{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "autocua", "name": "AutoCua", "vendor": "Ashish Yadav and contributors (ComputerUseAgent on GitHub)", "vendorUrl": "https://github.com/ComputerUseAgent/AutoCua", "kind": "framework", "category": "desktop-automation", "summary": "AutoCua is an open-source Python agent that operates a computer the way a person does, desktop apps, a terminal, your own Chrome and iOS or Android phones, with any of 60 models from ten providers.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autocua", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autocua.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autocua.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autocua.json", "dns": "autocua.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/ComputerUseAgent/AutoCua", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "AutoCua" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account. You bring an API key for the model provider you choose, kept with chats, Chrome profiles and a credential vault in a local AutoCua_data folder.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free and MIT-licensed. You pay your model provider for tokens. Nothing to buy from the project (checked 2026-11-06).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "library", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "A local package with nothing to buy and no payment protocol (checked 2026-11-06).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-06" }, "docsUrl": "https://github.com/ComputerUseAgent/AutoCua#readme", "capabilities": [ "browser.control", "agent.run" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "mit", "python", "computer-use", "local", "new" ], "lastRelease": "2026-11-04", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 44.3, "grade": "E", "agentReady": false, "rank": 1100, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1354, "categoryRank": 8, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 55, "maintenance": 65, "payments": 60, "reliability": 25, "schema": 42, "security": 38, "transparency": 42 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-11-06" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "A capable, fast-moving open-source agent for driving desktops, browsers and phones through real input and accessibility trees, with a careful safety section. It's two weeks old, with no test CI or changelog, and on Windows the model itself decides whether to accept an admin elevation prompt.", "bestFor": "Developers who want a local agent to operate desktop apps, their own browser or phones across platforms, on a machine they control.", "strengths": [ "One run_agent call drives the desktop, a terminal, your Chrome, or an iOS or Android device", "Element picking from accessibility trees and OCR instead of pixel coordinates", "Credentials typed from a vault so the model never sees them, in the browser and phone agents", "No telemetry, and nothing downloaded without a yes on the terminal", "MIT licence, a pip wheel per OS and architecture, and 60 models across ten providers" ], "weaknesses": [ "Two weeks old at version 0.1.9, with no changelog file", "No CI running the tests; the only workflow labels issues", "On Windows the model answers UAC elevation prompts itself through a kernel input driver", "Keeps API keys and logged-in Chrome profiles in a local folder next to the checkout", "No API reference beyond the README" ], "agentNotes": [ "pip install AutoCua, then call run_agent with a mode such as \"web use\" or \"computer use\", a provider, a model and a task", "Run it on a machine or account you can afford to lose; it drives real input and keeps logged-in browser profiles", "On Windows, don't install the Interception driver unless you accept the model deciding UAC prompts", "Set AutoCua_DATA_DIR to keep keys and profiles somewhere private", "Phones go over USB from a script; Wi-Fi only through the desktop app" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "E", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 44.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 55, "maintenance": 65, "payments": 60, "reliability": 25, "schema": 42, "security": 38, "transparency": 70 }, "provenanceScore": 13, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-06", "maintenance": "2026-11-06", "payments": "2026-11-06", "reliability": "2026-11-06", "schema": "2026-11-06", "security": "2026-11-06", "transparency": "2026-11-06" }, "last": "2026-11-06", "oldest": "2026-11-06", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "pip install AutoCua\n# then, in Python:\n# from AutoCua.agent_launcher import run_agent\n# run_agent(mode=\"web use\", provider=\"openrouter\", model=\"gemini-3.8-flash\", task=\"Open wikipedia.org and summarise today's featured article.\")" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/browser.control", "tool": "https://letme.dev/autocua" }, "area": "developer", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "", "domain": "github.com", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-11-06", "notes": [ "The licence names Ashish Yadav as copyright holder; most commits are from the GitHub user FunctionFreak. No company, site or terms were found.", "github.com/AutoCua/AutoCua and github.com/ComputerUseAgent/AutoCua serve the same main branch, so one is a rename or mirror of the other." ], "score": 13 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autocua.json" }, "answer": "Browserless scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AutoCua leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "b": { "slug": "browserless", "name": "Browserless", "vendor": "browserless.io, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.browserless.io", "kind": "http-api", "category": "browser", "summary": "Browserless runs hosted headless browsers that agents drive over CDP, Playwright, REST endpoints, BrowserQL or its official MCP server. The same software can be self-hosted from a Docker image.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserless", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserless.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserless.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserless.json", "dns": "browserless.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/browserless/browserless", "license": "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", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://production-sfo.browserless.io", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@browserless.io/mcp" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@browserless.io/bap-ts" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@browserless.io/browserless" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Self-serve API token from the account dashboard after signing up in a browser. REST, BrowserQL and WebSocket routes take it as `?token=` in the URL. The hosted MCP server accepts OAuth sign-in with a Browserless account, an `Authorization: Bearer` header, or `?token=` for URL-only clients. An account holds up to 20 named tokens, each shown once and revocable on its own. Cloud tokens have no scopes. The admin, developer and viewer token roles apply to self-hosted Enterprise containers only.