# curl vs firecrawl

| Attribute | curl | firecrawl |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 65 (51% (medium)) | 61.3 (62% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 3,409 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 43,119 | 191,380 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"An open-source solution available as both a command-line tool and embedded library, enabling network data transmission across billions of devices and applications worldwide. It is indexed under API Development Tools.","source":"https://curl.se/","question":"What is curl?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"curl is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://curl.se/","question":"Is curl free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"curl supports Windows, Linux, iOS and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://curl.se/","question":"What platforms does curl support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. curl can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://curl.se/","question":"Can curl be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6}]` | `[{"answer":"Firecrawl extracts clean, structured web content in various formats, automatically handles JavaScript rendering and dynamic page structures, and supports use cases from research and data extraction to competitive intelligence and content monitoring. It is indexed under API Development Tools.","source":"https://firecrawl.dev","question":"What is firecrawl?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"firecrawl is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the AGPL-3.0 licence. A commercial or hosted edition starts at £445 per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://firecrawl.dev","question":"Is firecrawl free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"firecrawl supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://firecrawl.dev","question":"What platforms does firecrawl support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. firecrawl can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://firecrawl.dev","question":"Can firecrawl be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 6 integrations for firecrawl, including MCP, Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex and OpenCode. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://firecrawl.dev","question":"What does firecrawl integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 for firecrawl. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as firecrawl not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://firecrawl.dev","question":"What security certifications does firecrawl have?","confidence":0.48},{"answer":"Yes. firecrawl is published under the AGPL-3.0 licence, a copyleft licence, so check its terms before embedding it in a closed-source product. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl","question":"Is firecrawl open source?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"firecrawl is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://firecrawl.dev","question":"Where is firecrawl available?","confidence":0.5}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | curl is a widely-used command-line tool and library that enables data transfer using URL syntax. It supports numerous protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, and MQTT, and can be used both from the command line and as a programmatic library. | An API service that enables AI agents to search, scrape, and interact with web pages, returning clean structured data in multiple formats with automatic JavaScript rendering and complex content handling. |
| features.capabilities | `{"api_docs":true,"rest_client":true,"ci_integration":true,"automated_testing":true}` | `{"api_docs":true,"rest_client":true,"collaboration":true,"pricing_model":"pay_per_page_api","ci_integration":true,"automated_testing":true,"architecture_model":"managed_cloud_api","web_scraping_to_markdown_or_json":true,"mit_or_apache_permissive_oss_license":true,"pdf_and_multimodal_image_ocr_parsing":true,"zero_data_retention_privacy_guarantees":true,"javascript_rendering_for_spa_web_scraping":true,"strict_json_schema_forcing_and_validation":true,"tabular_layout_preservation_for_complex_tables":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 4 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"MCP"},{"name":"Claude"},{"name":"Cursor"},{"name":"Windsurf"},{"name":"Claude Code"},{"name":"Codex"},{"name":"OpenCode"}]` |
| language.primary | C | TypeScript |
| license.spdx | - | AGPL-3.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"ios":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Free and open source","sourceUrl":"https://curl.se/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-14T13:20:23.780Z"}` | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Scale","summary":"1 credit per page","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"page"},"kind":"metered","amount":1,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Enterprise plan supporting millions of pages with batch scraping, crawling, and scheduled syncs"}],"summary":"Usage-based: 1 credit per page for scraping/crawling/mapping/monitoring, 2 credits per 10 search results, 2 credits per browser minute for interact. Agent preview with 5 free daily runs. Advanced features cost additional credits.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://firecrawl.dev","retrievedAt":"2026-10-14T11:28:45.952Z","startingPrice":{"unit":"page","amount":1,"currency":"USD"}}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.starting_price | - | `{"amount":1,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 48 | 15 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_23_0","date":"2026-10-14T06:05:46Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_23_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_22_0","date":"2026-09-02T05:59:35Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_22_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_21_0","date":"2026-06-24T06:03:04Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_21_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_20_0","date":"2026-04-29T06:31:23Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_20_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_19_0","date":"2026-03-11T06:52:50Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_19_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_18_0","date":"2026-01-07T07:03:41Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_18_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_17_0","date":"2025-11-05T07:18:19Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_17_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_16_0","date":"2025-09-10T05:48:58Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_16_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_15_0","date":"2025-07-16T06:30:51Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_15_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_14_1","date":"2025-06-04T05:58:45Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_14_1"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_14_0","date":"2025-05-28T05:47:27Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_14_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_13_0","date":"2025-04-02T05:56:33Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_13_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_12_1","date":"2025-02-13T07:22:05Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_12_1"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_12_0","date":"2025-02-05T08:18:37Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_12_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_11_1","date":"2024-12-11T07:17:04Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_11_1"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_11_0","date":"2024-11-06T07:18:25Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_11_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_10_1","date":"2024-09-18T06:08:13Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_10_1"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_10_0","date":"2024-09-11T05:53:05Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_10_0"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_9_1","date":"2024-07-31T07:08:30Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_9_1"},{"url":"https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/tag/curl-8_9_0","date":"2024-07-24T06:37:51Z","type":"stable","version":"curl-8_9_0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.11.0","date":"2026-06-19T15:09:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.10","date":"2026-05-15T17:34:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.9.0","date":"2026-04-10T16:36:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.8.0","date":"2026-02-03T17:12:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.7.0","date":"2025-12-05T17:40:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.6.0","date":"2025-11-14T16:13:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.5.0","date":"2025-10-30T04:02:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.4.0","date":"2025-10-13T15:09:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.3.0","date":"2025-09-19T19:01:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.2.0","date":"2025-09-12T14:59:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.1.0","date":"2025-08-29T17:22:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.0.1","date":"2025-08-26T17:18:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v2.0.0","date":"2025-08-19T15:27:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v1.15.0","date":"2025-07-18T14:34:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v1.14.0","date":"2025-07-04T16:37:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v1.13.0","date":"2025-06-27T15:19:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v1.12.0","date":"2025-06-20T15:49:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v1.11.0","date":"2025-06-13T15:03:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v1.10.0","date":"2025-06-03T19:37:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/releases/tag/v1.9.0","date":"2025-05-16T18:04:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.0"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 9 | - |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://curl.se/docs/security.html | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=conda&package_name=ca-certificates&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Ffirecrawl%2Ffirecrawl%2Fapps%2Fgo-sdk&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (API Development Tools)

| Capability | curl | firecrawl |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| REST client | ✓ | ✓ |
| GraphQL support | - | - |
| gRPC support | - | - |
| **Design** |  |  |
| Mock servers | - | - |
| **Testing** |  |  |
| Automated / contract testing | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Collaboration** |  |  |
| Team collaboration & sharing | - | ✓ |
| **Docs** |  |  |
| Doc generation | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OpenAPI / spec import | - | - |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| CI integration / CLI | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:48:37.088Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*