Can Crawleo replace Tavily for my AI agent?

Yes. Crawleo's Search API returns clean, AI-ready results like Tavily, but at up to 5x lower cost at scale ($100 vs $500 for 100K searches). Tavily has its own strengths - AI-ranked results, domain include/exclude filters, and country-based boosting. Crawleo offers full device targeting and a built-in Crawl API so you don't need a second tool.

What is MCP and why does it matter?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot use Crawleo's search and crawl tools directly. Instead of writing API calls, your AI assistant just calls search_web or crawl_web as native tools - making it effortless to add live web data to any AI workflow.

How does the credit system work?

Search costs 10 credits per page of results. Crawling costs 1 credit per page (no proxy), 2 with standard proxy, or 10 with premium proxy. The Free plan gives you 500 credits/month - that's 50 searches or 500 crawls.

Does Crawleo support JavaScript rendering?

Yes. The Crawl API renders JavaScript-heavy pages automatically. You can also use proxies (standard or premium) for geo-restricted or bot-protected sites.

Is there really zero data retention?

Yes - on every plan, including Free. Crawleo never stores your queries or crawled content. No selling data, no training models on your data. This is a core architectural decision, not an enterprise upsell. Some competitors offer zero-retention modes (Firecrawl on Enterprise, SerpAPI via ZeroTrace), but Crawleo is one of the few that includes it by default on all plans.

Search API comparison

The most affordable search API for AI

Real-time web search with geo, language, and device targeting, plus a native MCP server. Compared, side by side, with Firecrawl, Tavily, SerpAPI, and Perplexity.

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Free credits / month

$0×

for 100K searches

endpoints, one API

Feature comparison

How Crawleo compares

Feature	Crawleo	Firecrawl	Tavily	SerpAPI	Exa	Perplexity
Free tier	500 credits/mo	1,000 credits/mo	1,000 credits/mo	250 searches/mo	1,000 requests/mo	No API free tier
Cost per 10K searches	$20	~$83	~$80	~$150	~$70	~$50
Cost per 100K searches	$100	~$333	$500	$725	~$700	$500
Search + crawl in one API
MCP server						Community
Geo targeting
Language targeting
Device targeting	Desktop, Mobile, Tablet			Desktop, Mobile, Tablet
Output formats	Markdown, HTML, Enhanced HTML	Markdown, JSON, HTML, Screenshots	Markdown, text, AI answers	JSON SERP	JSON, highlights, content	Structured results
Zero data retention	All plans (default)	Enterprise only	ToS permits training	Enterprise (ZeroTrace)	Optional, all products	Enterprise config only
LangChain integration

Verified May 2026. Crawleo prices are plan-based; competitor figures are examples from each provider's published pricing and vary by plan and endpoint. Check the linked pricing pages for current rates.

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Head to head

Crawleo vs the alternatives

Honest strengths on both sides, so you can pick what fits your use case.

Crawleo vs

Firecrawl

Crawleo's edge

Lower cost for search at scale
Desktop, mobile, and tablet targeting
Search and crawl in one API

Where Firecrawl is strong

JSON-schema structured extraction
Batch API with webhooks
Open-source self-hosting

Pick Crawleo for cost-effective search at scale. Pick Firecrawl if you need schema-based extraction or self-hosting.

Crawleo vs

Tavily

Crawleo's edge

$100 vs $500 for 100K searches
Full device targeting
Built-in Crawl API - no second tool

Where Tavily is strong

AI-ranked results with relevance scores
Domain include / exclude filters
Multiple search depths

Pick Crawleo for production search at scale with device and geo control. Pick Tavily for AI-ranked results and domain filtering.

Crawleo vs

SerpAPI

Crawleo's edge

Lower cost at scale
Includes crawling, not just SERP data
AI-ready Markdown output

Where SerpAPI is strong

Broad, mature SERP feature coverage
Structured SERP JSON
Multi-engine support

Pick Crawleo for AI and RAG pipelines that need search plus content. Pick SerpAPI for SEO analytics and SERP monitoring.

Crawleo vs

Perplexity Sonar

Crawleo's edge

Simple, predictable credit pricing
Raw content, not just summaries
Multiple output formats

Where Perplexity Sonar is strong

Built-in LLM summarization
Cited answers in one call
Large context window

Pick Crawleo when you need raw data for your own LLM pipeline. Pick Perplexity for pre-summarized answer engines.

Why Crawleo

Built for AI search from day one

Low cost at scale

500 free credits a month, then predictable subscription pricing. No surprise bills.

Private by default

We don't train AI on your data, and we don't sell it - on every plan, not just Enterprise.

Geo, language, device

Target results by country, language, and device. See exactly what users see, anywhere.

Search and crawl in one

One vendor, one API key. Search the web, then crawl results for full content.

Native MCP server

Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and Copilot call Crawleo directly - no boilerplate.

LLM-ready output

Markdown, enhanced HTML, or raw HTML - built to cut tokens in your RAG pipeline.

Native MCP, included

Crawleo is a first-class MCP server - your AI assistant calls search and crawl directly. Works with Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI, and any MCP client.

MCP setup

Testimonials

What early users say

“After trying several crawling APIs, I can say Crawleo was one of the best solutions I've used. The performance is fast, the API is stable, and it's easy to integrate. The pricing is very reasonable for the value, and the support is responsive and flexible.”

AAli Hassavia LinkedIn

“Very solid idea and well-built. To take it further, explore handling large PDFs and other content types - that could position you as a specialist in efficient knowledge bases.”

MMuhamed Essamvia LinkedIn

“Great service that will compete strongly in the market.”

AAbu Baker Solmanvia LinkedIn

“Really appreciate the support, Ahmed. The Crawleo access made it much easier to experiment and push this workflow further - it genuinely helped me learn faster.”

OOmkar Sawantvia LinkedIn

FAQ

Questions, answered

Both offer search APIs with geo and language targeting. Crawleo is more cost-effective for search-heavy workloads and adds device targeting (desktop, mobile, tablet). Firecrawl has stronger extraction features like JSON schemas and an open-source self-hosting option.

Start searching with 500 free credits

No card required. Set up your first search in a couple of minutes.

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Feature

Crawleo

Free tier

500 credits/mo

1,000 credits/mo

250 searches/mo

1,000 requests/mo

No API free tier

Cost per 10K searches

$20

~$83

~$80

~$150

~$70

~$50

Cost per 100K searches

$100

~$333

$500

$725

~$700

$500

Search + crawl in one API

MCP server

Community

Geo targeting

Language targeting

Device targeting

Desktop, Mobile, Tablet

Output formats

Markdown, HTML, Enhanced HTML

Markdown, JSON, HTML, Screenshots

Markdown, text, AI answers

JSON SERP

JSON, highlights, content

Structured results

Zero data retention

All plans (default)

Enterprise only

ToS permits training

Enterprise (ZeroTrace)

Optional, all products

Enterprise config only

LangChain integration