apify-mcp-server
★ 12.6k
vs
crw
★ 1.2k
apify-mcp-server vs crw
apify-mcp-server: The Apify Model Context Protocol (MCP) server enables AI agents to extract data from various websites using thousands of ready-made scrapers and automation tools from the Apify Store. It also supports OAuth for easy connection from clients like Claude.ai or Visual Studio Code using just a URL.; crw: fastCRW is a high-performance engine designed to transform URLs into clean markdown or structured JSON. It provides a unified solution for web searching, scraping, mapping, crawling, and data extraction, available as a local Rust binary or a managed API.
01
TL;DR
apify-mcp-serverBrowser Automation · ★ 12.6k
When to choose:
- You want AI agents to invoke thousands of battle-tested cloud scrapers from the Apify Store (social media, Google Maps, Amazon, real estate).
- You want serverless data extraction with managed proxy pools and anti-bot bypass without maintaining local browser clusters.
When to skip:
- You are scraping simple static sites without anti-bot blocks where free local libraries (Scrapling, Crawl4AI) are more cost-effective.
- Strict data compliance prevents sending scraping target URLs and credentials through external third-party cloud infrastructure.
crwBrowser Automation · ★ 1.2k
Converting web pages into structured data (markdown/JSON) for further processing or storage.
02
Side-by-Side Comparison
Field
apify-mcp-servercrwCategory
Browser Automation
Browser Automation
Stars
★ 12.6k
★ 1.2k
License
MIT
AGPL-3.0
Install Command
npx @apify/actors-mcp-server
curl -fsSL https://fastcrw.com/install | sh
Updated
1d ago
2d ago
Open Source
Yes
Yes
Tags
AI Agents, Data Extraction, Web Scraping
Web Scraping, Data Extraction, Content Transformation
03
Features
apify-mcp-server01Integrate any Apify Actor as an AI agent tool.
02Support for OAuth and API token authentication.
03Enable agentic payments via Skyfire integration.
04Dynamic discovery of Apify Actors and helper tools.
05Offers both a hosted HTTPS endpoint and local standard I/O server options.
crw01Scrape one URL to markdown, HTML, links, screenshots, or schema JSON
02Crawl a bounded site and collect its pages
03Map and discover URLs without scraping every page
04Search the web and optionally scrape selected results
05Extract structured fields from one or many URLs
04
Use Cases
apify-mcp-server↳Extracting data from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
↳Scraping contact details from Google Maps listings.
↳Collecting results from Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
↳Performing web searches and extracting content from top URLs for RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation).
↳Automating data collection from e-commerce sites and other websites.
crw↳Converting web pages into structured data (markdown/JSON) for further processing or storage.
↳Building AI agents that require real-time and structured information from the web.
↳Collecting data for market research, competitive analysis, or content aggregation.
↳Monitoring website changes or tracking specific data points across multiple pages.
↳Integrating web data extraction capabilities into custom applications via SDKs or REST API.
05
Best For
apify-mcp-serverMost Popular
crwEssentialTrending
FAQ
FAQ
What is the difference between apify-mcp-server and crw?
Both apify-mcp-server and crw are in the Browser Automation category. apify-mcp-server has 12.6k stars, while crw has 1.2k stars.
Which is better, apify-mcp-server or crw?
The best choice depends on your use case. Choose apify-mcp-server if Extracting data from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram., and crw if Converting web pages into structured data (markdown/JSON) for further processing or storage..
Is apify-mcp-server free or open source?
Yes, apify-mcp-server is open source on GitHub (MIT).
Is crw free or open source?
Yes, crw is open source on GitHub (AGPL-3.0).
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