# Browser Use vs Browserbase

> Browser Use scores 77.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Browserbase's 76.2 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Browserbase leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do browser automation. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-browserbase
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-browserbase.md (~2,400 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-browserbase.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-browserbase.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Browser Use scores 77.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Browserbase's 76.2 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Browserbase leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do browser automation.

- Browser Use: grade BB, 77.9/100, rank #16 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browser-use.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browser-use.json
- Browserbase: grade BB, 76.2/100, rank #35 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserbase.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserbase.json

## Which one, for what

### Browser Use (BB)

Good for: An agent that wants to hand a whole browser task to a hosted agent and get a result back, or that needs a low-cost cloud browser over CDP, and for unattended agents that can pay by x402.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 80
- Security & auth, 59 against 43

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source

Watch for: The privacy policy says inputs are used to train Browser Use's AI models, with no opt-out described outside Enterprise zero data retention

### Browserbase (BB)

Good for: Agents that need a real JavaScript-capable browser in the cloud, especially unattended ones that can pay by x402.

Ahead on:
- Maintenance & community, 92 against 77
- Transparency & trust, 71 against 65

Watch for: The hosted MCP setup page passes the API key as `?browserbaseApiKey=` in the URL


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Browser Use | Browserbase | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 87 | 90 | Browserbase +3 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 80 | Browser Use +5 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 75 | Browser Use +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 59 | 43 | Browser Use +16 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 90 | 90 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 92 | Browserbase +15 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 71 | Browserbase +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **77.9 · BB** | **76.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Browser Use | Browserbase |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Browser Use | Browserbase |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.browser-use.com/api/v4` | `https://api.browserbase.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | yes | yes |
| Licence | MIT for the open-source library and the SDK. Browser Use Cloud is a proprietary service under Browser Use's terms of service | MIT (Stagehand) |
| Tools exposed | 7 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `com.browser-use/browser-use` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-09-09 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-07-15 | 2025-08-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2024-06-01 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 117k stars, 107k npm/wk, 2.1M PyPI/wk | 25k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.4/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**Browser Use.** The hosted cloud accepts x402 top-ups in USDC on Base with no account or API key, and publishes prices, rate limits and three OpenAPI documents. The privacy policy says inputs are used to train Browser Use's models, API keys have no documented scopes, and no prompt-injection guidance was found in the docs.

**Browserbase.** x402 sessions at x402.browserbase.com with no account, $0.12 an hour, unused minutes refunded. The hosted MCP setup page passes the API key as `?browserbaseApiKey=` in the URL.

## Before you call either

### Browser Use

1. Send the key as `X-Browser-Use-API-Key` with no Bearer prefix. A Bearer header returns 401
2. Stop browsers with `PATCH /api/v4/browsers/{id}` and `{"action":"stop"}`. Closing CDP or the SDK client leaves the browser billing
3. Poll `GET /runs/{id}/status`, not the full run, and wait for the returned Retry-After on 429, which can be 300 seconds at the edge
4. Before resubmitting after a timeout, read the existing run's status. The server keeps running and may already have submitted a form
5. With a wallet and no key, call x402.api.browser-use.com on `/api/v2` or `/api/v3` routes. A task stops with INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS if credit runs out mid-run

### Browserbase

1. Use x402.browserbase.com when you have a wallet and no key. Terminate the session to get unused minutes refunded
2. Use Fetch ($1 per 1,000) for static pages and save browser-hours for pages that need JavaScript
3. Close sessions explicitly. Each session bills at least one minute, and idle ones keep billing
4. Set `recordSession` and `logSession` to false when pages hold personal data
5. On 429, wait `retry-after` seconds before creating another session

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Browser Use or Browserbase?

Browser Use scores 77.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Browserbase's 76.2 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Browserbase leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

### Do Browser Use and Browserbase need an API key?

Both need an API key. An agent can also pay Browser Use per call over x402, with no account. An agent can also pay Browserbase per call over x402, with no account.

### Can an agent call Browser Use and Browserbase without installing anything?

Yes. Browser Use has a hosted endpoint at https://api.browser-use.com/api/v4 and Browserbase at https://api.browserbase.com/v1.

### Are Browser Use and Browserbase open source?

Browser Use is open source (MIT for the open-source library and the SDK. Browser Use Cloud is a proprietary service under Browser Use's terms of service). No open-source release is listed for Browserbase.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Browser Use or Browserbase

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