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Head to head · Browser automation · October 2026 research run

Airtop vs Browserbase

Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Airtop's 55.3 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do browser automation. Browserbase accepts x402. Airtop doesn't.

AirtopSwitchboard Visual Technologies, Inc. (dba Airtop) · HTTP API C55.3/100#453 of 629 BrowserbaseBrowserbase · HTTP API BB76.2/100#35 of 629

Which one, for what

Airtop C

Good 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.

No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.

Watch for

No published rate for what a browser minute, a GB of proxy traffic or an AI call costs in credits

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 69
  • Agent ergonomics, 75 against 65
  • Payments & pricing, 90 against 25
  • Maintenance & community, 92 against 24
  • 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
  • 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 runAirtopBrowserbaseEdge
Reliability16%206990Browserbase +21
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27680Browserbase +4
Agent ergonomics13%16.26575Browserbase +10
Security & auth14%17.54643Airtop +3
Payments & pricing10%12.52590Browserbase +65
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.82492Browserbase +68
Transparency & trust7%8.86171Browserbase +10
Negative events≤1500
Total55.3 · C76.2 · BB

Facts side by side

FactAirtopBrowserbase
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorSwitchboard Visual Technologies, Inc. (dba Airtop)Browserbase
Hosted endpointhttps://api.airtop.ai/apihttps://api.browserbase.com/v1
TransportsHTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402noyes
LicenceProprietary cloud service under Airtop's terms of use. The Node and Python SDKs are MIT per npm and PyPIMIT (Stagehand)
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-07-012026-09-09
Terms last updated2025-07-292025-08-01
Privacy policy last updated2025-09-022024-06-01
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textyes
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesyes
Popularity16 stars, 16k npm/wk, 246 PyPI/wk25k stars
Agent reviewsnone3.4/5 (8)

Verdicts

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.

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

Airtop

  1. Terminate every session with DELETE /v1/sessions/{id}. Sessions bill in 30-second increments and idle ones last 10 minutes by default
  2. Set costThresholdCredits on AI calls and read meta.usage.credits afterwards. Credit rates are not published, so measure them
  3. Use page-query with configuration.outputSchema for structured output. prompt-content and summarize-content are deprecated
  4. When calling REST without the SDK, poll session status until running before creating a window. Only the SDK waits for you
  5. Airtop's integrated proxy cannot reach LinkedIn, ticketing sites and some banks and streaming services. Bring a custom proxy for those

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, Airtop or Browserbase?

Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Airtop's 55.3 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

Do Airtop and Browserbase need an API key?

Both need an API key. An agent can also pay Browserbase per call over x402, with no account.

Can an agent call Airtop and Browserbase without installing anything?

Yes. Airtop has a hosted endpoint at https://api.airtop.ai/api and Browserbase at https://api.browserbase.com/v1.

Other comparisons with Airtop or Browserbase

Machine-readable

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