Locus product guide · Updated September 29, 2026

Firecrawl, Tavily and Apify alternatives for AI agents

Exa, Parallel and Diffbot are the main alternatives, and each tool fits a different job. Firecrawl turns pages into clean markdown. Tavily, Exa and Parallel return search results shaped for LLMs. Apify runs ready-made scrapers for specific sites. Locus Pro lets one agent call most of these per call from one balance, with no plan or keys.

Which scraping or search API fits which job?

Pick by output. Use a scraper when you have the URL and need its content. Use a search API when the agent must find the pages first. Use Apify when a site needs a purpose-built scraper. Prices below come from each vendor’s pricing page on September 29, 2026.

Which scraping or search API fits which job?
Tool	Best at	Pricing model
Firecrawl	Scrape, crawl and map sites into markdown or JSON. Also web search.	Monthly credits. Free plan has 1,000. Hobby is $16 a month billed yearly for 5,000. 1 credit per page, 2 credits per 10 search results. Credits roll over only on Scale.
Tavily	Search, extract, map and crawl built for LLM agents	1,000 free credits a month, then $0.008 per credit. Basic search is 1 credit and advanced is 2. Basic extract is 1 credit per 5 URLs.
Apify	Ready-made scrapers, called Actors, for specific sites and tasks	Free plan includes $5 of usage a month. Paid plans are $19, $199 and $999. Compute runs $0.20 to $0.13 per unit. Store Actors bill per event or per usage.
Exa	Search over its own web index, plus page contents	$7 per 1,000 searches in fast or auto mode, $4 in instant mode. Contents are $1 per 1,000 pages. $10 of free credit.
Parallel	Search with LLM-ready excerpts, plus extraction	Search is $1 per 1,000 in turbo or fast mode and $5 in basic or advanced. Extract is $1 per 1,000. $5 of free credit a month.

How does Locus Pro expose these tools per call?

Each provider is a separate endpoint with its own price. Your agent pays from one prepaid balance and sees the price before the call. 1,000 credits equal $1. The table shows Locus catalog prices on September 29, 2026.

Crawls, batch scrapes and multi-URL extracts are variable. Ask for a quote first. Exa runs on a live-priced rail, so its price is set at call time.

How does Locus Pro expose these tools per call?
Locus endpoint	Credits per call	USD per call
Firecrawl scrape, one URL	3.83	$0.0038
Firecrawl search	4.7	$0.0047
Parallel extract, one URL	4	$0.004
Parallel search, default mode	8	$0.008
Diffbot article, product or page analysis	4.2	$0.0042
Tavily search, basic depth	90	$0.09
Tavily extract, one URL	110	$0.11
Tavily map	90	$0.09

Is it cheaper to buy these tools directly?

At volume, yes. A Firecrawl scrape through Locus costs $0.0038, close to the $0.0032 per credit on Firecrawl’s Hobby plan. Parallel search costs $0.008 through Locus against $0.005 direct.

Tavily shows the biggest gap. A basic search costs $0.09 through Locus and $0.008 on Tavily’s pay-as-you-go plan. If your agent runs Tavily all day, buy it direct.

Locus pays off when one agent mixes several tools at modest volume. You skip five accounts, five keys and five monthly plans. You also get one set of spending caps across all of them.

What if I need Apify or a hosted browser?

Use Apify directly. Apify and Browserbase are not in the Locus catalog today. Apify’s Actors cover site-specific jobs that a general scraper does not handle well.

You can still run both side by side. Keep Apify for those jobs and use Locus for search, extraction and enrichment.

How should an agent choose between them?

Match the tool to the first thing the agent knows.

Has a URL, needs clean text: Firecrawl scrape, Parallel extract or Diffbot.
Needs a whole site: Firecrawl crawl or map, or Tavily crawl.
Has a question, needs sources: Tavily, Exa or Parallel search.
Needs one site scraped deeply, such as a marketplace or social network: an Apify Actor.
Needs several of these in one run without new accounts: Locus Pro.

Frequently asked questions

Is Firecrawl or Tavily better for AI agents?

They overlap but lead with different jobs. Firecrawl is strongest at turning known pages and sites into clean content. Tavily is strongest at search with answers. Many agents use one of each.

Can I use Firecrawl without a subscription?

Yes. Firecrawl’s Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month. Through Locus Pro, a scrape costs $0.0038 from prepaid credits with no Firecrawl account.

Do unused scraping credits roll over?

It depends on the vendor. Firecrawl credits roll over only on the Scale plan. Locus Pro’s Free plan has no subscription. You top up a prepaid balance and spend it per call.

How do I give my agent these tools through Locus?

Tell your agent: Install Locus Pro by following https://paywithlocus.com/SKILL.md. It connects through the hosted MCP server, the CLI or the API.

Implementation references

Use these first-party references for current request contracts and account requirements. Tool availability, prices, and negotiated terms can change.

Sources

Third-party details were checked on September 29, 2026. Vendors change pricing and features often, so confirm on their site before you decide.