kitio.aiBrowserbase vs Steel
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Browserbase has the lower starting price: about $20 a month, against $250 for Steel.
At a glance
Best for
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Cloud headless browsers
- Playwright and Puppeteer support
- Session recordings
- Persistent contexts
- Stagehand framework
- Headless browser API
- Proxy and CAPTCHA handling
- Session persistence
- Steel CLI
- Self-hosted or cloud
| Feature | Browserbase | Steel |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Headless browser infrastructure for AI agents and automation | Open-source browser API for AI agents, self-hosted or cloud |
| Category | Agents & automation | Agents & automation |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $250/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | Browserbase | Steel |
| Based in | United States | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Browserbase has the lower starting price: about $20 a month, against $250 for Steel.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
4 plans
Free
Free
- 3 concurrent browsers
- 1 browser hour
- 15 minutes per session
Developer
$20/mo
- 25 concurrent browsers
- 100 browser hours
- 1 GB of proxies
- Auto captcha solving
Startup
$99/mo
- 100 concurrent browsers
- 500 browser hours
- 5 GB of proxies
Scale
Contact sales
- 250+ concurrent browsers
- Usage-based hours
- HIPAA BAA and SSO
3 plans
Launch
Free
- $30 one-time credits, then usage
- 10 concurrent sessions
- Sessions up to 15 minutes
- Up to 3 seats
Scale
$250/mo
- Plus usage, $100 credits / month
- 100 concurrent sessions
- Sessions up to 1 hour
- Dedicated Slack, HIPAA BAA
Enterprise
Custom
- 1,000+ concurrent sessions
- Stealth browser
- Sessions up to 24 hours
- SLAs and enterprise SSO
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Browserbase
- Removes browser hosting work
- Good debugging tools
- Works with existing scripts
- Costs grow with session hours
- Still needs code to drive it
Steel
- Open source and self-hostable
- Works with standard browser libraries
- Agent-friendly CLI
- Smaller company and community
- You manage it if self-hosted
Which one should you choose?
Choose Browserbase if you want:
- Removes browser hosting work
- Good debugging tools
- Works with existing scripts
Watch out: costs grow with session hours.
Choose Steel if you want:
- Open source and self-hostable
- Works with standard browser libraries
- Agent-friendly CLI
Watch out: smaller company and community.
Browserbase vs Steel FAQ
What is the difference between Browserbase and Steel?
Browserbase: Headless browser infrastructure for AI agents and automation. Steel: Open-source browser API for AI agents, self-hosted or cloud. Both are agents & automation tools.
Is Browserbase or Steel cheaper?
Browserbase has the lower starting price: about $20 a month, against $250 for Steel.
Do Browserbase and Steel have free plans?
Browserbase: Yes. Steel: Yes.
Who makes Browserbase?
Browserbase is made by Browserbase, based in United States.
Who makes Steel?
Steel is made by Steel.
Which should I choose, Browserbase or Steel?
Choose Browserbase if you value removes browser hosting work and good debugging tools. Choose Steel if you value open source and self-hostable and works with standard browser libraries.