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free with 1,000 units a month, 2 concurrent browsers and 2-minute sessions, no card. A unit is up to 30 seconds of browser time. Prototyping is $35 a month ($25 billed annually) with 20,000 units, then $0.0020 a unit. Starter is $200 ($140) with 180,000 units, then $0.0017. Scale is $500 ($350) with 500,000 units, then $0.0015. Enterprise and self-hosting licences are priced by sales. An agent can start on the free plan once a person has signed up (https://www.browserless.io/pricing, checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$0.002 / credit", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs (llms-full.txt), the OpenAPI document or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08). The Stripe Link checkout tools are for an agent paying a merchant, not for paying Browserless.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 14, "popularity": { "githubStars": 13786, "npmWeekly": 3484, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.browserless.io", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.browserless.io/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://www.browserless.io/swagger.json", "registryName": "io.browserless/mcp", "capabilities": [ "browser.control", "browser.hosted", "browser.debug", "scraping.js-render", "scraping.anti-bot", "scraping.proxies", "web.scrape", "web.crawl", "web.search", "pdf.generate" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "self-hosted", "freemium", "free-tier", "no-card", "mcp", "oauth", "openapi", "llms-txt", "typescript", "source-available", "commercial-licence", "proxies", "status-page", "soc2" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-30", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 67.9, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 275, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1354, "categoryRank": 8, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 40, "reliability": 82, "schema": 89, "security": 53, "transparency": 64 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-01" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "-3, 28 October 2026. MCP server 1.42.0, a minor release tagged `feat`, took `browserless_agent` and the read-only account tools off the hosted connector endpoint at mcp.browserless.io/mcp/connector, which now serves five read-only tools. No earlier changelog entry or docs notice announced it, and the docs tell clients that still list the old tools to refresh. https://github.com/browserless/browserless-mcp/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md" ], "verdict": "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 the connector endpoint lost its browser agent on 28 October without notice.", "bestFor": "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.", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI 3.0.0 document with 92 paths, llms.txt, llms-full.txt and Markdown twins of the docs", "Hosted MCP server at mcp.browserless.io with 14 documented tools, each carrying read-only and destructive annotations", "Free plan with 1,000 units a month and no card, with per-unit overage prices published for paid plans", "Up to 20 named API tokens per account, each revocable on its own, plus request logs filterable by key", "MCP server tagged 27 times in the 90 days to 1 November 2026, listed in the official MCP registry as io.browserless/mcp" ], "weaknesses": [ "REST and WebSocket routes take the API token as `?token=` in the URL, which the docs give as the standard method", "Cloud tokens have no scopes or roles. Token roles exist only on self-hosted Enterprise containers", "No x402, MPP or L402, and an account needs a person to sign up in a browser", "No prompt-injection guidance found in the docs or in the MCP agent prompt", "The connector endpoint dropped `browserless_agent` and the account tools in MCP server 1.42.0 with no advance notice" ], "agentNotes": [ "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", "Close sessions as soon as the work is done. Browser time bills one unit per 30 seconds, rounded up, idle or not", "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", "On 429, back off and retry. It means the plan's concurrency limit or queue is full, usually from sessions left open", "Use https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp, not /mcp/connector, when the task needs clicks, forms or account tools. The connector is read-only since 1.42.0" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 4, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 67.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 40, "reliability": 82, "schema": 89, "security": 53, "transparency": 47 }, "provenanceScore": 80, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-01", "maintenance": "2026-11-01", "payments": "2026-11-01", "reliability": "2026-11-01", "schema": "2026-11-01", "security": "2026-11-01", "transparency": "2026-11-01" }, "last": "2026-11-01", "lastMoved": "2026-11-01", "oldest": "2026-11-01", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "npx -y @browserless.io/mcp", "http": "curl -X POST \"https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" -d '{\"url\": \"https://scraping-sandbox.netlify.app/dashboard\"}' -o response.png", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http browserless https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp --header \"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "browserless": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE" }, "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/browser.control", "tool": "https://letme.dev/browserless" }, "area": "developer", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Unit overage, Prototyping plan", "unit": "credit", "usd": 0.002, "note": "One unit is up to 30 seconds of browser time" }, { "item": "Unit overage, Starter plan", "unit": "credit", "usd": 0.0017 }, { "item": "Unit overage, Scale plan", "unit": "credit", "usd": 0.0015 }, { "item": "Browser time at the overage rate, Prototyping plan", "unit": "browser-hour", "usd": 0.24, "note": "Our arithmetic, 120 units at $0.0020" }, { "item": "Browser time at the overage rate, Starter plan", "unit": "browser-hour", "usd": 0.204, "note": "Our arithmetic, 120 units at $0.0017" }, { "item": "Browser time at the overage rate, Scale plan", "unit": "browser-hour", "usd": 0.18, "note": "Our arithmetic, 120 units at $0.0015" }, { "item": "Prototyping plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 35, "note": "20,000 units, $25 a month billed annually" }, { "item": "Starter plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 200, "note": "180,000 units, $140 a month billed annually" }, { "item": "Scale plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 500, "note": "500,000 units, $350 a month billed