{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "agent-browser", "name": "agent-browser", "vendor": "Vercel Labs", "vendorUrl": "https://agent-browser.dev", "kind": "mcp", "category": "browser", "summary": "agent-browser is an open-source command-line tool from Vercel Labs that lets AI agents drive Chrome through accessibility-tree snapshots and element refs. It runs locally as a Rust binary and includes a stdio MCP server.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/agent-browser", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/agent-browser.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/agent-browser.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/agent-browser.json", "repo": "https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "stdio" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "agent-browser" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account or key. The CLI and its daemon run on the owner's machine. Site logins are held in a local auth vault encrypted with AES-256-GCM, in saved state files (plaintext unless `AGENT_BROWSER_ENCRYPTION_KEY` is set) or in a reused Chrome profile. Cloud browser providers and the optional `chat` command need their own keys in environment variables.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free and open source under Apache-2.0, with nothing to buy and no hosted service. The optional `chat` command and dashboard chat bill the user's own Vercel AI Gateway key, and cloud browser providers bill separately (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the README, the docs or the source (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 158, "popularity": { "githubStars": 43679, "npmWeekly": 2069828, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://agent-browser.dev", "llmsTxt": "https://agent-browser.dev/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "browser.control", "browser.debug" ], "tags": [ "official", "local", "open-source", "browser", "cli", "mcp", "rust", "no-auth", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 66.6, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 263, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 70, "payments": 60, "reliability": 48, "schema": 84, "security": 67, "transparency": 61 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Snapshots with element refs, a 29-tool default MCP profile and opt-in domain allowlists, action policies and content boundary markers suit agent use. The project is at 0.38.2 with no stable release, the ten most recent CI runs on main failed between 1 and 8 October 2026, and every security control is off by default.", "bestFor": "Coding agents with a shell that want short commands and compact snapshots.", "strengths": [ "Accessibility-tree snapshots give each element a ref such as `@e2`, with `-i`, `-c`, `-d` and `--delta` to cut the output", "The stdio MCP server loads 29 tools by default and 158 with `--tools all`, each with a typed schema and `readOnlyHint`", "Domain allowlist, action policy, action confirmation and content boundary markers are documented with a threat model and known limitations", "19 tagged releases between 13 July and 1 October 2026, each with a changelog entry", "llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page at agent-browser.dev, plus bundled skills served by `agent-browser skills get`" ], "weaknesses": [ "The ten most recent CI runs on main, 1 to 8 October 2026, all concluded in failure. In the newest, Windows Rust tests and native end-to-end tests failed", "Version 0.38.2 with a Vercel Labs badge and no stable release or deprecation policy", "All security controls are opt-in. By default there is no limit on navigation, actions or output", "crates.io holds 0.19.0 from 14 March 2026, although the README lists `cargo install agent-browser` as an install route", "No SECURITY.md in the repository, and 840 open issues and pull requests, with most of the newest issues unlabelled and unanswered" ], "agentNotes": [ "Run `agent-browser install` once after `npm install -g agent-browser`. It downloads Chrome for Testing", "Take a fresh `snapshot -i` after any navigation. Refs survive same-document changes only", "Pass `--json` for machine-readable results and `--max-output` to cap page text", "Set `--allowed-domains`, `--action-policy` and `--content-boundaries` for untrusted sites. None is on by default, and the allowlist rejects `--profile`, `--cdp` and `--restore`", "Start MCP with `agent-browser mcp`, and add profiles such as `--tools core,network` only when needed" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 66.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 70, "payments": 60, "reliability": 48, "schema": 84, "security": 67, "transparency": 68 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install -g agent-browser \u0026\u0026 agent-browser install", "config": { "mcpServers": { "agent-browser": { "args": [ "mcp" ], "command": "agent-browser" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/browser.control", "tool": "https://letme.dev/agent-browser" }, "area": "developer", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Vercel Inc.", "domain": "agent-browser.dev", "domainRegistered": "2026-01-13", "domainNote": "The LICENSE file reads Copyright 2025 Vercel Inc., and the repository sits in the vercel-labs organisation on GitHub. agent-browser.dev has no security.txt (HTTP 404). vercel.com's is valid until 28 September 2027 and names HackerOne.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "No terms or privacy document governs this software beyond the Apache-2.0 licence, so `terms` and `privacy` are left out." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/agent-browser.json" }, "answer": "agent-browser scores 66.6 (B) on agent readiness against Airtop's 55.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Airtop leads on reliability.", "b": { "slug": "airtop", "name": "Airtop", "vendor": "Switchboard Visual Technologies, Inc. (dba Airtop)", "vendorUrl": "https://www.airtop.ai", "kind": "http-api", "category": "browser", "summary": "Airtop runs cloud browser sessions that an agent controls through a REST API, Node and Python SDKs, natural-language page calls, or Puppeteer, Playwright and Selenium connections. The same company sells Agent Builder, a no-code product for scheduled web agents.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtop", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtop.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtop.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/airtop.json", "repo": "https://github.com/airtop-ai/airtop-node-sdk", "license": "Proprietary cloud service under Airtop's terms of use. The Node and Python SDKs are MIT per npm and PyPI", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.airtop.ai/api", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@airtop/sdk" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "airtop" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve API key from the portal at portal.airtop.ai/api-keys after a browser signup, sent as `Authorization: Bearer` on https://api.airtop.ai/api/v1. Puppeteer and Playwright connect to the session's `cdpWsUrl`, and Selenium to its `chromedriverUrl`, with the same Bearer header, so the key stays out of URLs. A key works across its organisation, including saved profiles. No scopes, read-only keys, expiry or rotation were found in the reviewed documentation. The developers page mentions RBAC for enterprise access without detail.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan with 1,000 credits a month and 3 simultaneous sessions. Paid plans start at $29 a month (Starter, 30,000 credits), $189 (Professional, 225,000) and $558 (Enterprise, 775,000), each with larger credit options, and annual billing takes 10 per cent off. Credits pay for browser time (billed in 30-second increments), integrated proxy traffic and AI calls, but the credits charged per unit are not published. No one-off credit purchases, and unused credits do not carry over. The pricing page states a 10,000 one-time credit bonus on Free while the billing guide states 30,000. Whether signup needs a card is not stated (https://www.airtop.ai/pricing, https://www.airtop.ai/help/billing/billing, checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$29 / mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the OpenAPI document or the pricing page. An unauthenticated GET to https://api.airtop.ai/api/v1/sessions on 2026-10-08 returned 401, not 402.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 16, "npmWeekly": 15505, "pypiWeekly": 246, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.airtop.ai", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.airtop.ai/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://docs.airtop.ai/openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "browser.control", "browser.hosted", "browser.debug", "web.scrape", "scraping.proxies", "scraping.anti-bot" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "freemium", "api-key", "openapi", "llms-txt", "typescript", "python", "proxies", "captcha", "status-page", "soc2" ], "lastRelease": "2026-07-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 55.3, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 592, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 13, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 65, "maintenance": 24, "payments": 25, "reliability": 69, "schema": 76, "security": 46, "transparency": 61 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "The cloud browser API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 document, Markdown docs, natural-language page calls with a per-call credit cap, and a status page with no incident in the last 90 days. Credit rates for browser time, proxy traffic and AI calls are not published, and the developer changelog's last entry is dated 3 September 2025.", "bestFor": "Agents that need a hosted browser with natural-language page calls, saved logins handed over by a person, and proxies and CAPTCHA solving in one service.", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI 3.1 document with 39 operations, an llms.txt index and a Markdown twin of every docs page", "The API key travels as a Bearer header on REST, CDP and Selenium connections, not in the URL", "Every AI call returns `meta.usage.credits` and accepts `costThresholdCredits` and `timeThresholdSeconds` to cap spend and time", "status.airtop.ai shows no incident between 10 July and 8 October 2026, only 30 minutes of scheduled maintenance on 18 August", "A person can log in through an embedded Live View, and the saved profile keeps the agent signed in without it seeing the password" ], "weaknesses": [ "No published rate for what a browser minute, a GB of proxy traffic or an AI call costs in credits", "The developer changelog's last entry is 3 September 2025, and the stable Python SDK dates from 23 April 2025", "No request rate limits, 429 handling or idempotency keys found in the reviewed documentation", "No scoped or read-only API keys documented, and no guidance on prompt injection from page content", "No security.txt, bug bounty, public DPA or subprocessor list found. The SOC 2 report is on request" ], "agentNotes": [ "Terminate every session with `DELETE /v1/sessions/{id}`. Sessions bill in 30-second increments and idle ones last 10 minutes by default", "Set `costThresholdCredits` on AI calls and read `meta.usage.credits` afterwards. Credit rates are not published, so measure them", "Use `page-query` with `configuration.outputSchema` for structured output. `prompt-content` and `summarize-content` are deprecated", "When calling REST without the SDK, poll session status until `running` before creating a window. Only the SDK waits for you", "Airtop's integrated proxy cannot reach LinkedIn, ticketing sites and some banks and streaming services. Bring a custom proxy for those" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 55.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 65, "maintenance": 24, "payments": 25, "reliability": 69, "schema": 76, "security": 46, "transparency": 42 }, "provenanceScore": 80 }, "connect": { "install": "npm i -s @airtop/sdk", "http": "curl -X POST https://api.airtop.ai/api/v1/sessions -H \"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_AIRTOP_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" -d '{}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/browser.control", "tool": "https://letme.dev/airtop" }, "area": "developer", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Starter plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 29, "note": "30,000 credits, larger credit options cost more" }, { "item": "Professional plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 189, "note": "225,000 credits, 30 simultaneous sessions" }, { "item": "Enterprise plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 558, "note": "775,000 credits, 100 simultaneous sessions" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Switchboard Visual Technologies, Inc. (dba Airtop)", "domain": "airtop.ai", "domainRegistered": "2024-07-08", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.airtop.ai/tos", "privacy": "https://www.airtop.ai/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.airtop.ai", "changelog": "https://docs.airtop.ai/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Terms