# AutoCua vs Browserless

> Browserless scores 67.9 (B) to AutoCua's 44.3 (E) for browser automation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browserless.md (~4,950 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-06

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 & pricing. Both do browser automation.

- 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
- 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
- Best desktop and mobile app automation for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/desktop-automation/index.md
- All 48 desktop comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/desktop-automation/index.md
- Best browser automation tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/browser/index.md
- All 230 browser comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser/index.md

## Which one, for what

### AutoCua (E)

Good for: Developers who want a local agent to operate desktop apps, their own browser or phones across platforms, on a machine they control.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source
- No incidents deducted, where Browserless loses 3 points for them

Watch for: Two weeks old at version 0.1.9, with no changelog file

### Browserless (B)

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:
- Reliability, 82 against 25
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 42
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 55
- Security & auth, 53 against 38
- Maintenance & community, 85 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 64 against 42

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

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


## Why the edge

### Reliability: Browserless +57

- 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.
- 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).

### Schema & documentation: Browserless +47

- 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.
- 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).

### Agent ergonomics: Browserless +23

- 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.
- 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).

### Transparency & trust: Browserless +22

- 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.
- 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).

### Payments & pricing: AutoCua +20

- AutoCua (60): Free self-hosted package with nothing to buy: 0 + 20 + 20 + 20 = 60.
- 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).

### Maintenance & community: Browserless +20

- 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.
- 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).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | AutoCua | Browserless | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 82 | Browserless +57 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 42 | 89 | Browserless +47 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 78 | Browserless +23 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 53 | Browserless +15 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 40 | AutoCua +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 85 | Browserless +20 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 42 | 64 | Browserless +22 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **44.3 · E** | **67.9 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | AutoCua | Browserless |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent framework | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Ashish Yadav and contributors (ComputerUseAgent on GitHub) | browserless.io, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://production-sfo.browserless.io` |
| Transports |  | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| 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 |
| Tools exposed | none | 14 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.browserless/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-30 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 14k stars, 3.5k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (4) |

## How the scores have moved

### AutoCua

No score change since it was listed.

### Browserless

- -2.7 on 1 November 2026 (BB to B): product, negative event
- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist

## 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.

## Before you call either

### AutoCua

1. pip install AutoCua, then call run_agent with a mode such as "web use" or "computer use", a provider, a model and a task
2. Run it on a machine or account you can afford to lose; it drives real input and keeps logged-in browser profiles
3. On Windows, don't install the Interception driver unless you accept the model deciding UAC prompts
4. Set AutoCua_DATA_DIR to keep keys and profiles somewhere private
5. Phones go over USB from a script; Wi-Fi only through the desktop app

### 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. 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

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, AutoCua or Browserless?

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 & pricing.

### Can an agent call AutoCua and Browserless without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for AutoCua. Browserless has a hosted endpoint at https://production-sfo.browserless.io.

### Are AutoCua and Browserless open source?

AutoCua is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Browserless.


## For agents

- 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
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "autocua", "b": "browserless"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare autocua browserless`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autocua.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserless.json

## Other comparisons with AutoCua or Browserless

- [agent-browser vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-autocua.md)
- [agent-browser vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-browser-vs-browserless.md)
- [Airtop vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-autocua.md)
- [Airtop vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-browserless.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs AutoCua](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-autocua.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless.md)
- [AutoCua vs Browser Use](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browser-use.md)
- [AutoCua vs BxPlaywright](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-bx-playwright.md)
- [AutoCua vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)
- [AutoCua vs Functionize MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-functionize-mcp.md)
- [AutoCua vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-hyperbrowser.md)
- [AutoCua vs Kane CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-kane-cli.md)
- [AutoCua vs Lightpanda](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-lightpanda.md)
- [AutoCua vs Notte](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-notte.md)
- [AutoCua vs Playwright MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-playwright-mcp.md)
- [AutoCua vs Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-pomerado.md)
- [AutoCua vs Puppeteer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer.md)
- [AutoCua vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [AutoCua vs Robocorp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-robocorp.md)
- [AutoCua vs Selenium](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-selenium.md)
- [AutoCua vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-skyvern.md)
- [AutoCua vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-steel.md)
- [AutoCua vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-tinyfish.md)
- [Browser Use vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-browserless.md)
- [Browserless vs BxPlaywright](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-bx-playwright.md)
- [Browserless vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)
- [Browserless vs Functionize MCP server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-functionize-mcp.md)
- [Browserless vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-hyperbrowser.md)
- [Browserless vs Kane CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-kane-cli.md)
- [Browserless vs Lightpanda](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-lightpanda.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 Pomerado](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-pomerado.md)
- [Browserless vs Puppeteer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer.md)
- [Browserless vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Browserless vs Selenium](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-selenium.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)
- [Browserless vs TinyFish](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-tinyfish.md)
- [Browserbase vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-browserless.md)

---

Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp