# 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. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserbase
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserbase.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserbase.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserbase.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: 2026-10-08

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.

- Airtop: grade C, 55.3/100, rank #511 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtop.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/airtop.json
- Browserbase: grade BB, 76.2/100, rank #35 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserbase.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserbase.json

## 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.

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

| Category | Weight | Airtop | Browserbase | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 69 | 90 | Browserbase +21 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 80 | Browserbase +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 65 | 75 | Browserbase +10 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 46 | 43 | Airtop +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 90 | Browserbase +65 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 24 | 92 | Browserbase +68 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 71 | Browserbase +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **55.3 · C** | **76.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Airtop | Browserbase |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Switchboard Visual Technologies, Inc. (dba Airtop) | Browserbase |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.airtop.ai/api` | `https://api.browserbase.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | yes |
| Licence | Proprietary cloud service under Airtop's terms of use. The Node and Python SDKs are MIT per npm and PyPI | MIT (Stagehand) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-01 | 2026-09-09 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-07-29 | 2025-08-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-09-02 | 2024-06-01 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 16 stars, 16k npm/wk, 246 PyPI/wk | 25k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.4/5 (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.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Airtop or Browserbase

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