annually" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "browserless.io, Inc.", "domain": "browserless.io", "domainRegistered": "2017-09-06", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.browserless.io/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://www.browserless.io/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.browserless.io", "changelog": "https://www.browserless.io/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The terms of service name browserless.io, Inc., 23207 NE 192nd Ct, Battle Ground, WA 98604, United States. Neither the terms nor the privacy policy carries a date.", "www.browserless.io/.well-known/security.txt and docs.browserless.io/.well-known/security.txt both return 404. The trust centre sends vulnerability reports to security@browserless.io.", "RDAP for browserless.io gives a registration date of 2017-09-06.", "The API answers at production-sfo, production-lon and production-ams.browserless.io and the MCP server at mcp.browserless.io. The OAuth metadata at data.browserless.io names a supabase.co issuer." ], "score": 80 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserless.json", "live": { "slug": "browserless", "probe": { "target": "https://production-sfo.browserless.io", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-11-06T09:47:22.125886336Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 432, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 452, "p95ms24h": 616, "samples24h": 221, "samples30d": 7137, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 93, "ok": 93 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-11", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-12", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-13", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-14", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-15", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-16", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-17", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-18", "probes": 256, "ok": 256 }, { "date": "2026-10-19", "probes": 255, "ok": 255 }, { "date": "2026-10-20", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-21", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-22", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-23", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-24", "probes": 251, "ok": 251 }, { "date": "2026-10-25", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-26", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-27", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-28", "probes": 251, "ok": 251 }, { "date": "2026-10-29", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-30", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-31", "probes": 251, "ok": 251 }, { "date": "2026-11-01", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-11-02", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-11-03", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-11-04", "probes": 246, "ok": 246 }, { "date": "2026-11-05", "probes": 185, "ok": 185 }, { "date": "2026-11-06", "probes": 102, "ok": 102 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.browserless.io", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-11-06T05:41:11.380573445Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "browserless/browserless", "version": "v2.59.0", "released": "2026-11-04", "seenAt": "2026-11-05T21:18:36.710519578Z" }, { "registry": "mcp-registry", "name": "io.browserless/mcp", "version": "1.45.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-05T17:32:31.346782632Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@browserless.io/bap-ts", "version": "2.1.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-05T21:18:32.775791549Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@browserless.io/browserless", "version": "2.59.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-05T21:18:34.663344969Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@browserless.io/mcp", "version": "1.45.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-05T21:18:32.433656625Z" } ], "githubStars": 13909, "npmWeekly": 5038, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://browserless.io/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-11-05T15:55:13.678954075Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.browserless.io/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-05T15:25:21.910473778Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "browserless.io", "checkedAt": "2026-11-01T14:24:42.268368531Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.browserless.io/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-05T13:10:15.018140418Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-28T04:48:13.029661722Z", "fingerprint": "096a510a8832" }, { "url": "https://www.browserless.io/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-05T13:10:17.558896936Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-28T04:48:15.537990723Z", "fingerprint": "e254a249c935" }, { "url": "https://www.browserless.io/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-05T13:10:19.231993595Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-28T04:48:17.186183843Z", "fingerprint": "7cda43ae6905" }, { "url": "https://www.browserless.io/terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-05T13:10:21.501583931Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-28T04:48:19.37880742Z", "fingerprint": "764d64d7d391" } ], "github": { "repo": "browserless/browserless", "checkedAt": "2026-11-02T08:37:01.841528261Z", "stars": 13885, "archived": false, "issuesEnabled": true, "pushedAt": "2026-11-02T06:34:01Z", "openIssues": 9, "openPRs": 6, "issuesOpened90d": 8, "issuesClosed90d": 8, "prsMerged90d": 100, "ci": { "branch": "main", "runs": 50, "success": 48, "failure": 2, "other": 0, "latest": "success", "latestAt": "2026-10-30T15:08:03Z" }, "replies": { "sampled": 25, "unanswered": 8, "medianDays": 7.6 } }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-06T09:47:22.125886336Z" } }, "edges": [ { "by": 57, "category": "reliability", "leads": "browserless", "name": "Reliability", "reasons": { "a": "Local package. Installs from PyPI as AutoCua with Python 3.10 or later and the supported platforms stated (20). No CI runs the tests; the only workflow, use_case_label.yml, labels issues (0). GitHub issues weren't read, so the open-issue line is scored absent (0). Four tags in a week with no changelog file (5). Version 0.1.9 (0). 20 + 0 + 0 + 5 + 0 = 25.", "b": "Graded as a hosted service, on the cloud API and its hosted MCP server. status.browserless.io runs on Better Stack with eight monitored components and 90 days of daily history (20). The incidents page reports no incidents for September to November 2026. Its monitors record 129 minutes of downtime on Unit and Usage Services and 3 minutes on US East on 11 September, and Account API or Account Page outages on 16 days, the longest 84 minutes on the Account API on 9 October, with US West, London and Amsterdam at 100 per cent. None takes down a browser region, so minor only (20). Concurrency and session-length limits are published per plan, 2 to 100 browsers and 2 to 60 minutes, and the docs say there is no hourly or daily unit limit (15). 