Expand

What is Expand?

Expand is a web data API for AI agents. You send a URL, and Fetch loads it in a real browser and returns Markdown of the main content, State JSON holding the hidden data behind the page, and a saved Snapshot that each line links back to. Two in-house models do the extraction: Iris reads the rendered page visually so tables and icons stay intact and navigation and footers move to an appendix, and X-Ray pulls useful values out of the JSON a page loads. The same endpoint converts PDFs, office files, ebooks, images and audio to Markdown and returns YouTube transcripts. Highlights searches a fetched page for ranked, cited passages, and WebSync monitors pages and streams changes. Stealth mode handles bot detection and proxy rotation. You can call it from a TypeScript SDK, a CLI, MCP or cURL. Billing is by credit, at $1 per 1,000 credits; a successful Fetch uses one credit, and failed requests are free. New accounts get 10,000 free credits worth $10, and Enterprise pricing is custom.

Use cases

• Fetch web pages as clean Markdown for agents
• Extract hidden JSON data from pages
• Convert PDFs and office files to Markdown
• Get YouTube video transcripts
• Transcribe audio files to Markdown
• Monitor sites for changes
• Search a fetched page for cited passages

Who it's for

• AI engineers
• Agent developers
• Data teams
• Researchers

Why use Expand

• Agents get the page with its tables and structure preserved rather than flattened text.
• Failed, blocked and empty requests cost nothing, so you pay only for successful results.
• Credits do not expire, and there is no monthly commitment on pay as you go.
• One endpoint handles web pages, documents, videos and audio.

Expand features

• Fetch renders live pages in a real browser
• Iris vision model keeps tables and icons intact
• X-Ray finds hidden State JSON behind a page
• Snapshots with evidence for each line
• Highlights for ranked, cited snippets
• PDF, office, ebook and image conversion
• YouTube transcripts and audio transcription
• Stealth mode with proxy rotation
• WebSync change monitoring
• TypeScript SDK, CLI, MCP and REST access

How to get started with Expand

1. Create an account and an API key, or use the free credits to try it.
2. Send a URL to Fetch through the SDK, CLI, MCP or an HTTP request.
3. Read the main Markdown first and request State JSON or the appendix only when needed.
4. Use Highlights, WebSync or Snapshots to search, monitor or cite the source.

Expand limitations

• Free plan has concurrency of 2, 7 days of storage and email support only
• Scanned pages and images cost 5 extra credits per page
• Not a browser automation tool for clicking through pages

Expand pricing

Yes, Expand has a free plan. Paid plans start at $1 usage-based, according to the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026.

Expand plans

• Free

  Free

  10,000 free credits ($10)

  • Concurrency of 2
  • 7 days storage
  • Email support only
  • All Fetch features

• Pay as you go

  $1 per 1,000 credits

  prepaid credits

  • Credits do not expire
  • Concurrency up to 100
  • 30 days storage
  • Standard support

• Enterprise

  Custom

  • Web-scale usage
  • White-glove support
  • Enterprise security

Plans as listed on the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026. Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

Expand alternatives

The main Expand alternatives listed on Debuly are Firecrawl, Exa, Browserbase, Tavily, Crawl4AI and Docling. The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

1. 

   Browserbase

   Cloud platform of headless browsers, search and fetch APIs and agent runtime for building AI agents that browse and act on the web.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
   FreemiumVisit Browserbase (official site)
2. 

   Crawl4AI

   Open-source web crawler and scraper that turns pages into clean Markdown for LLMs and RAG, with an optional hosted cloud API.

   Developer platformsResearch and searchAutomation and agents
   FreemiumVisit Crawl4AI (official site)
3. 

   Docling

   Open-source document parsing library that converts PDF, Office files, audio and more into Markdown or JSON for generative AI.

   Developer platformsProductivityAutomation and agents
   Open sourceVisit Docling (official site)
4. 

   Exa

   Web search API for AI agents and apps that returns relevant passages with citations, billed pay-as-you-go from a free monthly credit.

   Developer platformsResearch and searchAutomation and agents
   FreemiumVisit Exa (official site)
5. 

   Firecrawl

   Web data API for AI agents: search, scrape, crawl and interact with websites and get clean content back, with a free tier.

   Developer platformsResearch and searchAutomation and agents
   FreemiumVisit Firecrawl (official site)
6. 

   Tavily

   Web search, extraction and crawling API built for AI agents and RAG, with a free tier of 1,000 credits a month.

   Developer platformsResearch and searchAutomation and agents
   FreemiumVisit Tavily (official site)

Expand FAQ

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

Image credits

• Logo: from expand.ai · fetched 24 Oct 2026 · Vendor trademark, used only to identify the product; removed on request
• Cover: none collected yet, so a generated tile is shown.

Spot an error? Report an issue with this listing. We also remove a logo or image on the owner's request.