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Glossary/Web Search APIs/Questions
Can I create an AI agent to search the web or search data in real time using n8n?
Can local LLMs search the web?

Can I use a web search API for commercial products?

Yes, web search APIs support commercial use under paid plans. Paid subscriptions explicitly permit building SaaS products, integrating search into commercial applications, selling products using search functionality, offering services powered by the API, and using search for business intelligence and competitive analysis.

Free tiers often restrict commercial usage to personal projects, development, and testing. Commercial applications require paid subscriptions. The business model lets developers test freely while ensuring commercial users fund infrastructure costs and ongoing service.

Commercial use permissions

Most web search APIs allow these commercial activities under paid plans:

  • Building customer-facing SaaS applications
  • Integrating search into commercial software products
  • Selling products that use search as a core feature
  • Offering commercial services powered by search APIs
  • Using search for business intelligence and competitive analysis

Developers add value by building applications that use search as a capability. Commercial licensing gets built into paid plans without separate licensing fees for standard use cases.

Common commercial use cases

Search APIs power various commercial applications:

  • AI chatbots and agents providing answers to users
  • RAG systems grounding responses in search results
  • Research tools aggregating and analyzing web data
  • Competitive intelligence platforms monitoring competitors
  • Content generation tools using search for source material
  • Lead enrichment services finding company information
  • Market analysis applications tracking industry trends

Firecrawl's search API powers commercial products across various industries. The API is explicitly designed for production commercial applications.

Last updated: Feb 16, 2026
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