head to head · open source
EasySpider vs crw
EasySpider has 44,765 GitHub stars, 5,392 forks, 271 open issues and last shipped yesterday. crw has 1,208 stars, 97 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. EasySpider leads on adoption by 3,606% (44,765 vs 1,208 stars). EasySpider is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; crw is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. EasySpider has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, crw 8%. EasySpider was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (crawler), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| EasySpider | crw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.4K | ⑂ 97 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick EasySpider if
- You weight community size — 45K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick crw if
- You want the crw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and crw fits your workflow better
About EasySpider
易采集/EasySpider: Visual Code Free Web Crawler 一个 完全免费 （ 包括商业使用和二次开发 ）的可视化浏览器自动化测试/数据采集/爬虫软件，可以使用图形化界面，无代码可视化的设计和执行任务。只需要在网页上选择自己想要操作的内容并根据提示框操作即可完成任务的设计和执行。同时软件还可以单独以命令行的方式进行执行，从而可以很方便的嵌入到其他系统中。 A completely free (including for commercial use and secondary development) visual browser automation test/data collection/crawler software, which can be used to design and execute tasks in a code free visual way. You only need to select the content you want to operate on the web page and follow the prompts to complete the design and execution of the task. At the same time, the software can also be executed separately in…
read the full EasySpider overview →
About crw
fastCRW Turn URLs into clean markdown or structured JSON with one engine for search, scrape, map, crawl, and extract. Run it locally as a small Rust binary or use the managed API. Get 1000 free credits → · Install · Docs No credit card. Continue with GitHub. One command install Runs local and free, no account needed. To use the Cloud, paste your key into the same command and it installs the binary, connects the key, and registers the MCP server with the AI coding tools you already have: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode and Windsurf are picked up automatically when they are already set up; nothing…
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Frequently asked questions
Is EasySpider or crw more popular?
EasySpider has 44,765 GitHub stars and crw has 1,208. EasySpider has the larger community by that measure.
Are EasySpider and crw free?
Both are open source. EasySpider is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and crw under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between EasySpider and crw?
EasySpider is written in JavaScript and crw in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, EasySpider or crw?
Choose EasySpider if you want the larger community (44,765 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose crw if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.