Firecrawl vs Maxun
Short answer
Firecrawl: API that turns websites into clean Markdown or structured data for LLMs. Maxun: No-code web data platform that records browser actions or uses AI to turn websites into structured data and APIs. Both are in our Web scraping for AI category.
Choose Firecrawl if you want: larger community (198k vs 18.1k GitHub stars).
Firecrawl and Maxun publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Last updated · computed from each project's official docs and live GitHub data · sources
Firecrawl vs Maxun side by side
| Firecrawl | Maxun | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Web scraping for AI | Web scraping for AI |
| What it is | API that turns websites into clean Markdown or structured data for LLMs. | No-code web data platform that records browser actions or uses AI to turn websites into structured data and APIs. |
| License | AGPL-3.0 (SDKs and some UI components MIT) | AGPL-3.0 |
| License type | Network copyleft (AGPL) | Network copyleft (AGPL) |
| License conditions | Free for internal and commercial use. If you modify Firecrawl and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source under AGPL-3.0. The SDKs are MIT. | Free to use internally, including commercially. If you modify it and let users outside your organisation use it over a network, you must publish your changes under AGPL-3.0. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 198k | 18.1k |
| Last commit | Nov 3, 2026 | Oct 28, 2026 |
| Latest release | v2.11.0 | v0.1.0 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | Not published |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | Not required / not stated | Not required / not stated |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker Compose (build from source) | Docker Compose |
| Known gotchas | 3 listed | 3 listed |
| Telemetry | Off by default (opt-in) | On by default |
| Calls home by default | Not documented | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not documented | Not documented |
| Audit log | Not documented | Not documented |
| RBAC | Not documented | No |
| Details | Full Firecrawl guide → | Full Maxun guide → |
Key differences
- License: Firecrawl: AGPL-3.0 (SDKs and some UI components MIT) (Network copyleft (AGPL)). Maxun: AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)).
- Deploy: Firecrawl: Docker Compose (build from source) · multi-container stack. Maxun: Docker Compose · multi-container stack.
- GitHub stars: Firecrawl: 198k. Maxun: 18.1k.
- Last commit: Firecrawl: Nov 3, 2026. Maxun: Oct 28, 2026.
- Latest release: Firecrawl: v2.11.0 (Jun 19, 2026). Maxun: v0.1.0 (Oct 25, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Web scraping for AI; Official hardware: not published; GPU: not required or not stated; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure); Status: Active.
Firecrawl vs Maxun: FAQ
Firecrawl or Maxun: which should a small business choose?
Choose Firecrawl if you want: larger community (198k vs 18.1k GitHub stars). Firecrawl and Maxun publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, Firecrawl or Maxun?
Firecrawl: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Maxun: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Our estimate is the cheapest Hetzner Cloud plan that meets each project's official RAM and vCPU figure; it covers the server only.
How much hardware do Firecrawl and Maxun need?
Firecrawl: not published. Maxun: not published.
What is the license difference between Firecrawl and Maxun?
Firecrawl: AGPL-3.0 (SDKs and some UI components MIT) (Network copyleft (AGPL)). Free for internal and commercial use. If you modify Firecrawl and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source under AGPL-3.0. The SDKs are MIT. Maxun: AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)). Free to use internally, including commercially. If you modify it and let users outside your organisation use it over a network, you must publish your changes under AGPL-3.0. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is Firecrawl or Maxun more actively maintained?
Firecrawl: Active, last commit Nov 3, 2026. Maxun: Active, last commit Oct 28, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Nov 4, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, Firecrawl or Maxun?
Firecrawl installs via Docker Compose (build from source) (multi-container stack); Maxun via Docker Compose (multi-container stack). Firecrawl lists 3 known gotchas and Maxun lists 3; see each app page.
Related
Sources
- Firecrawl GitHub repository: github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl
- Firecrawl documentation, Firecrawl hardware requirements, Firecrawl deploy instructions: docs.firecrawl.dev/contributing/self-host
- Firecrawl license: github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/blob/main/LICENSE
- Maxun GitHub repository: github.com/getmaxun/maxun
- Maxun documentation: docs.maxun.dev/self-host
- Maxun license: github.com/getmaxun/maxun/blob/develop/LICENSE
- Maxun hardware requirements: github.com/getmaxun/maxun/blob/develop/docker-compose.yml
- Maxun deploy instructions: docs.maxun.dev/installation/docker
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-11-01): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub REST API (stars, commits, releases): docs.github.com/en/rest
Every value is generated from the same verified data as the app pages. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.