---
title: Steel.dev
slug: steel-dev
url: "https://toolweight.com/options/steel-dev"
homepage: "https://steel.dev"
categories: browser-automation-apis
last_verified: 2026-07-01
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# Steel.dev

> Open-source browser API for AI agents, hosted or self-run

Steel publishes its entire browser service under Apache-2.0, which makes it the only credible middle ground between a hosted agent host and rolling your own. The hosted version adds a session viewer, proxy egress and managed scaling; the open-source image gives you the same session API on your own hardware. Its cookbook of integrations with browser-use, CUA loops and LangChain is where most people meet it.

## Identity

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Name | Steel.dev |
| Company | Steel.dev |
| One-liner | Open-source browser API for AI agents, hosted or self-run |
| Site | https://steel.dev |
| Docs | https://docs.steel.dev |
| Repo | https://github.com/steel-dev/steel-browser |
| Founded | 2024 |
| Funding | Seed |
| Open source | Yes |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 |
| Compared in | 1 |

## Where it is compared

### [Browser APIs](https://toolweight.com/compare/browser-automation-apis)
Ranked **#6 of 13** on default weights.
| Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Anti-bot pass rate | - | Unknown | - | - | Panel not yet run. |
| Stealth mode | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev | - |
| CAPTCHA solving | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | Auto-solving offered on hosted sessions; less mature than the unblocking specialists. |
| Residential proxy | metered-extra | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Cold start | - | Unknown | - | - | - |
| CDP endpoint | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev | - |
| Playwright | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev/integrations/playwright | - |
| Puppeteer | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev/integrations/puppeteer | - |
| Session persistence | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev/overview/profiles-api/overview | - |
| Live view | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api/embed-sessions/live-sessions | - |
| Session replay | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | Session viewer covers live and recent sessions; long retention is unclear. |
| Max concurrency | - | Unknown | - | - | - |
| File downloads | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Chrome extensions | - | Unknown | - | - | - |
| Browser regions | us-east | Inferred | - | - | Hosted service is US-centric; self-host anywhere. |
| Agent API | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | Cookbook integrations with browser-use and CUA loops, not a hosted agent endpoint. |
| MCP server | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Human handoff | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | Session viewer allows interaction; no documented pause/resume contract. |
| Pricing model | per-hour | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Per browser-hour | - | Unknown | - | - | Plan structure changed during 2025; not confident enough to publish a rate. |
| Free tier | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| GitHub stars | 5,000 | Inferred | - | - | steel-browser repo, rounded. |
| Funding stage | seed | Community-reported | - | - | - |
| Open-source core | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://github.com/steel-dev/steel-browser | Apache-2.0; the hosted service is the same core plus scaling. |
| Positioning | Open-source browser API purpose-built for AI agents | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Launched | 2024 | Inferred | - | - | - |

**Verdict.** The only option that removes vendor risk entirely, if the company disappears, the Apache-2.0 image keeps running. The hosted product is thinner than Browserbase on polish and the anti-bot stack is less battle-tested, but for agent work on cooperative sites the trade is a good one.

## Alternatives

- [Airtop](https://toolweight.com/options/airtop), Natural-language browser API, describe the page, skip the selectors
- [Anchor Browser](https://toolweight.com/options/anchor-browser), Cloud browsers built around authenticated sessions and human takeover
- [Apify](https://toolweight.com/options/apify), Actor platform for scraping and agents, with Crawlee as the open-source core
- [Bright Data Browser API](https://toolweight.com/options/bright-data-browser-api), CDP browsers on a 70M+ residential IP network with challenge handling built in
- [Browserbase](https://toolweight.com/options/browserbase), Managed headless browsers for AI agents, with Stagehand as the SDK
- [Browserless](https://toolweight.com/options/browserless), Self-hostable headless Chrome service; BrowserQL for bot-heavy sites
- [Cloudflare Browser Rendering](https://toolweight.com/options/cloudflare-browser-rendering), Puppeteer and Playwright bindings for Workers, plus REST render endpoints
- [Hyperbrowser](https://toolweight.com/options/hyperbrowser), Agent-first browsers with hosted scrape, crawl and CUA endpoints
- [Kernel](https://toolweight.com/options/kernel), Fast-starting browsers plus a runtime for deploying browser agents
- [Self-hosted Playwright](https://toolweight.com/options/playwright-self-hosted), The baseline: run Chromium in your own container and own everything
- [ScrapingBee](https://toolweight.com/options/scrapingbee), One-call HTML API with JavaScript rendering and premium proxy tiers
- [ZenRows](https://toolweight.com/options/zenrows), Scraper API plus a CDP scraping browser on a shared residential pool

## Licence and attribution

Data from toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0.

- Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/options/steel-dev
- Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/options/steel-dev.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp
- toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements. Corrections: https://toolweight.com/suggest