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Head to head · Browser automation · October 2026 research run

Anchor Browser vs Browser Use

Browser Use scores 77.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Anchor Browser's 67.3 (B), and leads in every scored category. Both do browser automation. Browser Use accepts x402. Anchor Browser doesn't.

Anchor BrowserAnchor Forge Inc. · HTTP API B67.3/100#196 of 629 Browser UseBrowser Use · HTTP API BB77.9/100#16 of 629

Which one, for what

Anchor Browser B

Good for Agents that must work inside signed-in accounts, with managed identities, MFA handling and a human sign-in link, and agents that need to start with no human signup.

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

Watch for

No service agreement or API terms found. anchorbrowser.io/terms is a website terms of use dated 16 March 2025

Browser Use BB

Good for An agent that wants to hand a whole browser task to a hosted agent and get a result back, or that needs a low-cost cloud browser over CDP, and for unattended agents that can pay by x402.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 87 against 80
  • Schema & documentation, 85 against 80
  • Agent ergonomics, 78 against 73
  • Security & auth, 59 against 54
  • Payments & pricing, 90 against 60
  • Maintenance & community, 77 against 57
  • Transparency & trust, 65 against 51

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
  • Runs on your own machine
  • Open source

Watch for

The privacy policy says inputs are used to train Browser Use's AI models, with no opt-out described outside Enterprise zero data retention

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runAnchor BrowserBrowser UseEdge
Reliability16%208087Browser Use +7
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28085Browser Use +5
Agent ergonomics13%16.27378Browser Use +5
Security & auth14%17.55459Browser Use +5
Payments & pricing10%12.56090Browser Use +30
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.85777Browser Use +20
Transparency & trust7%8.85165Browser Use +14
Negative events≤1500
Total67.3 · B77.9 · BB

Facts side by side

FactAnchor BrowserBrowser Use
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorAnchor Forge Inc.Browser Use
Hosted endpointhttps://api.anchorbrowser.iohttps://api.browser-use.com/api/v4
TransportsHTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumPay per use
x402noyes
LicenceProprietary cloud service. No service agreement was found, only a website terms of use. The TypeScript and Python SDKs and the self-hosted MCP server are Apache-2.0MIT for the open-source library and the SDK. Browser Use Cloud is a proprietary service under Browser Use's terms of service
Tools exposednone7
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registrynot listedcom.browser-use/browser-use
Last release2026-07-282026-10-07
Terms last updatedno document linked2026-07-15
Privacy policy last updated2026-02-24no date given
Customer content may train modelsyes
Terms restrict automated accessyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingyes
Terms or service can change without noticeyes
Arbitration or class-action waiveryes
Popularity43k npm/wk, 10k PyPI/wk117k stars, 107k npm/wk, 2.1M PyPI/wk

Verdicts

Anchor Browser

The API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 document, per-unit prices and Agent Access, an unauthenticated flow that issues a trial API key without a dashboard account. No service agreement is published, only a website terms of use, and the documented CDP connection puts the API key in the URL.

Browser Use

The hosted cloud accepts x402 top-ups in USDC on Base with no account or API key, and publishes prices, rate limits and three OpenAPI documents. The privacy policy says inputs are used to train Browser Use's models, API keys have no documented scopes, and no prompt-injection guidance was found in the docs.

Before you call either

Anchor Browser

  1. Send the key in the anchor-api-key header. For CDP, build wss://connect.anchorbrowser.io?apiKey=<key>&sessionId=<id> and keep that URL out of logs
  2. Set session.timeout.idle_timeout and max_duration and end sessions with DELETE. The default maximum is 180 minutes, and browser time bills by the minute
  3. Session creation is capped at 5 a minute on Free, 25 on Starter and 100 on Growth. On 429, wait for the Retry-After seconds
  4. Connect the Anchor MCP server or Anchor (all), not both, because the docs say the pair duplicates tool names
  5. Authenticated browsers, CAPTCHA solving and proxies by country need the Starter plan or higher. The Free plan and Agent Access keys run plain sessions and web tasks

Browser Use

  1. Send the key as X-Browser-Use-API-Key with no Bearer prefix. A Bearer header returns 401
  2. Stop browsers with PATCH /api/v4/browsers/{id} and {"action":"stop"}. Closing CDP or the SDK client leaves the browser billing
  3. Poll GET /runs/{id}/status, not the full run, and wait for the returned Retry-After on 429, which can be 300 seconds at the edge
  4. Before resubmitting after a timeout, read the existing run's status. The server keeps running and may already have submitted a form
  5. With a wallet and no key, call x402.api.browser-use.com on /api/v2 or /api/v3 routes. A task stops with INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS if credit runs out mid-run

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Anchor Browser or Browser Use?

Browser Use scores 77.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Anchor Browser's 67.3 (B), and leads in every scored category.

Do Anchor Browser and Browser Use need an API key?

Anchor Browser takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Browser Use needs an API key. An agent can also pay Browser Use per call over x402, with no account.

Can an agent call Anchor Browser and Browser Use without installing anything?

Yes. Anchor Browser has a hosted endpoint at https://api.anchorbrowser.io and Browser Use at https://api.browser-use.com/api/v4.

Are Anchor Browser and Browser Use open source?

No open-source release is listed for Anchor Browser. Browser Use is open source (MIT for the open-source library and the SDK. Browser Use Cloud is a proprietary service under Browser Use's terms of service).

Other comparisons with Anchor Browser or Browser Use

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