429 is documented as a full concurrency slot or queue, with a retry and exponential backoff guide and advice to retry only operations that are safe to run twice. No Retry-After header or idempotency key was found in the reviewed documentation (12). One docs page claims a 99.9% uptime SLA and the site lists SLAs under Enterprise, but no SLA terms are published (5). The REST, WebSocket and MCP surfaces are generally available, with the MCP server at 1.42.0 (10)." }, "scores": { "a": 25, "b": 82 } }, { "by": 47, "category": "schema", "leads": "browserless", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "reasons": { "a": "Framework reading. No API reference or typed interface beyond run_agent's documented arguments (5 of 25). No llms.txt (0). The README says what each mode drives and where it runs, and agent_capabilities.md lists what it can do (16 of 20). Modes and device are documented strings (6 of 15). Many examples, no documented errors (10 of 15). Tags without a changelog (5 of 15). 5 + 0 + 16 + 6 + 10 + 5 = 42.", "b": "OpenAPI 3.0.0 at www.browserless.io/swagger.json with 92 paths and 106 operations (version 2.58.1), and Zod-typed inputs on every MCP tool in the source (25). llms.txt, llms-full.txt, a Markdown twin of every docs page, an API catalogue and an MCP server card under /.well-known (10). MCP descriptions state purpose and point to the right neighbour, for example `browserless_smartscraper` sends multi-page work to `browserless_crawl`. The agent tool's description is a long operating prompt (16). Inputs use enums and limits, but `browserless_function` takes free-form Puppeteer code and `browserless_agent` advertises a slimmed schema that the server re-validates at run time (12). Every OpenAPI operation lists 400, 401, 403, 404, 408, 429, 500 and 503, the docs carry an error table with fixes, and examples come in cURL, JavaScript and Python (13). A monthly product changelog and semver changelogs for the core (2.58.1) and MCP (1.42.0) repositories. REST paths carry no version (13)." }, "scores": { "a": 42, "b": 89 } }, { "by": 23, "category": "ergonomics", "leads": "browserless", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "reasons": { "a": "Framework reading. One call with a mode, provider, model and task runs a whole agent (20 of 25). A separate compression agent splices handoff summaries in, and runs are capped and stoppable (15 of 20). Permission and blocked-input errors are reported specifically, with no error reference (8 of 20). No resume or retry semantics described (2 of 20). Sensible defaults (simulators unless device is set), Python only (10 of 15). 20 + 15 + 8 + 2 + 10 = 55.", "b": "The full MCP server documents 14 tools (15), and a separate connector endpoint exposes five read-only tools. The `browserless_agent` description is long, so we added back 5 of a possible 10 (20). `browserless_logs` pages by cursor, search, crawl and profiles take `limit`, crawl output is truncated per page, and Smart Scrape returns only the formats asked for (17). Errors come with a documented table of causes and fixes, a `requestId` that can be looked up in request logs, and `x-response-code` headers for the target site's status (16). Every MCP tool in the source carries `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint`, and account tools add `idempotentHint`. No idempotency keys, and the docs warn that a retried mutation can repeat a click or form submission (15). Few required parameters and existing Puppeteer or Playwright scripts connect by changing the endpoint, but the only published SDK is TypeScript. The docs say the Python SDK is not on PyPI yet (10)." }, "scores": { "a": 55, "b": 78 } }, { "by": 22, "category": "transparency", "leads": "browserless", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "reasons": { "a": "MIT (30). Says it sends data only to the chosen model provider and keeps everything else locally, and the source agrees (20 of 30). No deprecation policy (0). States no telemetry, and none was found (20). 30 + 20 + 0 + 20 = 70.", "b": "The core server and MCP server are source-available under SSPL 1.0, which is not an OSI licence, or a commercial licence, and the cloud additions are closed under published terms (18). The privacy policy says Browserless does not store page content and keeps only an email address, and names Stripe, SendGrid, DigitalOcean and Fathom. The trust centre, updated 11 September 2026, says request logs, session replays, saved profiles and crawl results are stored in the United States on AWS, DigitalOcean and Supabase, and the pricing page gives replay storage of 1 to 90 days. The two do not agree, the policy is undated, and a DPA is on Enterprise plans only (12). No deprecation policy. The terms allow the service to be changed or discontinued without notice, though the docs flag the v1 API and the chrome.browserless.io endpoint as deprecated (5). Execution regions and storage locations are stated in detail. The subprocessor list is on request by email (12)." }, "scores": { "a": 42, "b": 64 } }, { "by": 20, "category": "payments", "leads": "autocua", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "reasons": { "a": "Free self-hosted package with nothing to buy: 0 + 20 + 20 + 20 = 60.", "b": "No x402, MPP or L402 on any endpoint. The Stripe Link checkout tools let an agent pay a merchant and are not a way to pay Browserless (0). Plan prices, included units and per-unit overage rates of $0.0015 to $0.0020 are published without login, with the unit defined as up to 30 seconds of browser time (20). Free plan with 1,000 units a month, and the pricing page says no card is required (20). A person has to sign up in a browser to get a token or complete OAuth (0)." }, "scores": { "a": 60, "b": 40 } }, { "by": 20, "category": "maintenance", "leads": "browserless", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "reasons": { "a": "v0.1.9 tagged on 4 November 2026 (30). Four tags in 90 days (20). Issues and pull requests weren't read (0 of 25). The PyPI wheel is current (15). No CI; dependencies pinned per OS in requirements files (0 of 10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 65.", "b": "@browserless.io/mcp 1.42.0 was tagged on 29 October 2026 and the core server 2.58.1 on 30 October (30). The repositories hold 33 MCP and 16 core release tags dated in the 90 days from 3 August, and the product changelog has an entry for October 2026 (20). Both repositories show commits on 30 October 2026 and use release automation. GitHub's pages and API refused our requests, so issue reply times went unread, and we scored the public changelogs and the support email only (12). Since 16 October the MCP server is in the official MCP registry under the verified namespace io.browserless/mcp, with 1.42.0 as its latest entry (15). Test, lint, CodeQL and dependency-update workflows are in the repositories. We did not read their run results (8)." }, "scores": { "a": 65, "b": 85 } } ], "facts": [ { "a": "Agent framework", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Ashish Yadav and contributors (ComputerUseAgent on