Choose a web research tool for an agent
A research workflow usually needs two separate capabilities: finding sources and reading them. A search result is a pointer to evidence; it is not the evidence itself.
1. Discover sources
Use a search API when you do not know which pages to read. Tavily, Exa, and Brave Search expose search results programmatically. Exa also documents a hosted MCP path. Check freshness and location controls against your task.
2. Read a known page
When the URL is already known, Jina Reader or Firecrawl can turn page content into text or Markdown. Both document limited keyless access. That does not mean unlimited service, or access to private and blocked pages.
3. Extract many records
For repeated structured collection, inspect Firecrawl’s extraction capabilities or an Apify Actor with an input schema that fits the task. Confirm the specific Actor, outputs, price, and applicable site rules before running it.