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

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-steel
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-steel.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-steel.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-steel.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: 2026-10-09

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 Browser: grade B, 67.3/100, rank #211 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anchor-browser.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anchor-browser.json
- Steel: grade BB, 70.4/100, rank #136 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/steel.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/steel.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:
- 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

| Category | Weight | Anchor Browser | Steel | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 58 | Anchor Browser +22 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 86 | Steel +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 79 | Steel +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 54 | 56 | Steel +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 75 | Steel +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 82 | Steel +25 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 64 | Steel +13 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **67.3 · B** | **70.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Anchor Browser | Steel |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Anchor Forge Inc. | Nen Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.anchorbrowser.io` | `https://api.steel.dev` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | yes, from $0.01/call |
| 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 | 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 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-28 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2025-02-05 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-02-24 | 2026-02-05 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 43k npm/wk, 10k PyPI/wk | 47k 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).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Anchor Browser or Steel

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