GitHub)", "b": "browserless.io, Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "https://production-sfo.browserless.io", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "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", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "14", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "not listed", "b": "io.browserless/mcp", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-11-04", "b": "2026-10-30", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "none", "b": "14k stars, 3.5k npm/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "none", "b": "3.5/5 (4)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Browserless scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AutoCua leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, AutoCua or Browserless?" }, { "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for AutoCua. Browserless has a hosted endpoint at https://production-sfo.browserless.io.", "question": "Can an agent call AutoCua and Browserless without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "AutoCua is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Browserless.", "question": "Are AutoCua and Browserless open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 40" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Open source", "No incidents deducted, where Browserless loses 3 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Developers who want a local agent to operate desktop apps, their own browser or phones across platforms, on a machine they control.", "slug": "autocua", "watchFor": "Two weeks old at version 0.1.9, with no changelog file" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 82 against 25", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 89 against 42", "Agent ergonomics, 78 against 55", "Security \u0026 auth, 53 against 38", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 85 against 65", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 64 against 42" ], "also": [ "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install", "Runs on your own machine", "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "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.", "slug": "browserless", "watchFor": "REST and WebSocket routes take the API token as `?token=` in the URL, which the docs give as the standard method" } ], "history": { "autocua": null, "browserless": [ { "causes": [ "product", "event" ], "date": "2026-11-01", "delta": -2.7, "from": 70.6, "fromGrade": "BB", "to": 67.9, "toGrade": "B" }, { "causes": [ "method" ], "date": "2026-10-27", "delta": 0.2, "from": 70.4, "fromGrade": "BB", "to": 70.6, "toGrade": "BB" } ] }, "job": { "capability": "browser.control", "name": "Browser automation" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-autocua.json", "title": "agent-browser vs AutoCua", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-autocua" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserless.json", "title": "agent-browser vs Browserless", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserless" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-autocua.json", "title": "Airtop vs AutoCua", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-autocua" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserless.json", "title": "Airtop vs Browserless", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserless" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-autocua.json", "title": "Anchor Browser vs AutoCua", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-autocua" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless.json", "title": "Anchor Browser vs Browserless", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browser-use.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Browser Use", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browser-use" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-bx-playwright.json", "title": "AutoCua vs BxPlaywright", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-bx-playwright" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Chrome DevTools MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-functionize-mcp.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Functionize MCP server", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-functionize-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-hyperbrowser.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Hyperbrowser", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-hyperbrowser" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-kane-cli.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Kane CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-kane-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-lightpanda.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Lightpanda", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-lightpanda" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-notte.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Notte", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-notte" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-playwright-mcp.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Playwright MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-playwright-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-pomerado.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Pomerado", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-pomerado" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Puppeteer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-robocorp.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Robocorp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-robocorp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-selenium.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Selenium", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-selenium" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-skyvern.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Skyvern", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-skyvern" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-steel.json", "title": "AutoCua vs Steel", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-steel" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-tinyfish.json", "title": "AutoCua vs TinyFish", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-tinyfish" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-browserless.json", "title": "Browser Use vs Browserless", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-browserless" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-bx-playwright.json", "title": "Browserless vs BxPlaywright", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-bx-playwright" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.json", "title": "Browserless vs Chrome DevTools MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-functionize-mcp.json", "title": "Browserless vs Functionize MCP server", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-functionize-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-hyperbrowser.json", "title": "Browserless vs