Open source or Firecrawl Cloud

Choose open source when you need source or infrastructure control. Choose Firecrawl Cloud when you want to start scraping without operating the stack. Both paths expose Firecrawl’s core APIs; the difference is who configures, secures, and runs the supporting services.

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Choose your Firecrawl deployment

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Use open source when

• You need control over source or infrastructure. You can inspect the code, choose where the stack runs, and connect your own providers.
• You are prepared to operate it. Your team owns authentication, TLS, persistence, monitoring, capacity, upgrades, and recovery.
• You can add capabilities deliberately. Core scraping works in the default stack; LLM-backed formats, advanced scraping services, and specialized extraction paths need additional configuration.

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Use Firecrawl Cloud when

• You want the fastest supported path to production. Firecrawl operates the infrastructure and managed services.
• You need Cloud-only product surfaces. Agent, Browser, managed dashboards, enhanced proxy paths, and enterprise controls are delivered through Cloud.
• You want one account for usage and support. API keys, credits, limits, and operational support stay in the managed service.

Our recommendation: start with Firecrawl Cloud unless source access or infrastructure control is worth the operational work. If you self-host, prove one scrape first and add services only when your use case requires them.

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Compare the operating model

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Start with the path you chose

• Self-host Firecrawl: follow the Docker Compose self-hosting guide from a pinned release to one verified scrape.
• Change Firecrawl code: use Running Locally for the contributor development environment.
• Use Firecrawl Cloud: create an account and follow the quickstart.

Open source keeps the core engine inspectable and adaptable. Firecrawl Cloud funds that work while giving builders a managed path with additional product and infrastructure capabilities.