Firecrawl Competitive Intelligence

What is Firecrawl?

Firecrawl is a web scraping API that handles JavaScript-heavy websites and anti-bot protection. Instead of managing headless browsers yourself, Firecrawl handles all the complexity.

Why use Firecrawl instead of a regular scraper?

• Handles JavaScript-rendered content automatically
• Works on sites with anti-bot protection
• Returns clean, structured data
• No browser infrastructure to manage

How to Get Your Firecrawl API Key

1. Go to firecrawl.dev (or firecrawl.link/john-rippy for 10% off)
2. Sign up for an account (free tier: 500 credits/month)
3. Go to your dashboard → API Keys
4. Copy your API key
5. Paste it in the firecrawlApiKey field

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Discover and extract competitor pricing, features, and key pages using Firecrawl Map + Scrape. Auto-discovers relevant pages and extracts structured data.

Features

• Smart Discovery - Uses Firecrawl Map API to find relevant competitor pages
• Automatic Extraction - Extracts pricing data, feature lists, and key information
• Multi-Competitor Analysis - Analyze multiple competitors in a single run
• Page Classification - Auto-categorizes pages (pricing, features, about, contact)
• Structured Data - Extracts prices, plan names, and feature bullets
• Screenshot Capture - Optional visual snapshots of competitor pages
• Demo Mode - Test without an API key using sample data

Quick Start

{
  "input": "your input here"
}

Demo Mode

Set demoMode: true to test with sample data (no charges). When you're ready for real results, set demoMode: false or omit it.

{
  "demoMode": true,
  ...
}

Input Parameters

Field	Type	Description	Default
competitorUrls	array	List of competitor website URLs	Required
pageTypes	array	Page types to search for	pricing, features, about, contact, plans
customSearchTerms	array	Additional search terms	-
maxPagesPerCompetitor	number	Max pages per competitor	10
extractPricing	boolean	Extract pricing data	true
extractFeatures	boolean	Extract feature lists	true
includeScreenshots	boolean	Capture page screenshots	false
firecrawlApiKey	string	Your Firecrawl API key	-
webhookUrl	string	URL for completion notification	-
demoMode	boolean	Run with sample data	false

Get Your Firecrawl API Key

Get 10% off at firecrawl.link/john-rippy - Sign up for free tier (500 credits/month) or paid plans.

Output Format

{
  "competitorUrl": "https://competitor.com",
  "pageType": "pricing",
  "url": "https://competitor.com/pricing",
  "title": "Pricing Plans - Competitor",
  "description": "Flexible pricing for all business sizes",
  "markdown": "# Pricing Plans\n\n## Starter - $29/mo...",
  "extractedData": {
    "pricing": {
      "prices": ["$29/mo", "$99/mo", "Custom"],
      "planNames": ["Starter", "Pro", "Enterprise"]
    }
  },
  "scrapedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
}

Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-event billing: This actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

Event	Description	Price
Competitor Analyzed	Charged when a competitor site is analyzed	$0.05
Pages Extracted (per 5)	Charged per 5 pages scraped and extracted	$0.01

Use Cases

• Pricing Intelligence - Monitor competitor pricing and plan structures
• Feature Comparison - Track what features competitors offer
• Market Research - Analyze competitor positioning and messaging
• Sales Enablement - Generate competitive battle cards
• Product Strategy - Identify feature gaps and opportunities

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Common Problems & Solutions

"Invalid API key" error

Cause: Your API key is wrong, expired, or doesn't have the right permissions. Fix: Double-check your API key. Make sure you copied it exactly without extra spaces.

"Rate limit exceeded" error

Cause: You've hit the API's rate limits. Fix: Wait a few minutes, then try again. Consider reducing the number of concurrent requests.

Empty or incomplete results

Cause: The target may have anti-scraping protection or the data doesn't exist. Fix:

• Check if the URL/search query is correct
• Try with different parameters
• Some sites may block automated access

Demo data showing instead of real results

Cause: demoMode is still set to true. Fix: Set demoMode: false and provide your API key(s).

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Built by John Rippy | Actor Arsenal