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Sila vs Jina Reader
Jina Reader turns a single URL into LLM-friendly text when you prefix it with r.jina.ai, billed by output tokens. Sila covers the same single-page case and adds whole-site crawls, page signals and credit-based plans. If you only ever read one URL at a time, Reader is the lighter tool.
Facts checked 2026-11-05
Choose Sila when
- You need to crawl a whole site, not read one URL per request, with status, pages, cancel and webhooks.
- You want page signals (forms, integrations, JSON-LD, language, category) alongside the markdown.
- You want predictable per-page credits (1 static, 5 headless) instead of billing by output tokens.
- You want an API key per workspace with usage and credits you can check at /v1/usage.
Choose Jina Reader when
- You only need single-URL reads and want the lightest integration: prefix a URL with r.jina.ai.
- You want to start without a signup: Reader works without a key at 20 requests per minute.
- You want a higher rate limit on a free key: 500 requests per minute, with 10M free tokens per new key.
Facts side by side
| Attribute | Sila | Jina Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Access | REST API with a Bearer API key; no keyless tier | Prefix a URL with r.jina.ai, one URL per request |
| Rate limit | Per-API-key limit; excess requests return 429 rate_limited | 20 RPM without a key, 500 RPM with a free key |
| Free allowance | 500 credits/month | 10M free tokens per new key |
| Billing rule | 1 credit per statically fetched page, 5 credits per page that needed the headless browser or a screenshot | Billed by output tokens |
| Page signals in the response | Yes: title, description, language, category, JSON-LD, forms and detected integrations | Not listed on the pages checked |
| Whole-site crawl | Yes, with sitemap, llms-full.txt and incremental re-crawls | One URL per request |
| MCP | Hosted at api.sila.sh/mcp (OAuth or API key) | Hosted at mcp.jina.ai |
Access
SilaREST API with a Bearer API key; no keyless tier
Jina ReaderPrefix a URL with r.jina.ai, one URL per request
Rate limit
SilaPer-API-key limit; excess requests return 429 rate_limited
Jina Reader20 RPM without a key, 500 RPM with a free key
Free allowance
Sila500 credits/month
Jina Reader10M free tokens per new key
Billing rule
Sila1 credit per statically fetched page, 5 credits per page that needed the headless browser or a screenshot
Jina ReaderBilled by output tokens
Page signals in the response
SilaYes: title, description, language, category, JSON-LD, forms and detected integrations
Jina ReaderNot listed on the pages checked
Whole-site crawl
SilaYes, with sitemap, llms-full.txt and incremental re-crawls
Jina ReaderOne URL per request
MCP
SilaHosted at api.sila.sh/mcp (OAuth or API key)
Jina ReaderHosted at mcp.jina.ai