# Anchor Browser vs Browserless

> Browserless scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Anchor Browser's 67.3 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Anchor Browser leads on payments & pricing. Both do browser automation. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless.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

Browserless scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Anchor Browser's 67.3 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Anchor Browser leads on payments & pricing. Both do browser automation.

- Anchor Browser: grade B, 67.3/100, rank #196 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anchor-browser.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anchor-browser.json
- Browserless: grade BB, 70.4/100, rank #128 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserless.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserless.json

## 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.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40

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

### Browserless (BB)

Good for: Agents that need a real browser in the cloud with stealth, proxies and CAPTCHA solving, and teams that want the option of running the same server themselves.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 80
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 73
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 57
- Transparency & trust, 62 against 51

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Runs on your own machine

Watch for: REST and WebSocket routes take the API token as `?token=` in the URL, which the docs give as the standard method


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Anchor Browser | Browserless | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 82 | Browserless +2 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 89 | Browserless +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 78 | Browserless +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 54 | 53 | Anchor Browser +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 40 | Anchor Browser +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 82 | Browserless +25 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 62 | Browserless +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **67.3 · B** | **70.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Anchor Browser | Browserless |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Anchor Forge Inc. | browserless.io, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.anchorbrowser.io` | `https://production-sfo.browserless.io` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary 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-2.0 | SSPL 1.0 or a commercial licence for the core server and the MCP server. The BAP TypeScript SDK is MIT. BrowserQL, stealth and other cloud additions are proprietary |
| Tools exposed | none | 14 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-28 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-02-24 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 43k npm/wk, 10k PyPI/wk | 14k stars, 3.5k npm/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.

**Browserless.** An OpenAPI document, llms.txt and a 14-tool MCP server with annotations on every tool make the service easy for an agent to read, and the free plan needs no card. The API token travels in the URL query string by default, cloud tokens carry no scopes, and no machine payment route exists.

## 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

### Browserless

1. Send the token as `Authorization: Bearer` to the MCP server. On REST and WebSocket routes it goes in `?token=`, so keep those URLs out of logs
2. Close sessions as soon as the work is done. Browser time bills one unit per 30 seconds, rounded up, idle or not
3. For multi-step work with `browserless_agent`, set `keepSessionAlive: true` on the first call and pass the returned `sessionId` after that. Sessions are one-shot by default since server 1.33.0
4. On 429, back off and retry. It means the plan's concurrency limit or queue is full, usually from sessions left open
5. Match the path to the protocol. Use `/chromium` for CDP clients and `/chromium/playwright` only for `playwright.connect()`

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Anchor Browser or Browserless?

Browserless scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Anchor Browser's 67.3 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Anchor Browser leads on payments & pricing.

### Do Anchor Browser and Browserless need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Anchor Browser and Browserless without installing anything?

Yes. Anchor Browser has a hosted endpoint at https://api.anchorbrowser.io and Browserless at https://production-sfo.browserless.io.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Anchor Browser or Browserless

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