Hyperbrowser", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-hyperbrowser" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-kane-cli.json", "title": "Browserless vs Kane CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-kane-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-lightpanda.json", "title": "Browserless vs Lightpanda", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-lightpanda" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-notte.json", "title": "Browserless vs Notte", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-notte" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-playwright-mcp.json", "title": "Browserless vs Playwright MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-playwright-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-pomerado.json", "title": "Browserless vs Pomerado", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-pomerado" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer.json", "title": "Browserless vs Puppeteer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.json", "title": "Browserless vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-selenium.json", "title": "Browserless vs Selenium", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-selenium" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-skyvern.json", "title": "Browserless vs Skyvern", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-skyvern" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-steel.json", "title": "Browserless vs Steel", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-steel" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-tinyfish.json", "title": "Browserless vs TinyFish", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-tinyfish" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-browserless.json", "title": "Browserbase vs Browserless", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-browserless" } ], "panel": null, "scores": [ { "autocua": 25, "browserless": 82, "by": 57, "edge": "browserless", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "autocua": 42, "browserless": 89, "by": 47, "edge": "browserless", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "autocua": 55, "browserless": 78, "by": 23, "edge": "browserless", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "autocua": 38, "browserless": 53, "by": 15, "edge": "browserless", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "autocua": 60, "browserless": 40, "by": 20, "edge": "autocua", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "autocua": 65, "browserless": 85, "by": 20, "edge": "browserless", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "autocua": 42, "browserless": 64, "by": 22, "edge": "browserless", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Browserless scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AutoCua leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do browser automation.", "tasks": null, "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "autocua": "A capable, fast-moving open-source agent for driving desktops, browsers and phones through real input and accessibility trees, with a careful safety section. It's two weeks old, with no test CI or changelog, and on Windows the model itself decides whether to accept an admin elevation prompt.", "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 the connector endpoint lost its browser agent on 28 October without notice." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless.min.md" }, "markdown": "Browserless scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AutoCua leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do browser automation.\n\n- AutoCua: grade E, 44.3/100, rank #1100 of 1354. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autocua.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autocua.json\n- Browserless: grade B, 67.9/100, rank #275 of 1354. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserless.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserless.json\n- Best desktop and mobile app automation for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/desktop-automation/index.md\n- All 48 desktop comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/desktop-automation/index.md\n- Best browser automation tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/browser/index.md\n- All 230 browser comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### AutoCua (E)\n\nGood for: Developers who want a local agent to operate desktop apps, their own browser or phones across platforms, on a machine they control.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 40\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Open source\n- No incidents deducted, where Browserless loses 3 points for them\n\nWatch for: Two weeks old at version 0.1.9, with no changelog file\n\n### Browserless (B)\n\nGood 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.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 82 against 25\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 89 against 42\n- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 55\n- Security \u0026 auth, 53 against 38\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 85 against 65\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 64 against 42\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n- Runs on your own machine\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch for: REST and WebSocket routes take the API token as `?token=` in the URL, which the docs give as the standard method\n\n\n## Why the edge\n\n### Reliability: Browserless +57\n\n- AutoCua (25): Local package. Installs from PyPI as AutoCua with Python 3.10 or later and the supported platforms stated (20). No CI runs the tests; the only workflow, use_case_label.yml, labels issues (0). GitHub issues weren't read, so the open-issue line is scored absent (0). Four tags in a week with no changelog file (5). Version 0.1.9 (0). 20 + 0 + 0 + 5 + 0 = 25.\n- Browserless (82): Graded as a hosted service, on the cloud API and its hosted MCP server. status.browserless.io runs on Better Stack with eight monitored components and 90 days of daily history (20). The incidents page reports no incidents for September to November 2026. Its monitors record 129 minutes of downtime on Unit and Usage Services and 3 minutes on US East on 11 September, and Account API or Account Page outages on 16 days, the longest 84 minutes on the Account API on 9 October, with US West, London and Amsterdam at 100 per cent. None takes down a browser region, so minor only (20). Concurrency and session-length limits are published per plan, 2 to 100 browsers and 2 to 60 minutes, and the docs say there is no hourly or daily unit limit (15). 429 is documented as a full concurrency slot or queue, with a retry and exponential backoff guide and advice to retry only operations that are safe to run twice. No Retry-After header or idempotency key was found in the reviewed documentation (12). One docs page claims a 99.9% uptime SLA and the site lists SLAs under Enterprise, but no SLA terms are published (5). The REST, WebSocket and MCP surfaces are generally available, with the MCP server at 1.42.0 (10).