Cup vs Firecrawl
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Cup
Fast checker for available Docker image updates
VS
Firecrawl
Turn websites into clean data for AI applications
| Feature | Cup | Firecrawl |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,337 | ★ 162,961 |
| First released | 2024 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Watchtower | Apify |
Why pick each one
Choose Cup if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
Choose Firecrawl if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 163k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Cup or Firecrawl better?
Neither is universally better. Firecrawl has the larger community, while Cup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cup and Firecrawl free and open-source?
Yes. Cup is licensed under MIT and Firecrawl under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cup and Firecrawl with Docker?
Cup: yes. Firecrawl: yes.