Best software · Developer & data
10 Best Browser Automation Tools of 2026
This list is for developers who run headless browsers in production: scraping JavaScript-heavy sites, running end-to-end tests, and giving AI agents a real browser to click, type and log in. It covers hosted browser services (Browserbase, Browserless, Browser Use, Hyperbrowser, Kernel, Steel, Anchor Browser), scraping platforms with browser support (Apify, Bright Data Browser API) and the free Playwright library that most of them connect to. We compared documented features and published prices. Billing units differ widely, from browser hours to 30-second units, GB of traffic, GB-seconds and credits, so estimate your cost for a typical session before you compare plan prices. Scores weigh features at 40%, ease of use at 30% and value at 30%.
By the Mojolin research desk · Updated November 12, 2026 · 10 tools compared · Prices checked on vendor pages, latest November 12, 2026
Questions or corrections: editorial@mojolin.com
Mojolin is self-funded How we score
Browserbase is our top pick because it pairs hosted browsers with agent tooling, including the open-source Stagehand framework, a Fetch API and a Search API, and its $20 Developer plan covers 100 browser hours with CAPTCHA solving. Browserless is the easiest migration for existing Puppeteer and Playwright code and has the most generous free plan, with 1,000 units a month. Browser Use has the lowest published browser rate at $0.02 per hour. Hyperbrowser and Kernel are strong agent platforms with sandboxes and included proxies respectively, Playwright is the free choice when you run browsers yourself, Steel offers an open-source exit, Apify is built for scheduled scraping, Bright Data handles the hardest targets, and Anchor Browser targets enterprise agents in logged-in apps.
Top picks
Best overall
Browserbase
8.9 / 10
AI agent teams that need hosted browsers plus agent tooling
Read the review →Runner-up
Browserless
8.8 / 10
Teams moving existing Puppeteer or Playwright scripts to the cloud
Read the review →Comparison table
| # | Tool | Pricing | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Browserbase | AI agent teams that need hosted browsers plus agent tooling | Free plan with 1 browser hour; Developer $20 per month with 100 browser hours, then $0.12 per browser hour; Startup $99 per month with 500 hours | 8.9 |
| 2 | Browserless | Teams moving existing Puppeteer or Playwright scripts to the cloud | Free plan with 1,000 units per month; Prototyping $25 per month billed annually, Starter $140, Scale $350; overages from $0.0015 per unit | 8.8 |
| 3 |  Browser Use | Developers who want the cheapest hosted browser hours | Pay as you go, no subscription: browsers $0.02 per browser hour, home-IP proxy $5 per GB, agent tasks from $0.006 median | 8.7 |
| 4 |  Hyperbrowser | Agent builders who also need sandboxes and a fetch API | Free account with 5,000 starter credits; Startup $30 per month with $30 of usage; Scale $100 per month; browser time $0.10 per hour | 8.6 |
| 5 |  Kernel | Agent teams that want proxies and CAPTCHA solving priced into usage | Free plan with $5 of monthly credits; Hobbyist $30 per month and Start-up $200 per month, each plus usage at $0.0000166667 per GB-second | 8.5 |
| 6 |  Playwright | Developers who run browsers on their own machines or CI | Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license; you pay only for the machines you run it on | 8.4 |
| 7 |  Apify | Scraping teams that want ready-made browser scrapers and scheduling | Free plan with $5 of monthly usage; Starter $19 per month, Scale $199, Business $999, each plus pay as you go at $0.13 to $0.20 per compute unit | 8.3 |
| 8 |  Steel | Teams that want an open-source browser they can self-host later | Launch plan $0 per month plus usage with $30 of one-time credits; browser hours $0.10 on Launch, $0.08 on Scale ($250 per month) | 8.3 |
| 9 |  Bright Data Browser API | Scrapers that hit heavily protected sites at volume | Free tier with 1 GB per month; pay as you go $8 per GB; Scale $499 per month with 71 GB included | 8.2 |
| 10 |  Anchor Browser | Enterprises automating logged-in web apps with AI agents | Free plan with 5 credits per month; Starter $50 per month, Team $500, Growth $2,000; overage $1.00 per credit | 7.9 |
Scoring weights
Every tool gets three editorial scores out of 10, from vendor documentation, product pages and the published price. The overall score is the weighted average below, the same method on every list. Full method
The full ranking
Rank 1 · Best overall
Browserbase
Cloud browser infrastructure for AI agents, with Search, Fetch and Agents APIs and the open-source Stagehand framework.
