Crawl4AI vs Prodigy
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Crawl4AI is completely free, while Prodigy is paid.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Markdown output for LLMs
- Async parallel crawling
- LLM-based extraction
- Docker server
- Content filtering
- Model-assisted annotation
- NER and text classification
- Image and AV labeling
- LLM prompt evaluation
- spaCy training
- Custom Python recipes
| Feature | Crawl4AI | Prodigy |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Open-source crawler that outputs LLM-ready markdown | Scriptable annotation tool for training NLP, vision and LLM models |
| Category | Data & analytics | Data & analytics |
| Pricing model | Free | Paid |
| Starting price | Free | See pricing page |
| Free plan | Yes, fully free | No |
| Made by | Unclecode | Explosion |
| Based in | – | Germany |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Crawl4AI is completely free, while Prodigy is paid.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Crawl4AI
- Free and self-hosted
- Fast async crawling
- Very active project
- Requires Python skills
- You manage proxies and scaling
Prodigy
- Runs fully on your own machines
- Tight integration with spaCy
- Highly scriptable workflows
- Needs command-line and Python skills
- No free tier
- You manage installation and hosting
Which one should you choose?
Choose Crawl4AI if you want:
- Free and self-hosted
- Fast async crawling
- Very active project
Watch out: requires python skills.
Choose Prodigy if you want:
- Runs fully on your own machines
- Tight integration with spaCy
- Highly scriptable workflows
Watch out: needs command-line and python skills.
Crawl4AI vs Prodigy FAQ
What is the difference between Crawl4AI and Prodigy?
Crawl4AI: Open-source crawler that outputs LLM-ready markdown. Prodigy: Scriptable annotation tool for training NLP, vision and LLM models. Both are data & analytics tools.
Is Crawl4AI or Prodigy cheaper?
Crawl4AI is completely free, while Prodigy is paid.
Do Crawl4AI and Prodigy have free plans?
Crawl4AI: Yes, fully free. Prodigy: No.
Who makes Crawl4AI?
Crawl4AI is made by Unclecode.
Who makes Prodigy?
Prodigy is made by Explosion, based in Germany.
Which should I choose, Crawl4AI or Prodigy?
Choose Crawl4AI if you value free and self-hosted and fast async crawling. Choose Prodigy if you value runs fully on your own machines and tight integration with spacy.