PacketStreamCompare · AI web search and fetch
PacketStream vs. Firecrawl
PacketStream and Firecrawl both give AI agents web search and page reading as Markdown, through an API and a remote MCP server. PacketStream charges $0.0025 per successful search or page from a prepaid balance, with a $50 minimum purchase, no plan, and a balance that does not expire. Errors are not billed, with one rare documented exception, and every page is fetched live through PacketStream’s residential network. Firecrawl sells monthly credit plans, rolls unused credits over only on its Scale and Enterprise plans, and charges a credit for a page that returns an error such as 403 or 404.
Checked against each provider’s public pages on .
At a glance
| Feature | PacketStream | Firecrawl |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.0025 per successful search or page ($2.50 per 1,000) at any volume | Paid monthly credit plans from $19 a month for 5,000 credits, or $16 billed yearly |
| What a call costs | Each search costs the same as each page | 1 credit per page for a basic scrape, crawl, or map. Search costs 2 credits per 10 results. Some formats cost extra credits. |
| Billing model | Prepaid balance shared with proxy traffic. $50 minimum purchase. No subscription. | Monthly credits on a plan. Paid plans can add credits automatically in $5 increments. |
| Unused balance | Purchased balance does not expire | Plan credits roll over only on Scale (one month) and Enterprise. Credits you buy expire if you cancel the subscription. |
| Errors | Free, including the site’s own errors, timeouts, and rate limits, with one rare documented exception | A scrape that returns no result is not charged. A page with an error status such as 403 or 404 is returned and costs 1 credit. |
| How pages are fetched | Live, through PacketStream’s residential network. US exit unless you choose a country. | Not described on its pricing page |
How they differ
Pricing model. PacketStream bills each successful search or page at $0.0025 from a prepaid balance, with a $50 minimum purchase. Nothing renews, and purchased balance does not expire. Errors are not billed, with one rare exception where a charge goes through just before an internal error. Firecrawl sells monthly credit plans, and unused plan credits roll over only on its Scale and Enterprise plans.
What a fetch does. PacketStream’s Fetch API sends each request live through its residential network and returns the page’s main content as Markdown. You can choose the exit country, and failed pages are not billed.
Connecting agents. Both offer a remote MCP server. PacketStream’s MCP server takes an API key in a header, or a sign-in with your PacketStream account, and works in clients such as Claude, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, and VS Code. One key and one balance cover search, page reading, and residential proxies.
Why choose PacketStream
- Your usage is uneven, and you would rather not pay for a monthly plan. The $50 minimum purchase covers 20,000 successful calls, and purchased balance does not expire.
- You want failed fetches to be free, including pages that return 403, 404, or a rate limit.
- You want each fetch to go out live through residential IPs, with a choice of exit country on the API.
- You also buy residential proxy traffic and want one balance for proxies, search, and page reading.
Frequently asked questions
Am I charged for pages that fail?
No. PacketStream bills only successful searches and pages, so a site’s own errors, timeouts, and rate limits are free, with one rare documented exception: a 500 internal_error can follow a charge that went through just before the failure, so your account balance is authoritative. On October 10, 2026, Firecrawl’s pricing page said a page with an error status such as 403 or 404 costs 1 credit.
Do I need a monthly plan?
No. You add funds to a prepaid balance, with a $50 minimum purchase that covers 20,000 successful calls. Nothing renews, and purchased balance does not expire. The same balance also pays for PacketStream residential proxy traffic.
Which AI clients work with the PacketStream MCP server?
Any MCP client that can send a custom Authorization header. Claude custom connectors can sign in with your PacketStream account instead of a key. PacketStream publishes set-up guides for Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop through mcp-remote, and Claude custom connectors.
What does PacketStream store?
For billing and support, the Search and Fetch APIs record each request’s ID, outcome, latency, and charge. They do not store your search queries, the URLs you fetch, or the results.
Sources, checked 2026-10-10
Prices are as listed on the date shown and may have changed since. Firecrawl is a trademark of its owner, used here only to identify its products. PacketStream facts come from our pricing and documentation.
Give your agent Google search and page reading.
Also compare: SerpApi.