# agent-browser vs Steel

> Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against agent-browser's 66.6 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. agent-browser leads on security & auth. Both do browser automation. Steel accepts x402. agent-browser doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against agent-browser's 66.6 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. agent-browser leads on security & auth. Both do browser automation. Steel accepts x402. agent-browser doesn't.

- 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
- Steel: grade BB, 70.4/100, rank #149 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/steel.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/steel.json

## 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 56

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

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

### Steel (BB)

Good for: Agents that need a real cloud browser with persistent profiles, stored logins, CAPTCHA solving and a human takeover path, and teams that want an open-source runtime they can also self-host.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 58 against 48
- Payments & pricing, 75 against 60
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 70

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: Three incidents of more than an hour hit the API or session creation in the 90 days to 8 October 2026, the longest 5 hours 41 minutes


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | agent-browser | Steel | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 48 | 58 | Steel +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 86 | Steel +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 79 | Steel +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 67 | 56 | agent-browser +11 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 75 | Steel +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 70 | 82 | Steel +12 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 64 | Steel +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.6 · B** | **70.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | agent-browser | Steel |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Vercel Labs | Nen Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.steel.dev` |
| Transports | stdio | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | yes, from $0.01/call |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary cloud service under Steel's terms. steel-browser and the Node and Python SDKs are Apache-2.0. The MCP server and the CLI are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 158 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2025-02-05 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-02-05 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 44k stars, 2.1M npm/wk | 47k npm/wk, 63k PyPI/wk |

## 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.

**Steel.** The hosted API has a public OpenAPI document, per-unit prices, $30 of starting credit and x402 payment for scrape, screenshot and PDF calls. The status page records three API or session-creation incidents of more than an hour in 90 days, and the documented CDP connection puts the API key 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

### Steel

1. Use `POST /v1/scrape` for pages you only need to read. It starts no session and costs $5 per 1,000 calls, or $0.01 a call by x402
2. Release every session with `POST /v1/sessions/{id}/release` and set `inactivityTimeout`. Browser time bills by the minute, rounded up
3. Build the CDP URL as `wss://connect.steel.dev?apiKey=<key>&sessionId=<id>` and keep it out of logs, because it carries the key
4. Launch sessions end after 15 minutes at most, and `timeout` cannot be changed on a live session
5. CAPTCHA solving and Steel's managed proxies on Launch need $10 of paid balance. Free credit does not count

## Questions

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

Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against agent-browser's 66.6 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. agent-browser leads on security & auth.

### Do agent-browser and Steel need an API key?

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

### Can an agent call agent-browser and Steel without installing anything?

agent-browser runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Steel has a hosted endpoint at https://api.steel.dev.

### Are agent-browser and Steel open source?

Yes. agent-browser is open source (Apache-2.0). Steel is open source (Proprietary cloud service under Steel's terms. steel-browser and the Node and Python SDKs are Apache-2.0. The MCP server and the CLI are MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-steel.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "agent-browser", "b": "steel"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare agent-browser steel`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/agent-browser.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/steel.json

## Other comparisons with agent-browser or Steel

- [agent-browser vs Airtop](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-airtop.md)
- [agent-browser vs Anchor Browser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-anchor-browser.md)
- [agent-browser vs Browser Use](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browser-use.md)
- [agent-browser vs Browserbase](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserbase.md)
- [agent-browser vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserless.md)
- [agent-browser vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)
- [agent-browser vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-hyperbrowser.md)
- [agent-browser vs Notte](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-notte.md)
- [agent-browser vs Playwright MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-playwright-mcp.md)
- [agent-browser vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [agent-browser vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-skyvern.md)
- [agent-browser vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-tinyfish.md)
- [Airtop vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-steel.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-steel.md)
- [Browser Use vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-steel.md)
- [Browserless vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-steel.md)
- [Chrome DevTools MCP vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chrome-devtools-mcp-vs-steel.md)
- [Hyperbrowser vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperbrowser-vs-steel.md)
- [Notte vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/notte-vs-steel.md)
- [Playwright MCP vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playwright-mcp-vs-steel.md)
- [Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/puppeteer-reference-server-archived-vs-steel.md)
- [Skyvern vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/skyvern-vs-steel.md)
- [Steel vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/steel-vs-tinyfish.md)
- [Browserbase vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-steel.md)