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Jina Reader

by Jina AI · API service · also known as r.jina.ai, s.jina.ai, Reader API

Prefix-style API from Jina AI that converts any public URL into LLM-ready Markdown (r.jina.ai) or returns web search results with content (s.jina.ai), with open-source server code

Apache-2.0 licenseFreemiumUsage-basedCloudSelf-hostedSelf-hostable
Visit official site Compare

Link verified Nov 2, 2026

Overview

Jina Reader is a hosted service from Jina AI with a deliberately minimal interface: prepend https://r.jina.ai/ to a URL and the response is the page rendered in a headless browser and converted to clean Markdown; prepend https://s.jina.ai/ to a query and the service returns the top web results with their content in the same format. Headers select output shape (Markdown, JSON, HTML text), fetch engine (direct HTTP or browser rendering), CSS selectors to target or remove, image handling including generated captions, cookies, proxies and cache behavior, and a JSON-schema or instruction header can produce structured extraction using Jina's ReaderLM models.

Basic use needs no key; an API key raises rate limits and switches to token-based metering with a free allowance and purchasable tokens, making the pricing model freemium and usage-based. The server code is published under Apache 2.0, although the ReaderLM models carry a non-commercial license and the hosted service depends on Jina's infrastructure.

It is a popular building block for agents that need to read a page and for quick corpus construction. Limits: public URLs only, no anti-bot bypass or interactive login, short response caching, and latency of a few seconds when browser rendering is used.

Editorial note on uncertainty. Pricing details live on the product page and API dashboard rather than a dedicated pricing page; self-hosting is possible from the repository but is not documented as a supported path by Jina.

Capabilities

  • URL-to-Markdown conversion with headless rendering
  • Web search returning page content
  • Selector-based targeting and removal
  • Image captioning and structured JSON extraction options
  • Keyless basic access with token-metered keys
  • Open-source server code

Typical workflows

  1. Let an agent read a page by prefixing the URL
  2. Build a small corpus from a list of articles
  3. Extract fields from pages with a JSON schema header

Strengths

  • Near-zero integration effort
  • Free for light use
  • Server code is open source

Limitations

  • No anti-bot bypass or authenticated browsing
  • Public URLs only
  • Model components are non-commercial licensed
  • Browser rendering adds latency

Prerequisites

  • None for basic use; API key for higher limits

Who it is for

  • Agent and RAG developers
  • Researchers collecting article text

Alternatives & comparison

  • Exa

    Search API for AI agents built on Exa's own web index, offering search, page contents, deep research and asynchronous agent endpoints with Python and JavaScript SDKs

    ProprietaryFreemium
  • Firecrawl

    Web data API that scrapes, crawls, maps and searches websites and returns clean Markdown or structured JSON for LLM pipelines, with an AGPL-licensed self-hostable core

    MixedFreemium
  • Tavily

    Web search, extraction, crawling and research API designed for LLM agents, returning concise source content with SDKs, framework integrations and a hosted MCP server

    ProprietaryFreemium
Compare Jina Reader with its alternatives →

Sources & verification

Primary sources consulted for this record. Claims are tied to the fields each source supports; the automated link checker re-verifies every URL on a schedule.

  • License
    https://github.com/jina-ai/reader/blob/main/LICENSE

    Supports: license_spdx

    Server code Apache-2.0; ReaderLM models are CC-BY-NC per the product page

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Official site
    Reader API – Jina AI

    https://jina.ai/reader

    Supports: name, summary, capabilities, pricing_model, limitations

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Repository
    jina-ai/reader

    https://github.com/jina-ai/reader

    Supports: source_model, self_hostable, languages

    checked Nov 1, 2026
Confidence
Medium
Reviewed
Nov 1, 2026
Links
Verified · Nov 2, 2026

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