Firecrawl API vs Jina Reader
Free API comparison
| Firecrawl API | Jina Reader | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI search and web reading | AI search and web reading |
| API key | Not needed | Not needed |
| Pricing | Free without an API key for search and scrape within a daily limit per IP address; a free API key gives 1,000 credits a month and the other endpoints, no credit card needed. | Free without an API key at a lower rate limit per IP address; a new free API key comes with 10 million free tokens and higher limits. |
| From the browser | Yes (CORS) | Yes (CORS) |
| Formats | JSON | Not stated |
| Interface | REST, MCP | REST, HTTP-GET, MCP |
| Provider | docs.firecrawl.dev | jina.ai |
| Last checked | Working on November 3rd, 2026 | Working on November 1st, 2026 |
| MCP server | Yes, official | Yes, official |
Which one to choose
Both turn web pages into clean Markdown for AI models, work without a key at a limit per IP address and have an official MCP server. Jina Reader is the simplest for one page: put r.jina.ai/ in front of the address. Firecrawl adds crawling whole sites and structured JSON output, and a free key gives 1,000 credits every month, where Jina's free key comes with a one-off allowance of tokens.
Each service's own page has its full description, a code example and what visitors report: Firecrawl API, Jina Reader.