Iteration Layer vs Crawl4AI
Crawl4AI gives you open-source crawler control; Iteration Layer gives you a managed website extraction API for typed JSON, citations, and downstream automation without crawler infrastructure.
Why developers switch from Crawl4AI
Crawl4AI is a flexible open-source crawler you host yourself. Iteration Layer turns public pages into typed JSON your product, agents, or automations can use next.
No crawler infrastructure to operate
Send one API request instead of running browser workers, crawler queues, storage, retry logic, and deployment pipelines.
Schema in, typed JSON out
Define the fields you need and receive typed JSON with confidence scores and citations rather than wiring extraction logic yourself.
EU-hosted, zero data retention
All processing runs on EU infrastructure. Page content is processed in memory and not retained. DPA available for all plans.
Feature-by-feature comparison
We went through the docs so you don't have to. Here's how every feature compares — including the ones where we're not the better choice.
| Feature | Iteration Layer | Crawl4AI |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment model |
Managed API
No crawler stack to deploy or maintain |
Self-hosted OSS
You run, scale, and secure the stack |
| Schema-defined extraction |
Yes
Define fields in a schema and receive typed JSON results |
Configurable
You assemble extraction strategy from crawler output |
| Confidence scores |
Per field
Confidence score between 0 and 1 for every extracted field |
No
No built-in confidence scoring |
| Source citations |
Yes
Verbatim source citation from the page for every field |
No
No source citations for extracted values |
| Infrastructure control |
Limited
Static fetching by default with opt-in Chromium rendering |
Full
Full crawler and browser control |
| EU hosting |
EU only
All processing on EU-hosted servers |
Your choice
Depends on where you deploy |
| GDPR / Data privacy |
Zero retention
No page content stored beyond temporary 90-day logs. DPA available. |
Customer-owned
Depends on your deployment and data handling |
| Data used for training |
Never
Page content is never used to train or improve AI models |
N/A
Self-hosted — your data stays with you |
| Pricing model |
Per page
One credit per extraction request |
Free (OSS)
Open-source; pay for compute and infrastructure |
Pricing
Start usage-based. Switch to a subscription when your volume becomes predictable.
Usage-based
Graduated pricing. Your effective rate decreases automatically as monthly usage grows.
- No monthly commitment
- Pay only for credits used
- Automatic volume discounts as usage grows
Predictable volume
Fixed recurring credit packs with lower effective credit prices for steady usage.
- Lower effective per-credit prices
- Fixed recurring credit packs
- Predictable monthly budget
Try Iteration Layer with 100 credits
Start with one shared trial pool before choosing subscription or pay-as-you-go billing.
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