Firecrawl Search vs Bing Search API for AI agents
Firecrawl Search is a web scraping platform whose search endpoint returns web results and can scrape each result to Markdown in the same call. Microsoft's Bing Search APIs were retired on August 11, 2025 and are no longer available.
The short answer
- Firecrawl Search: Search plus full-page scraping to clean Markdown in one request.
- Bing Search API: Nothing for new projects: it is retired; Microsoft points customers to Grounding with Bing Search inside Azure AI Agents.
Side by side
| Firecrawl Search | Bing Search API | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | The web, news and images (the provider does not name the underlying engine). | – |
| Returns | Title, URL and description per result; optionally full-page Markdown, HTML, links or screenshots for each result. | – |
| Before the first call | No key to get started (low limits); an account and API key for normal use. | – |
| Free | 1,000 credits a month, no card (about 500 searches at 2 credits per 10 results). | – |
| Paid | Hobby $19/month (or $16/month billed yearly) for 5,000 credits, about 2,500 searches. | – |
| Acting on a result | Through the web page each result links to | – |
| MCP server | Official MCP server: https://mcp.firecrawl.dev/v2/mcp (OAuth: https://mcp.firecrawl.dev/v2/mcp-oauth) | – |
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Firecrawl Search?
No key to get started (low limits); an account and API key for normal use.
Is Firecrawl Search free?
1,000 credits a month, no card (about 500 searches at 2 credits per 10 results).
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
Firecrawl Search, read on October 15, 2026:
- firecrawl.dev/pricing: “1,000 credits / month”
- firecrawl.dev/pricing: “No cost, no card, no hassle.”
- firecrawl.dev/pricing: “500 searches or 1,000 pages scraped”
- firecrawl.dev/pricing: “Hobby: $19/month billed monthly, or $16/month billed annually, for 5,000 credits per month”
- firecrawl.dev/pricing: “Search costs 2 credits per 10 results.”
- docs.firecrawl.dev/features/search: “No API key needed to get started.”
- docs.firecrawl.dev/features/search: “full-page markdown, HTML, links, or screenshots for each result”
- docs.firecrawl.dev/mcp-server: “https://mcp.firecrawl.dev/v2/mcp-oauth”
Bing Search API, read on October 15, 2026:
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement: “Bing Search APIs will be retired on August 11, 2025.”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement: “the product will no longer be available to be used or new customer signup.”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/bing-search-api-retirement: “Customers are encouraged to migrate to Grounding with Bing Search as part of Azure AI Agents.”