--- title: "firecrawl vs quilt" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/firecrawl-firecrawl-vs-quiltdata-quilt" tools: ["firecrawl-firecrawl", "quiltdata-quilt"] --- # firecrawl vs quilt *GraphCanon updated Aug 16, 2026* ## 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 quilt if quilt is a platform focused on managing scientific and AI-related datasets through detailed version control and context-rich data packages hosted on AWS. [firecrawl](https://firecrawl.dev) reports 168k GitHub stars, 9.4k forks, and 508 open issues, last pushed Aug 15, 2026. [quilt](https://quilt.bio) has 1.4k stars, 90 forks, and 143 open issues, last pushed Jul 31, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [firecrawl's repository](https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl) and [quilt's repository](https://github.com/quiltdata/quilt). | | [firecrawl](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl.md) | [quilt](/tools/quiltdata-quilt.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | The API to search, scrape, and interact with the web at scale. 🔥 | Scientific Data Management Platform on AWS for managing data packages | | Stars | 167,794 | 1,367 | | Forks | 9,398 | 90 | | Open issues | 508 | 143 | | Language | TypeScript | TypeScript | | Adopt for | FireCrawl is an API-driven toolkit built for conducting scalable searches, scraping tasks, and interactive operations with the web using AI agents. | Quilt is a platform focused on managing scientific and AI-related datasets through detailed version control and context-rich data packages hosted on AWS. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | 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. | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | AI Agents, Data & Retrieval | Data & Retrieval | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [firecrawl](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl.md) | [quilt](/tools/quiltdata-quilt.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 0d | 2d | | Open issues (now) | 508 | 143 | | Stars delta | +16k (30d) | Unknown | | Open issues delta | +106 (30d) | Unknown | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/quiltdata-quilt/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: firecrawl - **Hosting:** self hosted - 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 - **Adopt for:** FireCrawl is an API-driven toolkit built for conducting scalable searches, scraping tasks, and interactive operations with the web using AI agents. - **License detail:** 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. ## Decision facts: quilt - **Adopt for:** Quilt is a platform focused on managing scientific and AI-related datasets through detailed version control and context-rich data packages hosted on AWS. ## Choose when ### Choose firecrawl if… - License: firecrawl is AGPL-3.0, quilt is Apache-2.0. - 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. - Tags unique to firecrawl: ai-agents, crawler, scraping, search. - Also covers AI Agents. - When you need to automate complex web interactions that require understanding context or content from multiple sources, leveraging its AI agent capabilities. ### Choose quilt if… - License: quilt is Apache-2.0, firecrawl is AGPL-3.0. - Tags unique to quilt: data-engineering, data-version-control, data-versioning, parquet. - When your team requires in-depth version control for complex scientific datasets, ensuring that every change to the dataset is tracked and documented. ## 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. ## When NOT to use quilt - Not recommended if you prefer on-premises solutions over AWS-hosted services, as Quilt operates exclusively within the Amazon Web Services ecosystem. - If your project involves handling simple and static datasets where traditional CVS tools suffice. The overhead of using a specialized solution like Quilt might not justify its use. - Teams with limited experience in data engineering or with less sophisticated dataset requirements may find Quilt's robust features overly complex, potentially leading to underutilization. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between firecrawl and quilt? firecrawl: The API to search, scrape, and interact with the web at scale. 🔥. quilt: Scientific Data Management Platform on AWS for managing data packages. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose firecrawl over quilt? Choose firecrawl over quilt when License: firecrawl is AGPL-3.0, quilt is Apache-2.0; 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; Tags unique to firecrawl: ai-agents, crawler, scraping, search; Also covers AI Agents; 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 quilt over firecrawl? Choose quilt over firecrawl when License: quilt is Apache-2.0, firecrawl is AGPL-3.0; Tags unique to quilt: data-engineering, data-version-control, data-versioning, parquet; When your team requires in-depth version control for complex scientific datasets, ensuring that every change to the dataset is tracked and documented. ### 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 quilt? Not recommended if you prefer on-premises solutions over AWS-hosted services, as Quilt operates exclusively within the Amazon Web Services ecosystem. If your project involves handling simple and static datasets where traditional CVS tools suffice. The overhead of using a specialized solution like Quilt might not justify its use. Teams with limited experience in data engineering or with less sophisticated dataset requirements may find Quilt's robust features overly complex, potentially leading to underutilization. ### Is firecrawl or quilt more popular on GitHub? firecrawl has more GitHub stars (167,794 vs 1,367). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are firecrawl and quilt open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (firecrawl: AGPL-3.0, quilt: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to firecrawl or quilt? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [firecrawl alternatives](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl/alternatives) and [quilt alternatives](/tools/quiltdata-quilt/alternatives) ([firecrawl markdown twin](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl/alternatives.md), [quilt markdown twin](/tools/quiltdata-quilt/alternatives.md)), 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](/compare/firecrawl-firecrawl-vs-quiltdata-quilt.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, firecrawl or quilt? firecrawl: Very active. quilt: 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 quilt? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [firecrawl trust report](/tools/firecrawl-firecrawl/trust); [quilt trust report](/tools/quiltdata-quilt/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=firecrawl-firecrawl`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=firecrawl-firecrawl) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_