\n\n### Schema \u0026 documentation: Browserless +47\n\n- AutoCua (42): Framework reading. No API reference or typed interface beyond run_agent's documented arguments (5 of 25). No llms.txt (0). The README says what each mode drives and where it runs, and agent_capabilities.md lists what it can do (16 of 20). Modes and device are documented strings (6 of 15). Many examples, no documented errors (10 of 15). Tags without a changelog (5 of 15). 5 + 0 + 16 + 6 + 10 + 5 = 42.\n- Browserless (89): OpenAPI 3.0.0 at www.browserless.io/swagger.json with 92 paths and 106 operations (version 2.58.1), and Zod-typed inputs on every MCP tool in the source (25). llms.txt, llms-full.txt, a Markdown twin of every docs page, an API catalogue and an MCP server card under /.well-known (10). MCP descriptions state purpose and point to the right neighbour, for example `browserless_smartscraper` sends multi-page work to `browserless_crawl`. The agent tool's description is a long operating prompt (16). Inputs use enums and limits, but `browserless_function` takes free-form Puppeteer code and `browserless_agent` advertises a slimmed schema that the server re-validates at run time (12). Every OpenAPI operation lists 400, 401, 403, 404, 408, 429, 500 and 503, the docs carry an error table with fixes, and examples come in cURL, JavaScript and Python (13). A monthly product changelog and semver changelogs for the core (2.58.1) and MCP (1.42.0) repositories. REST paths carry no version (13).\n\n### Agent ergonomics: Browserless +23\n\n- AutoCua (55): Framework reading. One call with a mode, provider, model and task runs a whole agent (20 of 25). A separate compression agent splices handoff summaries in, and runs are capped and stoppable (15 of 20). Permission and blocked-input errors are reported specifically, with no error reference (8 of 20). No resume or retry semantics described (2 of 20). Sensible defaults (simulators unless device is set), Python only (10 of 15). 20 + 15 + 8 + 2 + 10 = 55.\n- Browserless (78): The full MCP server documents 14 tools (15), and a separate connector endpoint exposes five read-only tools. The `browserless_agent` description is long, so we added back 5 of a possible 10 (20). `browserless_logs` pages by cursor, search, crawl and profiles take `limit`, crawl output is truncated per page, and Smart Scrape returns only the formats asked for (17). Errors come with a documented table of causes and fixes, a `requestId` that can be looked up in request logs, and `x-response-code` headers for the target site's status (16). Every MCP tool in the source carries `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint`, and account tools add `idempotentHint`. No idempotency keys, and the docs warn that a retried mutation can repeat a click or form submission (15). Few required parameters and existing Puppeteer or Playwright scripts connect by changing the endpoint, but the only published SDK is TypeScript. The docs say the Python SDK is not on PyPI yet (10).\n\n### Transparency \u0026 trust: Browserless +22\n\n- AutoCua (42): MIT (30). Says it sends data only to the chosen model provider and keeps everything else locally, and the source agrees (20 of 30). No deprecation policy (0). States no telemetry, and none was found (20). 30 + 20 + 0 + 20 = 70.\n- Browserless (64): The core server and MCP server are source-available under SSPL 1.0, which is not an OSI licence, or a commercial licence, and the cloud additions are closed under published terms (18). The privacy policy says Browserless does not store page content and keeps only an email address, and names Stripe, SendGrid, DigitalOcean and Fathom. The trust centre, updated 11 September 2026, says request logs, session replays, saved profiles and crawl results are stored in the United States on AWS, DigitalOcean and Supabase, and the pricing page gives replay storage of 1 to 90 days. The two do not agree, the policy is undated, and a DPA is on Enterprise plans only (12). No deprecation policy. The terms allow the service to be changed or discontinued without notice, though the docs flag the v1 API and the chrome.browserless.io endpoint as deprecated (5). Execution regions and storage locations are stated in detail. The subprocessor list is on request by email (12).\n\n### Payments \u0026 pricing: AutoCua +20\n\n- AutoCua (60): Free self-hosted package with nothing to buy: 0 + 20 + 20 + 20 = 60.\n- Browserless (40): No x402, MPP or L402 on any endpoint. The Stripe Link checkout tools let an agent pay a merchant and are not a way to pay Browserless (0). Plan prices, included units and per-unit overage rates of $0.0015 to $0.0020 are published without login, with the unit defined as up to 30 seconds of browser time (20). Free plan with 1,000 units a month, and the pricing page says no card is required (20). A person has to sign up in a browser to get a token or complete OAuth (0).\n\n### Maintenance \u0026 community: Browserless +20\n\n- AutoCua (65): v0.1.9 tagged on 4 November 2026 (30). Four tags in 90 days (20). Issues and pull requests weren't read (0 of 25). The PyPI wheel is current (15). No CI; dependencies pinned per OS in requirements files (0 of 10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 65.\n- Browserless (85): @browserless.io/mcp 1.42.0 was tagged on 29 October 2026 and the core server 2.58.1 on 30 October (30). The repositories hold 33 MCP and 16 core release tags dated in the 90 days from 3 August, and the product changelog has an entry for October 2026 (20). Both repositories show commits on 30 October 2026 and use release automation. GitHub's pages and API refused our requests, so issue reply times went unread, and we scored the public changelogs and the support email only (12). Since 16 October the MCP server is in the official MCP registry under the verified namespace io.browserless/mcp, with 1.42.0 as its latest entry (15). Test, lint, CodeQL and dependency-update workflows are in the repositories. We did not read their run results (8).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | AutoCua | Browserless | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 82 | Browserless +57 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 42 | 89 | Browserless +47 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 78 | Browserless +23 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 53 | Browserless +15 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 40 | AutoCua +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 85 | Browserless +20 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 42 | 64 | Browserless +22 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |\n| **Total** | | **44.3 · E** | **67.9 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | AutoCua | Browserless |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent framework | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Ashish Yadav and contributors (ComputerUseAgent on GitHub) | browserless.io, Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://production-sfo.browserless.io` |\n| Transports | | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |\n| Auth | None | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Free | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT | 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 |\n| Tools exposed | none | 14 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | `io.browserless/mcp` |\n| Last release | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-30 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | not read yet | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | none | 14k stars, 3.5k npm/wk |\n| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (4) |\n\n## How the scores have moved\n\n### AutoCua\n\nNo score change since it was listed.