Comparison
firecrawl vs SurfSense
Verdict
Pick firecrawl if firecrawl is a web data API for large-scale web scraping, searching, and data extraction tasks, supporting AI agents for intelligent web interaction and data retrieval; 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 Sep 30, 2026
15views this month
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Trust & integrity
| Signal | firecrawl | SurfSense |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Very active (0d since push) As of Sep 18, 2026 · github_public_v1 | Very active (0d since push) As of Aug 18, 2026 · github_public_v1 |
| Provenance | Not a fork · Organization account As of Sep 18, 2026 · github_public_v1 | Not a fork · Personal account As of Aug 18, 2026 · github_public_v1 |
| OSV dependency advisories | No lockfile (source not queried) As of Sep 18, 2026 · osv@v1 | No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11 As of Jul 11, 2026 · 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 web data API to search, scrape, and interact at scale.
- SurfSense
- NotebookLM for Competitive Intelligence Research
Stars
- firecrawl
- 182k
- SurfSense
- 16k
Forks
- firecrawl
- 9.8k
- SurfSense
- 1.5k
Open issues
- firecrawl
- 641
- SurfSense
- 119
Language
- firecrawl
- TypeScript
- SurfSense
- Python
Adopt for
- firecrawl
- Firecrawl is a web data API for large-scale web scraping, searching, and data extraction tasks, supporting AI agents for intelligent web interaction and data retrieval.
- 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 for the main project, MIT License for SDKs and some UI components.
- SurfSense
- Other
Last pushed
- firecrawl
- Sep 18, 2026
- SurfSense
- Aug 17, 2026
Categories
- firecrawl
- AI Agents, Data & Retrieval
- SurfSense
- AI Agents, Data & Retrieval
Trust and health
Open issues (now)
- firecrawl
- 641
- SurfSense
- 119
Stars delta
- firecrawl
- +14k (30d)
- SurfSense
- +673 (30d)
Open issues delta
- firecrawl
- +133 (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.
- Pricing: Pricing details are not provided in the repository data..
- Requirements: Users must respect websites' policies when scraping and comply with robots.txt directives..
- 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, ai-crawler, ai-scraping, ai-search.
- When you need to perform large-scale web scraping and data extraction tasks with support for AI-driven web interactions.
When NOT to use firecrawl
- If your project requires a tool that does not support AI-driven interactions and you prefer a simpler, more straightforward scraping solution.
- When you are looking for a solution that does not come with the AGPL-3.0 license, as this might not be compatible with your project's licensing requirements.
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, chrome-extension, 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 Sep 20, 2026
- GitHub forks (firecrawl/firecrawl) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Last push (firecrawl/firecrawl) · observed Sep 18, 2026
- License file (AGPL-3.0) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Sep 18, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Sep 18, 2026
- GitHub stars (MODSetter/SurfSense) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- GitHub forks (MODSetter/SurfSense) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Last push (MODSetter/SurfSense) · observed Aug 17, 2026
- License file (Other) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 11, 2026
GitHub stars on cards: firecrawl 182k · SurfSense 16k (synced Sep 20, 2026).
Common questions
- What is the difference between firecrawl and SurfSense?
- firecrawl: The web data API to search, scrape, and interact 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; Pricing: Pricing details are not provided in the repository data.; Requirements: Users must respect websites' policies when scraping and comply with robots.txt directives.; 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, ai-crawler, ai-scraping, ai-search; When you need to perform large-scale web scraping and data extraction tasks with support for AI-driven web interactions.
- 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, chrome-extension, 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?
- If your project requires a tool that does not support AI-driven interactions and you prefer a simpler, more straightforward scraping solution. When you are looking for a solution that does not come with the AGPL-3.0 license, as this might not be compatible with your project's licensing requirements.
- 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 (181,801 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.