# Open Source vs Cloud (/contributing/open-source-or-cloud)

<!-- agent-signals: reading_time_min: 1 · est_tokens: 539 · updated: 2026-07-30 -->
Related: [Running Locally](/contributing/guide.md), [Self-hosting](/contributing/self-host.md), [Testing](/webhooks/testing.md)

Firecrawl is open source under the [AGPL-3.0 license](https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/blob/main/LICENSE). To deliver the best possible product, we also offer a hosted cloud version at [firecrawl.dev](https://firecrawl.dev) with additional features and managed infrastructure.

## Feature comparison [#feature-comparison]

The open-source version includes the core scraping and crawling engine. Firecrawl Cloud adds infrastructure-level capabilities, a management dashboard, and enterprise features on top of everything in the open-source edition.

![Firecrawl Cloud vs Open Source](/_assets/3d49d98b06dc91e829c9ea2410ad10aaddc0b8b7d7e2a133e061daaff6429895)

| Feature             | Open Source | Cloud |
| ------------------- | :---------: | :---: |
| Scrape              |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| Crawl               |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| Map                 |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| Search              |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| Batch scrape        |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| Extract             |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| JSON mode           |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| LLM-ready formats   |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| Change tracking     |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| SDKs                |      ✔      |   ✔   |
| Agent               |      ✘      |   ✔   |
| Browser sandbox     |      ✘      |   ✔   |
| Actions             |      ✘      |   ✔   |
| Enhanced proxies    |      ✘      |   ✔   |
| Proxy rotations     |      ✘      |   ✔   |
| Dashboard           |      ✘      |   ✔   |
| Enterprise features |      ✘      |   ✔   |

## Why both? [#why-both]

The cloud solution allows us to continuously innovate and maintain a high-quality, sustainable service for all users. Revenue from Firecrawl Cloud funds ongoing development of the open-source project.

* **Open source** — Run Firecrawl on your own infrastructure with full control over the core scraping engine. See [Running locally](/contributing/guide) and [Self-hosting](/contributing/self-host).
* **Cloud** — Get started immediately with a managed service that includes enhanced proxies, a usage dashboard, and enterprise features. Sign up at [firecrawl.dev](https://firecrawl.dev).