\n\n### Browserless\n\n- -2.7 on 1 November 2026 (BB to B): product, negative event\n- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**AutoCua.** A capable, fast-moving open-source agent for driving desktops, browsers and phones through real input and accessibility trees, with a careful safety section. It's two weeks old, with no test CI or changelog, and on Windows the model itself decides whether to accept an admin elevation prompt.\n\n**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 the connector endpoint lost its browser agent on 28 October without notice.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### AutoCua\n\n1. pip install AutoCua, then call run_agent with a mode such as \"web use\" or \"computer use\", a provider, a model and a task\n2. Run it on a machine or account you can afford to lose; it drives real input and keeps logged-in browser profiles\n3. On Windows, don't install the Interception driver unless you accept the model deciding UAC prompts\n4. Set AutoCua_DATA_DIR to keep keys and profiles somewhere private\n5. Phones go over USB from a script; Wi-Fi only through the desktop app\n\n### Browserless\n\n1. 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\n2. Close sessions as soon as the work is done. Browser time bills one unit per 30 seconds, rounded up, idle or not\n3. 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\n4. On 429, back off and retry. It means the plan's concurrency limit or queue is full, usually from sessions left open\n5. Use https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp, not /mcp/connector, when the task needs clicks, forms or account tools. The connector is read-only since 1.42.0\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, AutoCua or Browserless?\n\nBrowserless scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AutoCua leads on payments \u0026 pricing.\n\n### Can an agent call AutoCua and Browserless without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for AutoCua. Browserless has a hosted endpoint at https://production-sfo.browserless.io.\n\n### Are AutoCua and Browserless open source?\n\nAutoCua is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Browserless.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"autocua\", \"b\": \"browserless\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare autocua browserless`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autocua.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserless.json\n\n## Other comparisons with AutoCua or Browserless\n\n- [agent-browser vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-autocua.md)\n- [agent-browser vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserless.md)\n- [Airtop vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-autocua.md)\n- [Airtop vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserless.md)\n- [Anchor Browser vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-autocua.md)\n- [Anchor Browser vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Browser Use](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browser-use.md)\n- [AutoCua vs BxPlaywright](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-bx-playwright.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Functionize MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-functionize-mcp.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-hyperbrowser.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Kane CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-kane-cli.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Lightpanda](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-lightpanda.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Notte](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-notte.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Playwright MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-playwright-mcp.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-pomerado.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Puppeteer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Robocorp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-robocorp.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Selenium](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-selenium.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-skyvern.md)\n- [AutoCua vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-steel.md)\n- [AutoCua vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-tinyfish.md)\n- [Browser Use vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-browserless.md)\n- [Browserless vs BxPlaywright](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-bx-playwright.md)\n- [Browserless vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)\n- [Browserless vs Functionize MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-functionize-mcp.md)\n- [Browserless vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-hyperbrowser.md)\n- [Browserless vs Kane CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-kane-cli.md)\n- [Browserless vs Lightpanda](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-lightpanda.md)\n- [Browserless vs Notte](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-notte.md)\n- [Browserless vs Playwright MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-playwright-mcp.md)\n- [Browserless vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-pomerado.md)\n- [Browserless vs Puppeteer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer.md)\n- [Browserless vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)\n- [Browserless vs Selenium](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-selenium.md)\n- [Browserless vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-skyvern.md)\n- [Browserless vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-steel.md)\n- [Browserless vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-tinyfish.md)\n- [Browserbase vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-browserless.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link the page or API address you took it from (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-11-06", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.7", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "terms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data" }, "page": { 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