Is Crawl4AI free? License, pricing and real costs
Yes – the Crawl4AI library is open source under the Apache 2.0 license and free to use, also commercially. Costs only appear for the infrastructure you run it on, optional proxies and LLM calls, or if you choose the official paid cloud service.
Updated 6 Nov 2026
The license: Apache 2.0
Crawl4AI’s repository (unclecode/crawl4ai) is published under the Apache License 2.0. In short, it allows you to:
- use the software for free, privately and commercially,
- modify it and ship it inside your own products,
- distribute it, as long as you keep the license text and copyright notices.
Read the LICENSE file and README in the repository for the current terms – projects sometimes add attribution requests, and the file in the repository is what counts.
What it actually costs to run
| Item | Needed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Crawl4AI library / Docker image | Yes | Free |
| Server or computer | Yes | Headless Chromium needs RAM; plan about 1–2 GB per parallel browser |
| Proxies | Optional | Only for sites that block data-center IPs |
| LLM API | Optional | Only for LLM extraction or LLM filters; local models via Ollama cost nothing per call |
| Official Crawl4AI cloud | Optional | Paid, usage-based hosted API with sign-up; see the official site for current prices |
Is this online tool free?
Yes. Crawl4AI Online converts up to 10 pages per hour for free, without an account. For larger jobs, run Crawl4AI yourself – each result includes the script.
Crawl4AI pricing FAQ
Can I use Crawl4AI commercially?
Yes. Apache 2.0 permits commercial use, modification and distribution, as long as you keep the license and notices.
Does Crawl4AI need an API key?
No. The open-source library and Docker image run without any key. Only LLM features need a key from your LLM provider, and the official cloud service uses its own API key.
Is Crawl4AI open source?
Yes, the full source code is on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license.
More Crawl4AI guides
Crawl4AI Python tutorialpip install, AsyncWebCrawler, fit Markdown, LLM extraction.Crawl4AI MCP serverGive Claude and Cursor live web access with the Docker MCP endpoint.Crawl4AI DockerOne command, playground, /crawl and /md endpoints.Crawl4AI vs FirecrawlLicense, hosting, cost model and the right pick for your use case.Crawl4AI with n8nHTTP Request node + Docker: Markdown in any workflow.Crawl4AI alternativesFirecrawl, Jina Reader, ScrapeGraphAI, Scrapy and more.