Browserbase vs Steel
Prices and features checked 2026-10-17 on both vendors' own pages. “not verified” means we could not confirm it.
Browserbase or Steel? Both host browsers for agents. Browserbase's Developer plan is $20/month with 100 browser hours, then $0.12/hour, and Startup is $99 with 500 hours. Steel's Launch plan is $0 with $30 of one-time credits at $0.10/hour, and Scale is $250/month with $100 of monthly credits at $0.08/hour. Steel Browser is open source (Apache-2.0); Browserbase open-sources the Stagehand SDK (MIT) but not its platform.
| Browserbase | Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Browserbase | Steel |
| Free tier | Free: 3 concurrent browsers, 1 browser hour [source, checked 2026-10-17] | Launch $0: $30 one-time credits, 10 concurrent sessions, sessions up to 15 minutes, $0.10/browser hour [source, checked 2026-10-17] |
| Entry paid price | Developer $20/month: 100 browser hours then $0.12/hour, 25 concurrent; Startup $99/month: 500 hours then $0.10/hour, 100 concurrent [source, checked 2026-10-17] | Scale $250/month: $100 credits monthly, 100 concurrent sessions, $0.08/browser hour, sessions up to 1 hour [source, checked 2026-10-17] |
| Meter | Browser hours and concurrent browsers per plan [source] | Browser hours, proxy GB, captcha solves; credits included per plan [source] |
| API and SDKs | Works with Playwright, Puppeteer and Stagehand [source] | Sessions API; works with Playwright, Puppeteer and Selenium [source] |
| MCP server | Hosted MCP server; the older GitHub repo is archived [source] | Official MCP server [source] |
| Open source | Stagehand SDK is MIT; the browser platform is hosted [source] | Steel Browser: Apache-2.0, self-hostable [source] |
| Compliance | SOC 2 (pricing FAQ) [source] | HIPAA-ready BAA and SSO on Scale [source] |
| Data retention | not verified | 7 days (Launch), 14 days (Scale) [source] |
Verdict: when to use which
Use Browserbase if you want a low fixed entry price with included hours, Stagehand, and SOC 2 stated on the pricing page.
Use Steel if you want to self-host the browser server, a lower per-hour rate at scale, or a HIPAA-ready BAA on a self-serve plan.
FAQ
Which is cheaper for 300 browser hours a month?
Browserbase Developer: $20 + 200 × $0.12 = $44. Steel Launch: 300 × $0.10 = $30 of usage, which the one-time $30 credit covers once. List prices checked 17 Oct 2026; limits differ (Steel Launch caps sessions at 15 minutes).
Can I self-host?
Steel Browser, yes (Apache-2.0). Browserbase's platform is hosted only.
MCP servers?
Both: Browserbase runs a hosted MCP server (its old GitHub repo is archived), and Steel publishes steel-mcp-server.
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