The MetaCrawler Softbot is an intelligent interface to powerful remote services. It does not require large databases or large amounts of memory. This provides great flexibility in its location. Currently, MetaCrawler exists as a universally accessible service at the University of Washington. However, we have created prototype implementations that reside on the user's machine. We have also had great success in compiling MetaCrawler on different architectures, including DEC OSF, Linux, and even Windows. The MetaCrawler Softbot can run on most machines currently available with minimal effort, which means that most users can use MetaCrawler, either locally or remotely, without needing to invest in expensive hardware. Further, MetaCrawler is not rooted to any platform-specific technology, so as machines improve MetaCrawler will be able to adapt and operate on those new machines as well.