Firecrawl vs Flowable
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?
Firecrawl
Turn websites into clean data for AI applications
VS
Flowable
Lightweight business process engine with BPMN and DMN
| Feature | Firecrawl | Flowable |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 162,961 | ★ 9,447 |
| First released | 2024 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Apify | Microsoft Power Automate, Camunda |
Why pick each one
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 Firecrawl or Flowable better?
Firecrawl is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Flowable if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Firecrawl and Flowable free and open-source?
Yes. Firecrawl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Flowable under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firecrawl and Flowable with Docker?
Firecrawl: yes. Flowable: yes.