Crawl4AI Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Crawl4AI hosting gives you your own LLM-ready web crawler with REST, playground and MCP access on one HTTPS URL. Deploy Crawl4AI 0.9.4 as a self-hosted web crawler for LLMs: xCloud runs the pinned image, generates a 64-character API token that every data, docs and metrics route requires, and keeps job state and screenshot and PDF artifacts on persistent storage, so you can crawl from the playground within minutes.

Deploy your Crawl4AI

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is Crawl4AI?

Self-hosted Crawl4AI is a web crawler for LLMs. Its README calls it an open-source, LLM-friendly web crawler and scraper that turns the web into clean, LLM-ready Markdown for RAG, agents and data pipelines, with an async browser pool, caching and smart Markdown that preserves headings, tables and code. People run their own instead of a hosted crawling API when the crawling and its output should stay on their own server. Its licence is Apache-2.0.

On xCloud the template runs the unclecode/crawl4ai 0.9.4 image as a single container pinned by immutable digest, with Redis inside it on loopback. The playground, REST API, WebSocket and MCP endpoint are published only over HTTPS on your domain. The crawl4ai_redis and crawl4ai_outputs volumes persist job state and screenshot and PDF artifacts, which expire after an hour. LLM extraction needs your own provider key.

From Sign-Up To A Live Crawl4AI Server In Just 3 Easy Steps

Self-hosting Crawl4AI means a Docker stack, a domain, a certificate and a secret to generate and protect. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and choose Crawl4AI from the OneClick catalog. Pick a domain and server — there are no other fields to fill in.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We bring up the pinned Crawl4AI 0.9.4 image, generate your API token, Redis password and signing secret, and publish the server over HTTPS on your domain.
Step 03
Open The Playground And Crawl
Save the API token from your protected installation credentials, open the playground on your domain once it is ready, paste the token and run your first crawl.

Everything Crawl4AI Does, On Your Own Server

The full Crawl4AI server runs here — REST API, browser playground, WebSocket and MCP endpoint — on infrastructure you control.

Clean Markdown For LLMs
Turn any web page into clean Markdown with headings, tables and code preserved, through a self-hosted REST API (POST /md, POST /crawl).
Real JavaScript Pages
Crawl JavaScript-rendered pages with the bundled headless Chromium, run multi-URL batch crawls, and capture screenshots (PNG) or PDF exports.
Connect Your AI Tools
Point MCP-compatible clients such as Claude Code at the built-in MCP endpoint, with tools including md, html, screenshot, pdf and crawl.
Test In The Playground
Tune crawler and browser settings in the playground, which also generates the matching JSON for your REST requests.
Locked By Default
Every data, docs and metrics route requires the generated API token. Python hooks and JavaScript execution stay off until you enable them.
Jobs Survive A Restart
Redis job state and screenshot and PDF artifacts survive an xCloud Restart. Artifacts and job results expire after one hour by design.

Everything You Need To Run Your Crawling Server 24/7

Managed hosting for Crawl4AI, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

Crawl4AI 0.9.4 deployed instantly
Generated API token at install
Free SSL certificate
Automatic server backups
Image pinned by immutable digest
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With Crawl4AI

Feed clean Markdown to a RAG pipeline
Call POST /md or POST /crawl from your pipeline and get headings, tables and code preserved as Markdown, instead of raw HTML your model has to untangle.
Give an AI agent a crawling tool
Point an MCP-compatible client such as Claude Code at the /mcp endpoint, and let the agent call tools like md, html, screenshot, pdf and crawl against your own server.
Crawl JavaScript-heavy pages
Use the bundled headless Chromium to render JavaScript pages, run multi-URL batch crawls, and capture PNG screenshots or PDF exports of what the browser saw.
Tune a crawl in the playground first
Try crawler and browser settings in the playground, which generates the matching JSON for your REST requests, before wiring the same call into code.

