---
title: Browserbase vs Steel.dev
slug: browserbase-vs-steel-dev
url: "https://toolweight.dev/vs/browserbase-vs-steel-dev"
category: browser-automation-apis
last_verified: 2026-07-01
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# Browserbase vs Steel.dev

> Compared on the Browser APIs field registry — 26 fields, all sourced.

## Where they differ

| Field | Browserbase | Steel.dev |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CAPTCHA solving | ● | ◐ |
| Cold start | 1 s | — |
| Session replay | ● | ◐ |
| Max concurrency (sessions) | 50 sessions | — |
| Chrome extensions | ● | — |
| Browser regions | us-east, us-west, eu-central, ap-southeast | us-east |
| Per browser-hour (/browser-hour) | $0.1 /browser-hour | — |
| GitHub stars | 15,000 | 5,000 |
| Funding stage | series-b | seed |
| Open-source core | ○ | ● |
| Positioning | Browser infrastructure for AI agents and automations | Open-source browser API purpose-built for AI agents |

## Every field

| Field | Browserbase | Steel.dev |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Anti-bot pass rate (%) | — | — |
| Stealth mode | ● | ● |
| CAPTCHA solving | ● | ◐ |
| Residential proxy | metered-extra | metered-extra |
| Cold start | 1 s | — |
| CDP endpoint | ● | ● |
| Playwright | ● | ● |
| Puppeteer | ● | ● |
| Session persistence | ● | ● |
| Live view | ● | ● |
| Session replay | ● | ◐ |
| Max concurrency (sessions) | 50 sessions | — |
| File downloads | ● | ● |
| Chrome extensions | ● | — |
| Browser regions | us-east, us-west, eu-central, ap-southeast | us-east |
| Agent API | ◐ | ◐ |
| MCP server | ● | ● |
| Human handoff | ◐ | ◐ |
| Pricing model | per-hour | per-hour |
| Per browser-hour (/browser-hour) | $0.1 /browser-hour | — |
| Free tier | ● | ● |
| GitHub stars | 15,000 | 5,000 |
| Funding stage | series-b | seed |
| Open-source core | ○ | ● |
| Positioning | Browser infrastructure for AI agents and automations | Open-source browser API purpose-built for AI agents |
| Launched | 2024 | 2024 |

## Each option

### Browserbase — 85.9 / 100
Managed headless browsers for AI agents, with Stagehand as the SDK

The most complete developer surface in the category and the one to beat for agent work — contexts, live view, extensions and downloads all exist and all work. You pay a premium for that, and you still buy proxy bandwidth separately, so it is not the cheap option for scraping.
- Agents that need to stay logged in across runs
- Teams that want Stagehand's act/extract without losing raw Playwright
- Anyone who will need a human to take over a stuck session

### Steel.dev — 81.4 / 100
Open-source browser API for AI agents, hosted or self-run

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.
- Teams with a hard self-host requirement
- Prototyping agents you may later run on your own hardware
- Avoiding lock-in without writing your own session manager

## Sources

| Tool | Field | Confidence | Verified | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Browserbase | Stealth mode | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/features/stealth-mode |
| Browserbase | CAPTCHA solving | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/features/stealth-mode |
| Browserbase | CDP endpoint | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/introduction |
| Browserbase | Playwright | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/welcome/quickstarts/playwright |
| Browserbase | Puppeteer | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/welcome/quickstarts/puppeteer |
| Browserbase | Session persistence | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/features/contexts |
| Browserbase | Live view | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/platform/browser/observability/session-live-view |
| Browserbase | Session replay | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/platform/browser/observability/session-replay |
| Browserbase | File downloads | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/platform/browser/files/downloads |
| Browserbase | Chrome extensions | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/platform/browser/core-features/browser-extensions |
| Browserbase | MCP server | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.browserbase.com/integrations/mcp/introduction |
| Browserbase | Free tier | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.browserbase.com/pricing |
| Steel.dev | Stealth mode | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev |
| Steel.dev | CDP endpoint | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev |
| Steel.dev | Playwright | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev/integrations/playwright |
| Steel.dev | Puppeteer | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev/integrations/puppeteer |
| Steel.dev | Session persistence | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev/overview/profiles-api/overview |
| Steel.dev | Live view | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api/embed-sessions/live-sessions |
| Steel.dev | Open-source core | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://github.com/steel-dev/steel-browser |

See the full roster: [Browser APIs](https://toolweight.dev/compare/browser-automation-apis) — 13 tools.

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