Comparison
Web pages as markdown: Frameskim vs Firecrawl and Jina Reader
All three turn web pages into markdown for an LLM. Firecrawl sells monthly credit plans, Jina Reader is free for basic use with a URL prefix, and Frameskim’s two actors on Apify, Web Search & Page Markdown and Website to Markdown Crawler, charge per page delivered.
Short version. Use Jina Reader to read a page right now, with no account. Use Firecrawl if you also need screenshots, HTML or structured JSON, or a steady monthly volume. Use Frameskim to pay only for the pages you get, with no subscription, inside your Apify account.
Side by side
| Firecrawl | Jina Reader | Frameskim | |
|---|---|---|---|
| One page as markdown | Scrape endpoint, 1 credit per page. | Put r.jina.ai/ in front of the URL. | Web Search & Page Markdown with your URLs: up to 50 per run, $0.004 per page. |
| Web search | Search endpoint, 2 credits per 10 results. | s.jina.ai: the top 5 results with their content, from 10,000 tokens per request. | The top 1 to 10 result pages per query as markdown: $0.005 per search and $0.004 per page, plus Apify’s Google search run, billed apart. |
| A whole site | Crawl endpoint, 1 credit per crawled page, and a map endpoint. | A URL (r.jina.ai) or a search (s.jina.ai). | Website to Markdown Crawler: up to 500 pages under a start URL, $0.002 per page. |
| Output | Markdown, HTML, screenshots or structured JSON. | The main content as markdown. | The main content as markdown, one item per page, with its URL and title. |
| Free use | 1,000 credits a month, no card. | Free for basic use without a key. Each new key comes with 10M free tokens. | No free quota of its own. Failed, blocked and empty pages are not charged. |
| Paid use | Hobby: $19 a month ($16 billed yearly) for 5,000 credits, then larger plans. | A key raises the rate limit and charges tokens by content length. | Pay per event on Apify, no subscription, never above the maximum you set. |
| Source code | Open source, AGPL-3.0 (SDKs under MIT). | Open source, Apache-2.0. | Closed source, runs on Apify. |
Frameskim fetches pages over HTTP without running JavaScript and respects robots.txt: a page that only renders in a browser may come back without text, and is not charged.
The cost math
For 1,000 pages a month, Firecrawl’s free plan covers them, and Website to Markdown Crawler costs $2.00. Above the free credits, Firecrawl’s Hobby plan covers 5,000 pages for $19 a month. Jina Reader charges tokens by page length, and its Reader page lists no dollar price.
Firecrawl: credits per month
| Plan | Pages a month | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1,000 | $0 |
| Hobby | 5,000 | $19 |
At 1 credit per scraped or crawled page. Options that use more credits are on its pricing page.
Frameskim: per page delivered
| Actor | Per page | 1,000 pages |
|---|---|---|
| Website to Markdown Crawler | $0.002 | $2.00 |
| Web Search & Page Markdown, your URLs | $0.004 | $4.00 |
With a search, add $0.005 per query with results and Apify’s search run, billed apart.
Who should use which
Use Firecrawl if
- You need screenshots, HTML or structured JSON as well as markdown.
- Your volume is steady, and a monthly plan fits it.
- You want to read or run the code yourself (AGPL-3.0).
Use Jina Reader if
- You want one page as markdown now, with no account: put
r.jina.ai/in front of the URL. - Your use is light and fits its free tier.
Use Frameskim if
- You want to pay per page delivered, with no subscription and nothing charged for failed pages.
- You want one call that searches and reads the top pages, or a crawl of one docs folder.
- You already run actors on Apify, or call tools over MCP.
Web Search & Page Markdown Website to Markdown Crawler
Pay per event on Apify. No subscription. More about Web Search & Page Markdown and Website to Markdown.