Crawl4AI vs Alternatives

Firecrawl: Firecrawl has its own xCloud template. Crawl4AI's README stresses clean Markdown, an async browser pool and caching, and here it runs as one token-protected container.
Browserless: Browserless has its own xCloud template. Crawl4AI pairs its bundled Chromium with crawling logic and Markdown conversion, so a request returns page content as Markdown.
SearXNG: SearXNG has its own xCloud template. Crawl4AI fetches and converts URLs you already know, so it starts from a list of pages rather than a search query.
A hosted scraping API: A hosted scraping service sends every URL and result through a vendor. Crawl4AI keeps both on your Cloud VPS, with a generated API token on every route and code execution off by default.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for Crawl4AI hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

Larger batch crawls and more concurrent jobs.

$59.99per month

16 GB RAM
6 vCPU cores
200 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Cloud VPS 24 GB

Crawl4AI alongside a whole self-hosted stack.

$84.99per month

24 GB RAM
8 vCPU cores
300 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Crawl4AI is free and open source under Apache License 2.0; this is the managed server it runs on. The template baseline is 2 CPU cores, 2 GB of RAM and 10 GB of disk. This page sells the 6 GB tier. Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision, patch, monitor and restore.

Managed hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy Crawl4AI on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

1 server
10 sites

Start free

Starter

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

6–10 servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

11+ servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Build Your Crawling Pipeline?

Crawl4AI on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own your data. Stay in control.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

Hear what people are saying about us

See why agencies, developers, startups, and growing businesses choose xCloud to power their projects.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

How much RAM does Crawl4AI need?

The template baseline is 2 CPU cores, 2048 MB of RAM and 10 GB of disk; QA measured about 281 MB idle, peaking near 772 MB during a six-URL batch crawl, and larger concurrent batches need more. The 6 GB Cloud VPS sold here leaves room for the headless browser.

Is Crawl4AI free and open source?

Yes. Crawl4AI is Apache-2.0 licensed, per the LICENSE file at the v0.9.4 tag, so the project is free to run. xCloud charges for the Cloud VPS underneath. The README also mentions a separate cloud API in closed beta, which this template is not.

Can you run Crawl4AI with Docker?

Yes, and this is Crawl4AI Docker hosting prepared for you: the template runs the official unclecode/crawl4ai 0.9.4 image as one container with Redis on loopback, pinned by immutable digest, with two volumes and HTTPS served on your own domain. The container port is bound to localhost.

Does Crawl4AI need an OpenAI or Anthropic key?

No. Plain crawls and Markdown conversion work without any key. Add your own provider key only if you want LLM-based extraction, which does not work out of the box. Any model usage is billed by that provider, not by xCloud or Crawl4AI.

Can I connect Claude Code or another MCP client to Crawl4AI?

Yes. Crawl4AI exposes MCP over SSE at /mcp/sse and over WebSocket at /mcp/ws, with tools such as md, html, screenshot, pdf and crawl. Authenticate with your generated API token as a Bearer token, like every other request to the server.

How is a self-hosted Crawl4AI authenticated?

There are no user accounts. Copy the API token from your installation credentials, paste it into the playground, and send it as a Bearer token on API and MCP requests. Every data, docs and metrics route returns 401 without it, confirmed in QA.

Does Crawl4AI render JavaScript pages?

Yes. It crawls with a real headless browser, so JavaScript-rendered pages return their rendered content. Running your own page JavaScript and Python hooks are code-running features and stay off by default here, so enable them only if you accept executing that code on your server.

What should I back up on a Crawl4AI server?

A backup is both volumes together, crawl4ai_redis and crawl4ai_outputs, plus the generated API token, Redis password and signing secret. Job results and artifacts expire after one hour by design, and the crawl cache is disposable, so there is little long-term data.

Backups in xCloud

How do I rotate the Crawl4AI API token?

Change CRAWL4AI_API_TOKEN in the Environment editor and redeploy, then update every API, MCP and WebSocket client. Never leave the token blank, because the server then refuses outside connections. The Monitor dashboard puts the token in a WebSocket URL, so rotate it if you share logs.

How do I upgrade Crawl4AI?

Nothing upgrades it for you: your install keeps its pinned image until you adopt a newer template version. Recent releases fixed security issues, so read the upstream release notes, back up both volumes, then apply the newer template version and redeploy.

Is this Crawl4AI cloud hosting?

It is your own Crawl4AI on a dedicated Cloud VPS provisioned by xCloud, not upstream's hosted cloud API. The container, both volumes and the API token belong to your install, and every request is served over HTTPS on your domain.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.