Firecrawl MCP servers: which one to use
Use Firecrawl's own MCP server, hosted with sign-in or local with an API key. Cursor and Zed users can also pick a ready-made plugin or extension.
- Servers
- 10
- active
- Official
- 3
- by Firecrawl
- Hosted
- 3
- nothing to install
- Local
- 4
- runs on your machine
Firecrawl makes its own MCP server, and it is the one most people should use. It lets an assistant search the web, scrape pages, map and crawl sites, and watch pages for changes. You can try it with no account on the hosted free tier, which covers scrape, search and parse with rate limits. Crawl, map and agent tools need an API key or a Firecrawl sign-in, and the full local server lists 27 tools.
Good for
- Developers who want Claude Code or Cursor to search the web and read pages as clean Markdown
- Researchers who need cited, multi-source answers from live web pages
- Teams running a self-hosted Firecrawl who need the server to point at their own instance
- Zed users who want a one-click extension
Which Firecrawl MCP server to use
Use the official Firecrawl server unless you work in Cursor or Zed. Cursor users can add the official plugin for browser sign-in, and Zed users can install the extension.
| Server | Official | Runs | Sign-in | Tools | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firecrawl MCP Server | Yes | Hostedlocal | API key or OAuth | 27 | 7.7K |
| Firecrawl Cursor plugin | Yes | Hosted | Account | – | 22 |
| Firecrawl for Zed | No | Local | API key | – | 9 |
| MCP Armory | No | Local | API key | 19 | – |
| Pipeworx | No | Hosted | – | 3 | 1 |
All Firecrawl MCP servers
10 active · 3 official · official first, then by GitHub stars
Firecrawl MCP ServerOfficialHosted or LocalAPI keyFirecrawl, the context API for AI agents: search, scrape, interact with the web, plus paper search.
7.7K GitHub stars
firecrawl-mcp-serverOfficialLocalAPI keyOfficial Firecrawl MCP server, the context API for AI agents: search, scrape, and interact with the web, plus parse, crawl, map, Agent and Monitor, from any MCP client.
7.7K GitHub stars
firecrawl-cursor-pluginOfficialFirecrawl plugin for Cursor: the context API for AI agents. Hosted MCP server and skills to search, scrape, and interact with the web, plus parse, crawl, map, Agent and Monitor.
22 GitHub stars- mcparmory-firecrawlLocal
Scrape, crawl, and extract structured data from websites at scale
32 GitHub stars - firecrawl-mcp-zed
Firecrawl MCP Server for Zed
9 GitHub stars - firecrawl-mcp-multiple-keys
A Firecrawl MCP server that rotates multiple API keys for higher throughput and reliability.
3 GitHub stars - firecrawl-power-app
Powerful web UI for Firecrawl API + MCP Server docs. Scrape, Crawl, Map, Search, Extract & AI Agent. Built with React 18 + Vite + Claude Code.
3 GitHub stars 
FirecrawlHosted or LocalFirecrawl MCP — wraps the Firecrawl API (firecrawl.dev) for web scraping / crawling / search…
1 GitHub stars- firecrawl-simple-mcp
MCP server for Firecrawl Simple — a web scraping and site mapping tool enabling LLMs to access and process web content
1 GitHub stars - Firecrawl Alternative Stealth MCPHosted
WAF-bypass web scraper and passive URL mapper for AI agents with zero pay-on-fail.
Questions
Is there an official Firecrawl MCP server?
Yes. Firecrawl publishes firecrawl-mcp-server and runs a hosted version at https://mcp.firecrawl.dev/v2/mcp. It also publishes a Cursor plugin that connects to the hosted server.
Is the Firecrawl MCP server free?
Partly. The hosted keyless free tier lets you use scrape, search and parse without an API key, with rate limits. Tools such as crawl, map and agent still need a key, and you pay Firecrawl for the credits they use.
Do I need an API key?
Only for the full tool set. The hosted server works without a key for scrape, search and parse. For everything else, use an API key, or sign in with OAuth at https://mcp.firecrawl.dev/v2/mcp-oauth, which the README prefers whenever you can sign up.
Does it work in Claude and Cursor?
Yes. The README has setup sections for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf and VS Code. Cursor also has an official plugin that signs you in with your Firecrawl account instead of an API key.
Can I use it with a self-hosted Firecrawl?
Yes. Set FIRECRAWL_API_URL to your own instance, and the API key becomes optional. The Zed extension has the same optional URL setting.
Hosted or local: which should I pick?
Pick hosted if you want nothing to install. Pick local when you need to point at a self-hosted Firecrawl or run the server in Docker. The README also documents a local HTTP mode.
How many tools does the official server have?
27 in the full profile with default settings. The keyless hosted endpoint exposes only 3, and a separate search-only endpoint exposes 9.
Why use a community server instead?
The community options cover a narrower slice. Pipeworx lists three Firecrawl tools inside a general gateway and MCP Armory lists 19, against 27 in the official server. Pipeworx says it is unofficial, and MCP Armory generates its servers from the API spec.