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Head to head · Browser automation · October 2026 research run

Anchor Browser vs Steel

Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Anchor Browser's 67.3 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Anchor Browser leads on reliability. Both do browser automation. Steel accepts x402. Anchor Browser doesn't.

Anchor BrowserAnchor Forge Inc. · HTTP API B67.3/100#211 of 722 SteelNen Labs, Inc. · HTTP API BB70.4/100#136 of 722

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

  • Reliability, 80 against 58

Watch for

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

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

  • Schema & documentation, 86 against 80
  • Agent ergonomics, 79 against 73
  • Payments & pricing, 75 against 60
  • Maintenance & community, 82 against 57
  • Transparency & trust, 64 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

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

CategoryWeight this runAnchor BrowserSteelEdge
Reliability16%208058Anchor Browser +22
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28086Steel +6
Agent ergonomics13%16.27379Steel +6
Security & auth14%17.55456Steel +2
Payments & pricing10%12.56075Steel +15
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.85782Steel +25
Transparency & trust7%8.85164Steel +13
Negative events≤1500
Total67.3 · B70.4 · BB

Facts side by side

FactAnchor BrowserSteel
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorAnchor Forge Inc.Nen Labs, Inc.
Hosted endpointhttps://api.anchorbrowser.iohttps://api.steel.dev
TransportsHTTPHTTP, stdio
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402noyes, from $0.01/call
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-2.0Proprietary 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
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-07-282026-10-02
Terms last updatedno document linked2025-02-05
Privacy policy last updated2026-02-242026-02-05
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingyes
Terms or service can change without noticeyes
Arbitration or class-action waiveryes
Popularity43k npm/wk, 10k PyPI/wk47k npm/wk, 63k 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.

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

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

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, Anchor Browser or Steel?

Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Anchor Browser's 67.3 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Anchor Browser leads on reliability.

Do Anchor Browser and Steel need an API key?

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

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

Yes. Anchor Browser has a hosted endpoint at https://api.anchorbrowser.io and Steel at https://api.steel.dev.

Are Anchor Browser and Steel open source?

No open-source release is listed for Anchor Browser. 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).

Other comparisons with Anchor Browser or Steel

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