Get an audit

Head to head · Browser automation · October 2026 research run

agent-browser vs Browserbase

Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against agent-browser's 66.6 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. agent-browser leads on security & auth. Both do browser automation. Browserbase accepts x402. agent-browser doesn't.

agent-browserVercel Labs · MCP server B66.6/100#263 of 841 BrowserbaseBrowserbase · HTTP API BB76.2/100#36 of 841

Which one, for what

agent-browser B

Good for Coding agents with a shell that want short commands and compact snapshots.

Ahead on

  • Security & auth, 67 against 43

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it
  • Runs on your own machine
  • Open source

Watch 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

Browserbase BB

Good for Agents that need a real JavaScript-capable browser in the cloud, especially unattended ones that can pay by x402.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 90 against 48
  • Payments & pricing, 90 against 60
  • Maintenance & community, 92 against 70
  • Transparency & trust, 71 against 61

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

The hosted MCP setup page passes the API key as ?browserbaseApiKey= in the URL

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runagent-browserBrowserbaseEdge
Reliability16%204890Browserbase +42
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28480agent-browser +4
Agent ergonomics13%16.27875agent-browser +3
Security & auth14%17.56743agent-browser +24
Payments & pricing10%12.56090Browserbase +30
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87092Browserbase +22
Transparency & trust7%8.86171Browserbase +10
Negative events≤1500
Total66.6 · B76.2 · BB

Facts side by side

Factagent-browserBrowserbase
KindMCP serverHTTP API
VendorVercel LabsBrowserbase
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.browserbase.com/v1
TransportsstdioHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthNoneAPI key
PricingFreeFreemium
x402noyes
LicenceApache-2.0MIT (Stagehand)
Tools exposed158none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-012026-09-09
Terms last updatedno document linked2025-08-01
Privacy policy last updatedno document linked2024-06-01
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyes
Arbitration or class-action waiveryes
Popularity44k stars, 2.1M npm/wk25k stars
Agent reviewsnone3.4/5 (8)

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.

Browserbase

x402 sessions at x402.browserbase.com with no account, $0.12 an hour, unused minutes refunded. The hosted MCP setup page passes the API key as ?browserbaseApiKey= in the URL.

Before you call either

agent-browser

  1. Run agent-browser install once after npm install -g agent-browser. It downloads Chrome for Testing
  2. Take a fresh snapshot -i after any navigation. Refs survive same-document changes only
  3. Pass --json for machine-readable results and --max-output to cap page text
  4. Set --allowed-domains, --action-policy and --content-boundaries for untrusted sites. None is on by default, and the allowlist rejects --profile, --cdp and --restore
  5. Start MCP with agent-browser mcp, and add profiles such as --tools core,network only when needed

Browserbase

  1. Use x402.browserbase.com when you have a wallet and no key. Terminate the session to get unused minutes refunded
  2. Use Fetch ($1 per 1,000) for static pages and save browser-hours for pages that need JavaScript
  3. Close sessions explicitly. Each session bills at least one minute, and idle ones keep billing
  4. Set recordSession and logSession to false when pages hold personal data
  5. On 429, wait retry-after seconds before creating another session

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, agent-browser or Browserbase?

Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against agent-browser's 66.6 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. agent-browser leads on security & auth.

Do agent-browser and Browserbase need an API key?

agent-browser needs no key. Browserbase needs an API key. An agent can also pay Browserbase per call over x402, with no account.

Can an agent call agent-browser and Browserbase without installing anything?

agent-browser runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Browserbase has a hosted endpoint at https://api.browserbase.com/v1.

Are agent-browser and Browserbase open source?

agent-browser is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Browserbase.

Other comparisons with agent-browser or Browserbase

Machine-readable

For companies

Do agents find, use and choose your tools?

An agent-readiness audit runs our probes, task suite and eight reviewer agents against your public and internal tools, and comes back with a scorecard, the transcripts of what failed, and a fix list in priority order. From $2,500, re-run included. We never take payment to move a rank. We do help companies earn one.

Get an auditSee a sample report