and interaction with live data, though they differ in their specific implementation details and scope.
Choose firecrawl if…
- firecrawl is primarily TypeScript; SurfSense is Python.
- License: firecrawl is AGPL-3.0, SurfSense is Other.
- FireCrawl can be deployed on your infrastructure, giving you complete control over where and how the API interacts with web data.
- Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Requires Docker.
- Firecrawl and SurfSense both allow for web scraping, searching, and interaction with live data, though they differ in their specific implementation details and scope.
- Tags unique to firecrawl: ai-agents, crawler, scraping, search.
- When you need to automate complex web interactions that require understanding context or content from multiple sources, leveraging its AI agent capabilities.
When NOT to use firecrawl
- For lightweight scraping tasks where minimal data extraction is sufficient and speed is of utmost importance without the need for advanced AI analysis.
- If you require open-source components under a license other than AGPL-3.0, as this license may impose certain restrictions on derivative works.
Choose SurfSense if…
- SurfSense is primarily Python; firecrawl is TypeScript.
- License: SurfSense is Other, firecrawl is AGPL-3.0.
- Pricing: SurfSense is distributed under a license labeled 'Other' which includes no specified pricing. It supports self-hosting with built-in billing off, making scraping and crawling capabilities only limited.
- Requirements: Requires Docker.
- Firecrawl and SurfSense both allow for web scraping, searching, and interaction with live data, though they differ in their specific implementation details and scope.
- Tags unique to SurfSense: agent, agents, ai, chrome-extension.
- - **Specific Use Cases:** If you need advanced capabilities for competitive intelligence analysis and want the flexibility of connecting various data sources through its connectors, SurfSense might be
When NOT to use SurfSense
- - **Limited Free Tier Capabilities:** Since scraping and crawling are limited only by your hardware when self-hosted without billing enabled, if you have strict limitations on hardware capacity or don
Explore
Sources
Every stat on this page traces to a dated GitHub sync, license file, enrichment field, or trust scan.
- GitHub stars (firecrawl/firecrawl) · observed Aug 16, 2026
- GitHub forks (firecrawl/firecrawl) · observed Aug 16, 2026
- Last push (firecrawl/firecrawl) · observed Aug 15, 2026
- License file (AGPL-3.0) · observed Aug 16, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- GitHub stars (MODSetter/SurfSense) · observed Aug 18, 2026
- GitHub forks (MODSetter/SurfSense) · observed Aug 18, 2026
- Last push (MODSetter/SurfSense) · observed Aug 17, 2026
- License file (Other) · observed Aug 18, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 11, 2026
GitHub stars on cards: firecrawl 168k · SurfSense 16k (synced Aug 16, 2026).
Common questions
- What is the difference between firecrawl and SurfSense?
- firecrawl: The API to search, scrape, and interact with the web at scale. 🔥. SurfSense: NotebookLM for Competitive Intelligence Research. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories.
- When should I choose firecrawl over SurfSense?
- Choose firecrawl over SurfSense when firecrawl is primarily TypeScript; SurfSense is Python; License: firecrawl is AGPL-3.0, SurfSense is Other; FireCrawl can be deployed on your infrastructure, giving you complete control over where and how the API interacts with web data; Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Firecrawl and SurfSense both allow for web scraping, searching, and interaction with live data, though they differ in their specific implementation details and scope; Tags unique to firecrawl: ai-agents, crawler, scraping, search; When you need to automate complex web interactions that require understanding context or content from multiple sources, leveraging its AI agent capabilities.
- When should I choose SurfSense over firecrawl?
- Choose SurfSense over firecrawl when SurfSense is primarily Python; firecrawl is TypeScript; License: SurfSense is Other, firecrawl is AGPL-3.0; Pricing: SurfSense is distributed under a license labeled 'Other' which includes no specified pricing. It supports self-hosting with built-in billing off, making scraping and crawling capabilities only limited; Requirements: Requires Docker; Firecrawl and SurfSense both allow for web scraping, searching, and interaction with live data, though they differ in their specific implementation details and scope; Tags unique to SurfSense: agent, agents, ai, chrome-extension; - **Specific Use Cases:** If you need advanced capabilities for competitive intelligence analysis and want the flexibility of connecting various data sources through its connectors, SurfSense might be.
- When should I avoid firecrawl?
- For lightweight scraping tasks where minimal data extraction is sufficient and speed is of utmost importance without the need for advanced AI analysis. If you require open-source components under a license other than AGPL-3.0, as this license may impose certain restrictions on derivative works.
- When should I avoid SurfSense?
- - **Limited Free Tier Capabilities:** Since scraping and crawling are limited only by your hardware when self-hosted without billing enabled, if you have strict limitations on hardware capacity or don
- Is firecrawl or SurfSense more popular on GitHub?
- firecrawl has more GitHub stars (167,794 vs 15,949). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.
- Are firecrawl and SurfSense open source?
- Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (firecrawl: AGPL-3.0, SurfSense: Other).
- Where can I find alternatives to firecrawl or SurfSense?
- GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at firecrawl alternatives and SurfSense alternatives (firecrawl markdown twin, SurfSense markdown twin), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes.
- Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison?
- Yes. The markdown twin at this comparison mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.
- Which is better maintained, firecrawl or SurfSense?
- firecrawl: Very active. SurfSense: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance.
- Where are the full trust reports for firecrawl and SurfSense?
- GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: firecrawl trust report; SurfSense trust report.