Crawl4AI vs 
MinerU
Crawl4AI vs MinerU compared for 2026 — features, license, ease of use, performance and which one to choose. Open-source LLM-friendly crawler vs PDF to Markdown with formulas and tables.
Updated regularly · curated by olud.ai
Crawl4AI vs MinerU at a glance
| Spec | Crawl4AI | MinerU |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document AI & OCR | Document AI & OCR |
| Type | Web crawler for LLMs | Document extractor |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Runs locally | Yes | Yes |
| Primary language | Python | Python |
| Ease of use | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| Best for | developers who want a free, local Firecrawl alternative | scientific PDFs with formulas |
| GitHub stars | 73.9k | 75.3k |
How Crawl4AI and MinerU score
| Criterion | Crawl4AI | MinerU |
|---|---|---|
| Popularity | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Maintenance | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Ease of use | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Privacy | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| License freedom | 5.0 | 3.5 |
Scores are computed automatically from public signals — GitHub stars (popularity), recent commit activity (maintenance), license type (freedom), local-first design (privacy) and onboarding complexity (ease of use). Indicative, not a verdict.
What each one is
Crawl4AI
Crawl4AI is a fast, fully open-source crawler that outputs LLM-friendly Markdown with smart extraction strategies, built to run entirely on your own machine.
- 100% free and local, no API key
- LLM-ready Markdown with extraction strategies
- Async and fast, browser-based crawling
MinerU
MinerU extracts text, tables, formulas and images from PDFs into Markdown or JSON, handling scientific documents particularly well.
- Extracts formulas as LaTeX
- Strong table structure recovery
- Handles scanned documents
Key differences
Crawl4AI is web crawler for LLMs, while MinerU is document extractor. Their licenses differ (Apache-2.0 vs AGPL-3.0), which matters if you ship a commercial product. In short, Crawl4AI fits developers who want a free, local Firecrawl alternative, and MinerU fits scientific PDFs with formulas.
Which should you choose?
Choose Crawl4AI for developers who want a free, local Firecrawl alternative. Choose MinerU for scientific PDFs with formulas.
There is rarely one winner — many setups use both. The right pick depends on your hardware, your team's skills, and whether you value simplicity or control.
Frequently asked questions
Is Crawl4AI or MinerU easier to use?
Both sit at a similar level (Intermediate). Your choice should come down to fit rather than difficulty.
Are Crawl4AI and MinerU free?
Crawl4AI is free and open source (Apache-2.0), and MinerU is free and open source (AGPL-3.0). Neither charges for the core software.
Can I run Crawl4AI and MinerU locally?
Crawl4AI: yes · MinerU: yes. Both can be used without sending your data to a third-party cloud where their setup allows.
Crawl4AI vs MinerU — which should I pick in 2026?
Choose Crawl4AI for developers who want a free, local Firecrawl alternative. Choose MinerU for scientific PDFs with formulas.
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