of Use (effective 28 July 2025) are a contract with Switchboard Visual Technologies, Inc dba Airtop, 3277 S. White Rd., PMB 14328, San Jose, CA 95148, under California law. They cover the website, products, services and applications, and no separate API or service agreement was found.", "The privacy policy was updated on 2 September 2025 and says the services are hosted in the United States.", "The API answers at api.airtop.ai, Live View at live.airtop.ai and the portal at portal.airtop.ai.", "www.airtop.ai/.well-known/security.txt and docs.airtop.ai/.well-known/security.txt both return 404.", "RDAP for airtop.ai gives a registration date of 2024-07-08.", "The status page runs on Instatus with one component, App. The trust centre at trust.airtop.ai is a Vanta page that needs JavaScript and was not read.", "There are two changelogs. docs.airtop.ai/changelog covers the browser API and ends on 3 September 2025. www.airtop.ai/help/changelog covers Agent Builder and has one entry, 5 August 2026." ], "score": 80 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtop.json", "live": { "slug": "airtop", "probe": { "target": "https://api.airtop.ai/api", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-09T11:28:52.917902369Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 293, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 295, "p95ms24h": 324, "samples24h": 192, "samples30d": 192, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 70, "ok": 70 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 122, "ok": 122 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.airtop.ai", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T07:57:35.440116904Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://docs.airtop.ai/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:18:10.014971821Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "c3630d9e2345" }, { "url": "https://www.airtop.ai/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:26:01.944890702Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "38896fa721d2" }, { "url": "https://www.airtop.ai/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:26:04.133677205Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "ee64836a6ed3" }, { "url": "https://www.airtop.ai/tos", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:26:06.187954482Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "d7cae0ea0d26" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T11:28:52.917902369Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "MCP server", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Vercel Labs", "b": "Switchboard Visual Technologies, Inc. (dba Airtop)", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "https://api.airtop.ai/api", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "stdio", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Apache-2.0", "b": "Proprietary cloud service under Airtop's terms of use. The Node and Python SDKs are MIT per npm and PyPI", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "158", "b": "none", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "2026-07-01", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "2025-07-29", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "2025-09-02", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "44k stars, 2.1M npm/wk", "b": "16 stars, 16k npm/wk, 246 PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "agent-browser scores 66.6 (B) on agent readiness against Airtop's 55.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Airtop leads on reliability.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, agent-browser or Airtop?" }, { "answer": "agent-browser needs no key. Airtop needs an API key.", "question": "Do agent-browser and Airtop need an API key?" }, { "answer": "agent-browser runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Airtop has a hosted endpoint at https://api.airtop.ai/api.", "question": "Can an agent call agent-browser and Airtop without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "agent-browser is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Airtop.", "question": "Are agent-browser and Airtop open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 84 against 76", "Agent ergonomics, 78 against 65", "Security \u0026 auth, 67 against 46", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 25", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 70 against 24" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Runs on your own machine", "Open source" ], "goodFor": "Coding agents with a shell that want short commands and compact snapshots.", "slug": "agent-browser", "watchFor": "The ten most recent CI runs on main, 1 to 8 October 2026, all concluded in failure. In the newest, Windows Rust tests and native end-to-end tests failed" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 69 against 48" ], "also": [ "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install" ], "goodFor": "Agents that need a hosted browser with natural-language page calls, saved logins handed over by a person, and proxies and CAPTCHA solving in one service.", "slug": "airtop", "watchFor": "No published rate for what a browser minute, a GB of proxy traffic or an AI call costs in credits" } ], "job": { "capability": "browser.control", "name": "Browser automation" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-anchor-browser.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Anchor Browser", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-anchor-browser" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browser-use.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Browser Use", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browser-use" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserbase.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Browserbase", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserbase" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserless.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Browserless", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserless" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Chrome DevTools MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-hyperbrowser.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Hyperbrowser", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-hyperbrowser" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-notte.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Notte", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-notte" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-playwright-mcp.