browserbase.com8.9
out of 10
Best for: AI agent teams that need hosted browsers plus agent tooling
Browserbase has grown from a hosted headless browser into a full kit for web agents. The core product is still cloud browsers your code connects to, but the same account now adds a Search API, a Fetch API that turns any URL into HTML, JSON or markdown, a model gateway, sandboxed runtime and session replays. Its open-source Stagehand framework lets you mix code with natural-language commands such as act, extract and observe, which suits agents that must handle pages that change.
Pricing is easy to read. The Developer plan costs $20 per month for 25 concurrent browsers, 100 browser hours and CAPTCHA solving, and extra hours cost $0.12. Startup at $99 per month raises that to 100 browsers and 500 hours. Proxy traffic at $10 to $12 per GB is where bills grow, so test bandwidth-heavy targets first. The free plan is only for a quick prototype, with one browser hour.
Standout feature
Browserbase is the best choice for agent builders because its $20 Developer plan includes 100 browser hours, 25 concurrent browsers and CAPTCHA solving.
Use cases
AI agent startups
Give agents logged-in browsers for forms and portals
Outcome: Agents that finish multi-step web tasks
Data teams
Pull pages as markdown or JSON through the Fetch API
Outcome: Clean page content without running browsers
Product teams
Run agents that click through their own app on a schedule
Outcome: Broken flows caught before users report them
Key features
- Developer plan: 25 concurrent browsers, 100 browser hours and 1 GB of proxies for $20 per month
- Automatic CAPTCHA solving on Developer and Startup plans
- Fetch API converts a URL into HTML, JSON or markdown, and a Search API returns relevant sites for a query
- Stagehand, an open-source AI browser automation framework with act, extract and observe commands
- Scale plan with 250+ concurrent browsers, HIPAA BAA, DPA and SSO
Pros
- Every plan scales past its included usage instead of throttling
- Free plan needs no payment to try 3 concurrent browsers
- Browsers, search, fetch, model gateway and observability come from one vendor
Cons
- Free plan includes only 1 browser hour and 15-minute sessions
- Proxy traffic costs $12 per GB on Developer and $10 per GB on Startup
- Advanced stealth mode is limited to the custom Scale plan
Rank 2 · Runner-up
Browserless
Managed headless Chrome, Firefox and WebKit with REST APIs, BrowserQL and a self-hosted option.
browserless.io8.8
out of 10
Best for: Teams moving existing Puppeteer or Playwright scripts to the cloud
Browserless is the most direct route from a local Puppeteer or Playwright script to a hosted fleet. You replace launch() with connect() and an API key, and the rest of your code stays as it is. On top of raw browsers it adds REST endpoints for PDFs, screenshots and downloads, BrowserQL for scripted sessions, an MCP server for agents, persisted sessions and authenticated profiles that keep logins between runs.
Billing uses units, where one unit is up to 30 seconds of browser time per connection, and residential proxy traffic costs 6 units per MB. That suits many short jobs, while long agent sessions add up. The free plan is generous for testing, with 1,000 units, CAPTCHA solving and Chrome, WebKit and Firefox. Paid plans start at $25 per month billed annually for 20,000 units. Enterprise buyers can license Browserless to run on their own servers.
Standout feature
Browserless is the best choice for existing Puppeteer and Playwright users because its free plan already includes 1,000 units, CAPTCHA solving and residential proxies.
