Guide

Migration

Firecrawl Migration Guide

Migrate from Firecrawl to AlterLab with minimal code changes. Our compatibility endpoint accepts Firecrawl-format requests and returns Firecrawl-format responses.

Quick Start

Near Drop-in Replacement

Change the base URL and API key - that's it! Your existing Firecrawl integration will work with AlterLab's compatibility endpoint.

Before (Firecrawl)

curl -X POST https://api.firecrawl.dev/v0/scrape \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer fc-xxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com", "formats": ["markdown"]}'

After (AlterLab)

curl -X POST https://api.alterlab.io/api/v0/scrape \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_xxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com", "formats": ["markdown"]}'

What Changes

Base URL

api.firecrawl.dev→api.alterlab.io

Endpoint

/v0/scrape→/api/v0/scrape

API key

fc-xxx→sk_live_xxx

What Stays the Same

Request body format
Response structure
Auth header format (Bearer token)
Error response format

Compatibility Mapping

Firecrawl Feature	AlterLab Support	Notes
`formats: ["markdown"]`	Supported	Returns clean markdown
`formats: ["html"]`	Supported	Processed HTML
`formats: ["rawHtml"]`	Supported	Original HTML
`formats: ["links"]`	Supported	Extracted hrefs from page
`formats: ["screenshot"]`	Partial	Requires JS rendering mode
`waitFor`	Supported	Milliseconds delay
`timeout`	Supported	Milliseconds (auto-converted)
`proxy: "stealth"`	Supported	Maps to JS rendering mode
`extract`	Supported	Structured data extraction
`onlyMainContent`	Supported	Default behavior in AlterLab

Authentication

The compatibility endpoint supports both Firecrawl-style and AlterLab-style authentication:

Firecrawl Style (Bearer)

Authorization: Bearer sk_live_xxx

AlterLab Style (X-API-Key)

X-API-Key: sk_live_xxx

Use Either Auth Method

Both authentication methods work with the compatibility endpoint. Use whichever is more convenient for your existing codebase.

Request Format

POST

/api/v0/scrape

Firecrawl-compatible scrape endpoint. Accepts Firecrawl request format, returns Firecrawl response format.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
url	`string`	Required	The URL to scrape
formats	`array`	Optional	Output formats: markdown, html, rawHtml, links, screenshot, extractDefault: `["markdown"]`
onlyMainContent	`boolean`	Optional	Only return main content (default behavior)Default: `true`
waitFor	`integer`	Optional	Wait time in milliseconds before fetchingDefault: `0`
timeout	`integer`	Optional	Timeout in millisecondsDefault: `30000`
proxy	`string`	Optional	Proxy mode: basic, stealth, auto
extract	`object`	Optional	Schema for structured data extraction

Request Example

curl -X POST https://api.alterlab.io/api/v0/scrape \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "formats": ["markdown", "html"],
    "waitFor": 1000,
    "timeout": 30000
  }'

Response Format

Responses match Firecrawl's format with an optional alterlab extension containing additional metadata:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "markdown": "# Example Domain\n\nThis domain is for use...",
    "html": "<h1>Example Domain</h1><p>This domain is for use...</p>",
    "rawHtml": "<!doctype html><html>...</html>",
    "links": [
      "https://iana.org/domains/example"
    ],
    "metadata": {
      "title": "Example Domain",
      "description": "Example description",
      "sourceURL": "https://example.com/",
      "statusCode": 200
    }
  },
  "alterlab": {
    "tier_used": "1",
    "credits": 1,
    "response_time_ms": 842,
    "cached": false
  }
}

Code Examples

import requests

# Minimal change: just update the base URL and API key
response = requests.post(
    "https://api.alterlab.io/api/v0/scrape",  # Changed from api.firecrawl.dev
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_live_xxx",  # Your AlterLab key
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    json={
        "url": "https://example.com",
        "formats": ["markdown", "html"]
    }
)

data = response.json()
if data["success"]:
    print(f"Markdown: {data['data']['markdown'][:100]}...")
    print(f"Cost: {data['alterlab']['credits']}")
else:
    print(f"Error: {data.get('error')}")

Key Differences

1. Endpoint Path

AlterLab uses /api/v0/scrape instead of/v0/scrape due to API routing conventions.

2. Additional Response Data

AlterLab includes an optional alterlab object in responses with billing info, tier used, and performance metrics. This doesn't break Firecrawl compatibility.

3. Anti-Bot Capabilities

AlterLab has more aggressive anti-bot bypass capabilities with automatic tier escalation. Sites that fail on Firecrawl may succeed on AlterLab.

4. Pricing Model

AlterLab uses pay-as-you-go pricing instead of subscriptions. Check the pricing page for details.

AlterLab Extensions

While maintaining Firecrawl compatibility, you can also leverage AlterLab-specific features by using our native /api/v1/scrape endpoint:

Native Features

Cost controls (max tier limits)
OCR for image-based content
PDF extraction
Async/webhook mode
Bring Your Own Proxy (BYOP)

When to Use Native API

Need advanced cost controls
Processing PDFs or images
Using webhooks for results
Integrating with your own proxies

Gradual Migration

Start with the compatibility endpoint to verify AlterLab works for your use case, then gradually migrate to the native API to unlock additional features.

← API Reference Next: Bring Your Own Proxy →