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Playwright MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-playwright-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-skyvern.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Skyvern", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-skyvern" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Steel", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-tinyfish.json", "title": "agent-browser vs TinyFish", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-tinyfish" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-anchor-browser.json", "title": "Airtop vs Anchor Browser", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-anchor-browser" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browser-use.json", "title": "Airtop vs Browser Use", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browser-use" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserbase.json", "title": "Airtop vs Browserbase", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserbase" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserless.json", "title": "Airtop vs Browserless", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserless" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.json", "title": "Airtop vs Chrome DevTools MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-hyperbrowser.json", "title": "Airtop vs Hyperbrowser", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-hyperbrowser" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-notte.json", "title": "Airtop vs Notte", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-notte" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-playwright-mcp.json", "title": "Airtop vs Playwright MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-playwright-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.json", "title": "Airtop vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-skyvern.json", "title": "Airtop vs Skyvern", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-skyvern" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-steel.json", "title": "Airtop vs Steel", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-steel" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-tinyfish.json", "title": "Airtop vs TinyFish", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-tinyfish" } ], "scores": [ { "agent-browser": 48, "airtop": 69, "by": 21, "edge": "airtop", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "agent-browser": 84, "airtop": 76, "by": 8, "edge": "agent-browser", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "agent-browser": 78, "airtop": 65, "by": 13, "edge": "agent-browser", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "agent-browser": 67, "airtop": 46, "by": 21, "edge": "agent-browser", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "agent-browser": 60, "airtop": 25, "by": 35, "edge": "agent-browser", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "agent-browser": 70, "airtop": 24, "by": 46, "edge": "agent-browser", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "agent-browser": 61, "airtop": 61, "by": 0, "edge": "", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "agent-browser scores 66.6 (B) on agent readiness against Airtop's 55.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Airtop leads on reliability. Both do browser automation.", "verdicts": { "agent-browser": "Snapshots with element refs, a 29-tool default MCP profile and opt-in domain allowlists, action policies and content boundary markers suit agent use. The project is at 0.38.2 with no stable release, the ten most recent CI runs on main failed between 1 and 8 October 2026, and every security control is off by default.", "airtop": "The cloud browser API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 document, Markdown docs, natural-language page calls with a per-call credit cap, and a status page with no incident in the last 90 days. Credit rates for browser time, proxy traffic and AI calls are not published, and the developer changelog's last entry is dated 3 September 2025." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop.min.md" }, "markdown": "agent-browser scores 66.6 (B) on agent readiness against Airtop's 55.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Airtop leads on reliability. Both do browser automation.\n\n- agent-browser: grade B, 66.6/100, rank #263 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/agent-browser.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/agent-browser.json\n- Airtop: grade C, 55.3/100, rank #592 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtop.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/airtop.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### agent-browser (B)\n\nGood for: Coding agents with a shell that want short commands and compact snapshots.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 84 against 76\n- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 65\n- Security \u0026 auth, 67 against 46\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 25\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 70 against 24\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Runs on your own machine\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: The ten most recent CI runs on main, 1 to 8 October 2026, all concluded in failure. In the newest, Windows Rust tests and native end-to-end tests failed\n\n### Airtop (C)\n\nGood for: Agents that need a hosted browser with natural-language page calls, saved logins handed over by a person, and proxies and CAPTCHA solving in one service.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 69 against 48\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n\nWatch for: No published rate for what a browser minute, a GB of proxy traffic or an AI call costs in credits\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | agent-browser | Airtop | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 48 | 69 | Airtop +21 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 76 | agent-browser +8 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 65 | agent-browser +13 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 67 | 46 | agent-browser +21 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 25 | agent-browser +35 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 70 | 24 | agent-browser +46 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 61 | even |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **66.6 · B** | **55.3 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | agent-browser | Airtop |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Vercel Labs | Switchboard Visual Technologies, Inc. (dba Airtop) |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.airtop.ai/api` |\n| Transports | stdio | HTTP |\n| Auth | None | API key |\n| Pricing | Free | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary cloud service under Airtop's terms of use. The Node and Python SDKs are MIT per npm and PyPI |\n| Tools exposed | 158 | none |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-07-01 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2025-07-29 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2025-09-02 |\n| Customer content may train models | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | yes |\n| Popularity | 44k stars, 2.1M npm/wk | 16 stars, 16k npm/wk, 246 PyPI/wk |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**agent-browser.