Use cases
QA engineers
Run headless tests and Lighthouse audits in hosted browsers
Outcome: No browser fleet to maintain in CI
Backend developers
Generate PDFs and screenshots through REST calls
Outcome: Documents rendered without local Chrome
Regulated companies
Self-host Browserless under a commercial license
Outcome: Browser automation inside their own network
Key features
- Connect existing Puppeteer or Playwright code by swapping launch() for connect()
- REST APIs for PDFs, screenshots and downloads
- BrowserQL language and editor, plus an MCP server for search, scrape and crawl
- Residential and datacenter proxies and automatic CAPTCHA solving, available on the free plan
- Self-hosted and private deployments with a commercial license on Enterprise
Pros
- Free plan includes 1,000 units a month, CAPTCHA solving and residential proxies
- Chrome, WebKit and Firefox are all supported
- One-line migration keeps existing automation code unchanged
Cons
- Each unit covers only up to 30 seconds of browser time, so long sessions burn units fast
- Quoted plan prices are annual; monthly billing costs more
- Free plan caps sessions at 2 minutes
Rank 3 · Also great
Browser Use
Open-source browser agent with a pay-as-you-go cloud for stealth browsers and web agents.
browser-use.com8.7
out of 10
Best for: Developers who want the cheapest hosted browser hours
Browser Use started as an open-source browser agent and now sells the infrastructure under it. Its pricing page lists the lowest browser rate in this comparison: $0.02 per browser hour, billed by the minute with a one-minute minimum, with CAPTCHA solving included. There is no subscription; you buy credits from $5, and top-ups never expire. Traffic through its home-IP proxies costs $5 per GB, or $0.20 per GB if you go direct or bring your own proxy.
On top of browsers it sells a web agents API that accepts a task and returns JSON, with a published median cost of $0.006 per task, plus Browser Harness, a free MIT-licensed tool for coding agents. The catch is concurrency: you start at 10 browsers and move up to 50, 250, 500 and 1,000 as your total spend passes $100, $1,000, $5,000 and $25,000. Enterprise plans add HIPAA, zero data retention and on-prem deployment.
Standout feature
Browser Use is the best choice on price because its cloud browsers cost $0.02 per browser hour with no subscription.
Use cases
Indie developers
Run agents in cloud browsers without a monthly plan
Outcome: Costs that track actual use
AI product teams
Send web tasks to the agents API and receive JSON
Outcome: Structured results without writing browser code
Coding agent users
Give Claude Code or Codex a browser through Browser Harness
Outcome: A free local browser tool
Key features
- Cloud browsers at $0.02 per browser hour, billed by the minute
- CAPTCHA solving included with stealth browsers
- Web agents API that takes a task and returns JSON, at a $0.006 median per task
- Browser Harness, free MIT-licensed tooling for Claude Code and Codex
- Up to 1,000 browsers at once, unlocked by total amount paid
Pros
- No subscription, and top-up credits never expire
- Traffic without the home-IP proxy costs $0.20 per GB
- SOC 2 Type II, with on-prem and EU cloud options
Cons
- Concurrency starts at 10 browsers and rises only after $100, $1,000 or more in total spend
- Home-IP proxy traffic at $5 per GB can outweigh browser time
- Free credit is a one-time $1
Rank 4
Hyperbrowser
Cloud browsers, code sandboxes, web data APIs and agents billed from one credit balance.
hyperbrowser.ai8.6
out of 10
Best for: Agent builders who also need sandboxes and a fetch API
Hyperbrowser bundles four products behind one credit balance: cloud browsers, sandboxes for running code, a web API for fetching, searching and extracting data, and hosted agents. At 1,000 credits per dollar, browser time costs $0.10 per hour and proxy data $10 per GB on every plan, so moving from Free to Startup changes capacity, not unit rates.
The browser product accepts Playwright or Puppeteer connections, saves logins between runs and lets you inspect sessions live. The vendor says browsers start in under 500 ms. Startup costs $30 per month with $30 of usage, 25 concurrent sessions, CAPTCHA solving and residential proxies; Scale is $100 with 100 sessions. A free account gets 5,000 credits, enough for about 50 browser hours, but only one session at a time. Plan credits reset each month, so size the plan to steady use and buy extra credits for peaks.
Standout feature
Hyperbrowser is the best choice for combined browser and sandbox workloads because one credit balance pays for both at the same rates on every plan.
Use cases
Agent developers
Pair a cloud browser with a sandbox that runs generated code
Outcome: One vendor for browsing and execution
RAG builders
Fetch pages at $0.001 each with optional JSON output
Outcome: Cheap page content for retrieval
Small SaaS teams
Run scheduled browser jobs on the Startup plan
Outcome: 25 concurrent sessions for $30 a month
Key features
- Connect Playwright or Puppeteer to cloud-hosted Chrome sessions
- Browser usage at $0.10 per hour and proxy data at $10 per GB on every plan
- Sandboxes that run code in isolated VMs and save memory snapshots
- Fetch API from $0.001 per page and Search API at $0.005 per query
- Automatic CAPTCHA solving and residential proxies on paid plans
Pros
- One credit balance covers browsers, sandboxes, web data and agents
- Same unit rates on Free, Startup and Scale
- Startup plan includes 25 concurrent sessions
Cons
- Plan credits reset each renewal and do not carry over
- Free tier allows only 1 concurrent session
- Ultra stealth mode is limited to Enterprise
Rank 5
Kernel
Browser infrastructure for web agents with stealth mode, managed auth and GPU-accelerated browsers.
onkernel.com8.5
out of 10
Best for: Agent teams that want proxies and CAPTCHA solving priced into usage
Kernel sells browser infrastructure built for agents. Its free plan already includes stealth mode, which attaches a managed residential proxy and a CAPTCHA solver, plus managed auth for three connections, live view and one day of session replays. Usage is billed by memory and time at $0.0000166667 per GB-second, with no charge for idle time or proxy traffic, which removes the per-GB proxy line that dominates bills at most rivals.
The Hobbyist plan at $30 per month adds $10 of credits, 10 concurrent browsers and unlimited proxy usage; Start-up at $200 adds 150 browsers, GPU acceleration, regional browsers and bring-your-own proxies. Kernel also offers agentic payments through wallet integrations such as Link by Stripe. Kernel's site lists a public notice of a security incident dated November 4, 2026, so security reviewers should read it before onboarding sensitive accounts.
Standout feature
Kernel is the best choice for proxy-heavy agents because its usage rate includes proxy traffic and the free plan includes stealth mode.
Use cases
E-commerce agent builders
Let agents check out with Link by Stripe wallets
Outcome: Purchases completed inside the browser session
QA platforms
Run customer test suites on GPU-accelerated browsers
Outcome: Canvas-heavy pages rendered in the cloud
Healthcare automation teams
Use managed auth and an enterprise BAA
Outcome: Logged-in portal work under HIPAA terms
Key features
- Stealth mode with a Kernel-managed residential proxy and CAPTCHA auto-solver, on the free tier
- Managed auth that handles logins for agents
- Agentic payments through wallet integrations such as Link by Stripe
- GPU acceleration and regional browsers on the Start-up plan
- Live view and session recordings as MP4 for debugging
Pros
- No charges for idle time or proxies under usage billing
- Free plan includes $5 of credits every month and 5 concurrent browsers
- Start-up plan allows 150 concurrent browsers
Cons
- GB-second billing is harder to forecast than a per-hour rate
- Bring-your-own proxies require the $200 Start-up plan
- Kernel posted a public notice of a security incident on November 4, 2026
Rank 6
Playwright
Free open-source library from Microsoft for automating Chromium, Firefox and WebKit, with a test runner, CLI and MCP server.
playwright.dev8.4
out of 10
Best for: Developers who run browsers on their own machines or CI
Playwright is the library most hosted vendors in this list expect you to bring. It drives Chromium, Firefox and WebKit through one API in TypeScript, Python.NET and Java, and its test runner adds auto-waiting, assertions that retry, tracing and parallel runs with sharding across machines. For agents, Playwright now ships an MCP server that exposes pages as structured accessibility snapshots, so models act on element roles and names instead of screenshots, and a CLI designed for coding agents.
It is free and licensed under Apache 2.0, but it is a library, not infrastructure. Proxies, CAPTCHA handling, stealth and scaling to hundreds of browsers are your problem. That is fine for end-to-end tests in CI and light scraping. When sites block you or you need many browsers at once, keep your Playwright code and point it at Browserbase, Browserless or another hosted service.
Standout feature
Playwright is the best free option because it is Apache 2.0 licensed and drives Chromium, Firefox and WebKit from one API.
Use cases
QA teams
Run cross-browser end-to-end tests in CI
Outcome: Parallel tests on Chromium, Firefox and WebKit
AI developers
Give an MCP client browser control with Playwright MCP
Outcome: Agents that act on accessibility snapshots
Scraping engineers
Write scripts locally, then connect them to a cloud browser
Outcome: One codebase from laptop to hosted fleet
Key features
- One API for Chromium, Firefox and WebKit in TypeScript, Python.NET and Java
- Test runner with auto-waiting, web-first assertions, tracing and parallel runs
- Playwright MCP server that gives AI agents browser control through accessibility snapshots
- Playwright CLI built for coding agents such as Claude Code and GitHub Copilot
- Test generator, Trace Viewer and a VS Code extension
Pros
- Costs nothing and is licensed under Apache 2.0
- Works with every hosted browser vendor in this list
- Each test gets a fresh browser context with near-zero overhead
Cons
- No proxies, CAPTCHA solving or stealth features included
- You run and scale the browsers yourself
- Not a hosted service, so concurrency is limited by your own hardware
Rank 7
Apify
Cloud platform for running browser-based scrapers, called Actors, built on Playwright, Puppeteer and the open-source Crawlee library.
apify.com8.3
out of 10
Best for: Scraping teams that want ready-made browser scrapers and scheduling
Apify approaches browser automation from the scraping side. Rather than renting you a raw browser endpoint, it runs your code as Actors on its cloud, with request queues, datasets, scheduling and proxies included. Its Playwright Scraper Actor crawls sites with headless Chromium, Chrome or Firefox, and its open-source Crawlee library for JavaScript and Python handles browsers, proxies and blocking, so you can develop locally and deploy the same crawler to Apify.
Plans include a monthly usage balance: the free plan has $5, Starter costs $19 with $19 of usage, and Scale costs $199. Usage is billed per compute unit at $0.20 on Starter, falling to $0.13 on Business, so heavy pages cost more than light ones. Apify fits recurring scraping pipelines well. For interactive agent sessions that need live view and logins, a dedicated browser service such as Browserbase or Browserless is a closer match.
Standout feature
Apify is the best choice for scheduled scraping pipelines because its free plan includes $5 of monthly usage and Crawlee code deploys straight to its cloud.
Use cases
Data engineers
Deploy a Crawlee PlaywrightCrawler as a scheduled Actor
Outcome: Recurring crawls without servers
Analysts
Run a ready-made Store scraper for a popular site
Outcome: Data without writing browser code
Agencies
Collect client data on the Starter plan
Outcome: $19 of usage included each month
Key features
- Playwright Scraper Actor that crawls with headless Chromium, Chrome or Firefox
- Crawlee, an open-source scraping library for JavaScript and Python that handles browsers, proxies and blocking
- Deploy your own browser code as Actors with storage, scheduling and an API
- Apify Store of ready-made scrapers for popular sites
- Compute units from $0.20 on Starter down to $0.13 on Business
Pros
- Free plan includes $5 of usage each month with no credit card
- Crawlee code runs locally or on the Apify cloud
- Scheduling, datasets and proxies come with the platform
Cons
- Compute unit billing makes job costs hard to estimate up front
- Better suited to scraping jobs than interactive agent sessions
- Community Actors vary in quality and upkeep
Rank 8
Steel
Open-source browser API for AI agents, available as a hosted cloud or self-hosted Steel Browser.
steel.dev8.3
out of 10
Best for: Teams that want an open-source browser they can self-host later
Steel offers the same browser API two ways: as a hosted cloud and as Steel Browser, an open-source project on GitHub you can run yourself. That matters if you expect compliance or cost to push you in-house later. The hosted Launch plan costs $0 per month plus usage and starts you with $30 of one-time credits, 10 concurrent sessions and up to three seats.
Rates are published line by line. Browser hours cost $0.10 on Launch and $0.08 on Scale, proxy bandwidth $10 or $6 per GB, CAPTCHA solves $3 or $1 per 1,000, and the /scrape browser tool $5 per 1,000. Scale costs $250 per month with $100 of monthly credits, 100 concurrent sessions, one-hour sessions, a dedicated Slack channel and a HIPAA-ready BAA. The limits to watch are 15-minute sessions on Launch and stealth browsers reserved for Enterprise.
Standout feature
Steel is the best choice for avoiding lock-in because its browser is open source and the hosted Launch plan starts at $0 per month plus usage.
Use cases
Startups testing agents
Prototype on the Launch plan with $30 of credits
Outcome: No card needed to start
Platform teams
Self-host Steel Browser after outgrowing the cloud
Outcome: Same API on their own servers
Health tech companies
Run sessions on Scale under a HIPAA-ready BAA
Outcome: Browser automation with compliance paperwork
Key features
- Steel Browser, open source on GitHub, for self-hosting
- Launch plan with 10 concurrent sessions and $30 of one-time credits
- CAPTCHA solves from $1 per 1,000 on Scale and $3 per 1,000 on Launch
- Browser tools endpoint (/scrape) at $5 per 1,000
- Scale plan with 100 concurrent sessions, dedicated IPs at $5 each and a HIPAA-ready BAA
Pros
- No credit card needed to start on the Launch plan
- Open-source core reduces lock-in
- Scale plan cuts proxy bandwidth to $6 per GB
Cons
- Stealth browser is included only on Enterprise
- Launch sessions are capped at 15 minutes
- Scale plan costs $250 per month before usage
Rank 9
Bright Data Browser API
Hosted browsers with built-in proxies and website unblocking, controlled through Puppeteer, Playwright or Selenium.
brightdata.com8.2
out of 10
Best for: Scrapers that hit heavily protected sites at volume
Bright Data's Browser API, formerly called Scraping Browser, is a hosted browser built for getting into sites that block automation. You connect Puppeteer, Playwright or Selenium to one endpoint, and Bright Data handles proxies from its own networks, CAPTCHA solving, fingerprints, cookies, retries and IP rotation behind the scenes. Pay as you go has unlimited concurrent sessions, and you can debug live sessions in Chrome DevTools.
Pricing is per GB of traffic, not per hour: $8 per GB pay as you go, or $499 per month for 71 GB on Scale, with a free tier of 1 GB per month. That model favors long sessions on light pages and hurts on media-heavy sites, so block images and fonts where you can. The wider Bright Data catalog of scraper APIs and datasets is useful, but it also makes the dashboard busier than single-product rivals.
Standout feature
Bright Data Browser API is the best choice for protected targets because every session includes proxies, CAPTCHA solving and unlimited concurrency on pay as you go.
Use cases
Price intelligence teams
Scrape retailers with strong bot protection
Outcome: Fewer blocked sessions without managing proxies
Selenium users
Move existing Selenium scripts to hosted browsers
Outcome: No rewrite to Playwright needed
Market researchers
Load localized pages by city or ASN
Outcome: Results as local users see them
Key features
- Built-in proxies, CAPTCHA solving and fingerprint handling on every session
- Puppeteer, Playwright and Selenium supported with a single endpoint change
- Unlimited concurrent sessions on pay as you go
- Chrome DevTools debugging of live sessions
- Geo-targeting by country, city, state or ASN
Pros
- Unblocking is handled for you without separate proxy setup
- Selenium support, which most agent-focused rivals do not list
- Free tier includes 1 GB per month with no credit card
Cons
- Billing per GB punishes image-heavy pages
- Many overlapping products make the account harder to learn
- At $8 per GB pay as you go, cost per page is high for light jobs
Rank 10
Anchor Browser
Cloud browsers for computer-use agents, with managed authentication and a hardened Chromium fork.
anchorbrowser.io7.9
out of 10
Best for: Enterprises automating logged-in web apps with AI agents
Anchor Browser is aimed at companies putting computer-use agents to work inside web apps that have no API. Sessions run on its cloud and can be controlled over CDP with Playwright or Puppeteer, through REST and SDKs, or from MCP clients. Its focus is authentication: OmniConnect manages logins into third-party web apps, including identities with MFA, and sessions can persist so agents start signed in.
Pricing is credit-based. The free plan gives 5 credits a month and up to 5 concurrent browsers. Starter costs $50 per month for 50 credits, 25 browsers, authenticated browsers, CAPTCHA bypass and any geolocation. Team at $500 adds Cloudflare verified browser agents, and Growth at $2,000 adds the stealth Anchor Chromium fork and SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR. That ladder suits enterprise buyers more than solo developers comparing hourly rates.
Standout feature
Anchor Browser is the best choice for authenticated enterprise workflows because OmniConnect handles third-party logins, including MFA, for cloud agents.
Use cases
SaaS builders
Build integrations with web apps that have no API
Outcome: Agents sign in and act on users' behalf
Service providers
Automate repetitive portal work for clients
Outcome: Fewer manual operations
Enterprise IT
Deploy Anchor in their own cloud
Outcome: Agent browsing inside the company network
Key features
- Sessions controlled over CDP with Playwright or Puppeteer, or through REST, SDK and MCP
- Managed authentication with OmniConnect, including identities with MFA
- Anchor Chromium, a stealth Chromium fork, on the Growth plan
- Cloudflare verified browser agents on the Team plan
- Bring your own cloud or on-premise deployment on Enterprise
Pros
- Free plan allows up to 5 concurrent browsers
- Starter plan includes CAPTCHA bypass and any geolocation
- SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR listed on Growth
Cons
- Jump from $50 Starter to $500 Team is steep
- Credit-based pricing is harder to compare with per-hour rivals
- Full stealth Chromium requires the $2,000 Growth plan
Frequently asked questions
+What is the best browser automation tool?
Browserbase is the best hosted browser automation tool for most developers in 2026. Its $20 Developer plan includes 100 browser hours, 25 concurrent browsers and CAPTCHA solving, and it adds the open-source Stagehand framework for AI agents. Browserless is the best choice if you are moving existing Puppeteer or Playwright scripts.
+What is the cheapest cloud browser for AI agents?
Browser Use has the lowest published rate at $0.02 per browser hour, billed by the minute with no subscription. Home-IP proxy traffic costs $5 per GB on top. Hyperbrowser and Steel both charge $0.10 per browser hour on their entry plans.
+Is Playwright better than Puppeteer?
Playwright covers more ground: it drives Chromium, Firefox and WebKit from one API in TypeScript, Python.NET and Java, and ships a test runner and an MCP server for agents. Puppeteer is a JavaScript library that controls Chrome or Firefox. Every hosted service in this list accepts either library.
+Is there a free browser automation tool?
Yes, Playwright is free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license. For hosted browsers, Browserless gives 1,000 units a month free, Kernel $5 of credits a month and Apify $5 of usage a month, all without a paid plan.
+Which browser automation tool is best for web scraping protected sites?
Bright Data Browser API is built for heavily protected sites. Every session includes Bright Data proxies, CAPTCHA solving and fingerprint handling, and pay as you go costs $8 per GB with unlimited concurrent sessions.
+Can I self-host a browser automation service?
Yes. Steel Browser is open source on GitHub, and Browserless sells a commercial license for self-hosting on its Enterprise plan. Browser Use and Anchor Browser offer on-prem deployment through their enterprise sales teams.
+How are cloud browsers priced?
Most vendors charge for browser time plus proxy traffic. Browserbase charges $0.12 per browser hour over its Developer allowance, Browserless counts 30-second units, Bright Data bills $8 per GB and Kernel bills per GB-second with proxies included. Compare the cost of a typical session rather than plan prices.
About this list
Updated November 12, 2026 by the Mojolin research desk. Mojolin is self-funded
Questions or corrections: editorial@mojolin.com
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