Perplexity Search API vs Firecrawl Search for AI agents
Perplexity Search API is raw ranked web results from Perplexity's own index (Search API), plus Sonar models that return cited AI answers. Firecrawl Search is a web scraping platform whose search endpoint returns web results and can scrape each result to Markdown in the same call.
The short answer
- Perplexity Search API: Fresh, ranked web snippets from a large independent index, or a cited answer when you want one.
- Firecrawl Search: Search plus full-page scraping to clean Markdown in one request.
Side by side
| Perplexity Search API | Firecrawl Search | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Perplexity's own web index, which it says covers hundreds of billions of webpages. | The web, news and images (the provider does not name the underlying engine). |
| Returns | Search API: JSON results with title, URL, ranked snippet text and date. Sonar: an LLM answer with citations. | Title, URL and description per result; optionally full-page Markdown, HTML, links or screenshots for each result. |
| Before the first call | An account and an API key from the API console; pay-as-you-go, no subscription. | No key to get started (low limits); an account and API key for normal use. |
| Free | Not stated on its pages | 1,000 credits a month, no card (about 500 searches at 2 credits per 10 results). |
| Paid | Search API $5 per 1,000 requests ($1 per 1,000 with Fast Search), no token costs; Sonar models are priced per token plus a per-request fee. | 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 | Through the web page each result links to |
| Limits on keeping or showing results | Output may be displayed only within your own applications; rights are non-sublicensable and non-transferable. | Not stated on its pages |
| AI in its terms | Perplexity says it will not use customer content to train or fine-tune generative AI models. | Not stated on its pages |
| MCP server | Official MCP server: https://github.com/perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol (npm @perplexity-ai/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 Perplexity Search API?
An account and an API key from the API console; pay-as-you-go, no subscription.
Is Perplexity Search API free?
Its pages listed no free use when we read them on October 15, 2026.
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.
Perplexity Search API, read on October 15, 2026:
- docs.perplexity.ai/getting-started/pricing: “The Search API charges per successful request, including a successful request with multiple queries, with no token costs.”
- docs.perplexity.ai/getting-started/pricing: “Total cost per query = token costs + a per-request fee (Sonar, Sonar Pro, and Sonar Reasoning Pro)”
- docs.perplexity.ai/getting-started/quickstart: “Pay-as-you-go pricing for all APIs. No subscription required.”
- perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-the-perplexity-search-api: “With an index covering hundreds of billions of webpages”
- docs.perplexity.ai/guides/search-quickstart: “real-time, ranked web results as structured data”
- perplexity.ai/hub/legal/perplexity-api-terms-of-service: “display such Output, in each case, solely within the Customer Applications”
- perplexity.ai/hub/legal/perplexity-api-terms-of-service: “Perplexity shall not use (or authorize third parties to use) Customer Content to train, retrain, fine-tune”
- docs.perplexity.ai/guides/mcp-server: “https://github.com/perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol”
- docs.perplexity.ai/getting-started/pricing: “Search API $5.00 Raw web search results with advanced filtering”
- docs.perplexity.ai/getting-started/pricing: “Search API with Fast Search $1”
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”