** Snapshots with element refs, a 29-tool default MCP profile and opt-in domain allowlists, action policies and content boundary markers suit agent use. The project is at 0.38.2 with no stable release, the ten most recent CI runs on main failed between 1 and 8 October 2026, and every security control is off by default.\n\n**Airtop.** The cloud browser API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 document, Markdown docs, natural-language page calls with a per-call credit cap, and a status page with no incident in the last 90 days. Credit rates for browser time, proxy traffic and AI calls are not published, and the developer changelog's last entry is dated 3 September 2025.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### agent-browser\n\n1. Run `agent-browser install` once after `npm install -g agent-browser`. It downloads Chrome for Testing\n2. Take a fresh `snapshot -i` after any navigation. Refs survive same-document changes only\n3. Pass `--json` for machine-readable results and `--max-output` to cap page text\n4. Set `--allowed-domains`, `--action-policy` and `--content-boundaries` for untrusted sites. None is on by default, and the allowlist rejects `--profile`, `--cdp` and `--restore`\n5. Start MCP with `agent-browser mcp`, and add profiles such as `--tools core,network` only when needed\n\n### Airtop\n\n1. Terminate every session with `DELETE /v1/sessions/{id}`. Sessions bill in 30-second increments and idle ones last 10 minutes by default\n2. Set `costThresholdCredits` on AI calls and read `meta.usage.credits` afterwards. Credit rates are not published, so measure them\n3. Use `page-query` with `configuration.outputSchema` for structured output. `prompt-content` and `summarize-content` are deprecated\n4. When calling REST without the SDK, poll session status until `running` before creating a window. Only the SDK waits for you\n5. Airtop's integrated proxy cannot reach LinkedIn, ticketing sites and some banks and streaming services. Bring a custom proxy for those\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, agent-browser or Airtop?\n\nagent-browser scores 66.6 (B) on agent readiness against Airtop's 55.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Airtop leads on reliability.\n\n### Do agent-browser and Airtop need an API key?\n\nagent-browser needs no key. Airtop needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call agent-browser and Airtop without installing anything?\n\nagent-browser runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Airtop has a hosted endpoint at https://api.airtop.ai/api.\n\n### Are agent-browser and Airtop open source?\n\nagent-browser is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Airtop.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"agent-browser\", \"b\": \"airtop\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare agent-browser airtop`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/agent-browser.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/airtop.json\n\n## Other comparisons with agent-browser or Airtop\n\n- [agent-browser vs Anchor Browser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-anchor-browser.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Browser Use](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browser-use.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Browserbase](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserbase.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserless.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-hyperbrowser.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Notte](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-notte.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Playwright MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-playwright-mcp.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-skyvern.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel.md)\n- [agent-browser vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-tinyfish.md)\n- [Airtop vs Anchor Browser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-anchor-browser.md)\n- [Airtop vs Browser Use](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browser-use.md)\n- [Airtop vs Browserbase](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserbase.md)\n- [Airtop vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserless.md)\n- [Airtop vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)\n- [Airtop vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-hyperbrowser.md)\n- [Airtop vs Notte](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-notte.md)\n- [Airtop vs Playwright MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-playwright-mcp.md)\n- [Airtop vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)\n- [Airtop vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-skyvern.md)\n- [Airtop vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-steel.md)\n- [Airtop vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-tinyfish.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-09", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "agent-browser vs Airtop", "url": "" } ], "description": "agent-browser scores 66.6 (B) on agent readiness against Airtop's 55.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Airtop leads on reliability. Both do browser automation. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "agent-browser B 66.6", "Airtop C 55.3", "scores" ], "h1": "agent-browser vs Airtop", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-agent-browser-vs-airtop.png", "path": "/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "agent-browser vs Airtop for AI agents, B 66.6 vs C 55.3", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2450, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }