# Browserbase vs Selenium

> Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) to Selenium's 73.6 (BB) for browser automation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-selenium
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-selenium.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-selenium.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-selenium.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: 2026-10-14

Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Selenium's 73.6 (BB), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Selenium leads on schema & documentation. Both do browser automation. Browserbase accepts x402. Selenium doesn't.

- Browserbase: grade BB, 76.2/100, rank #39 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserbase.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserbase.json
- Selenium: grade BB, 73.6/100, rank #90 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/selenium.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/selenium.json
- Best browser automation tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/browser/index.md
- All 120 browser comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser/index.md

## Which one, for what

### 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:
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 70
- Payments & pricing, 90 against 60

Also in its favour:
- An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card

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

### Selenium (BB)

Good for: Agents that write test or automation scripts in any of five languages, and teams with a Grid.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 80

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: No MCP server from the project. The docs point to community servers and say they are third-party


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Browserbase | Selenium | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 90 | 90 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 89 | Selenium +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 70 | Browserbase +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 43 | even |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 90 | 60 | Browserbase +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 92 | 94 | Selenium +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 74 | Selenium +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **76.2 · BB** | **73.6 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Browserbase | Selenium |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | SDK + MCP |
| Vendor | Browserbase | Selenium project (Software Freedom Conservancy) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.browserbase.com/v1` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | yes | no |
| Licence | MIT (Stagehand) | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-09 | 2026-10-09 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-08-01 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2024-06-01 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 25k stars | 35k stars, 1.8M npm/wk, 6.9M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.4/5 (8) | none |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Selenium.** Selenium is stable, Apache-2.0 software on 4.51.0 with bindings in five languages, CI passing on trunk, an llms.txt and an agent guide added in September 2026. It has no MCP server of its own, Selenium Manager sends usage statistics by default, and Grid accepts unauthenticated sessions unless a username and password are set.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Selenium

1. Install with `pip install selenium` (Python 3.10 or later) and let Selenium Manager fetch drivers. Do not set driver paths
2. Use `WebDriverWait` with expected conditions, never fixed sleeps, and do not mix implicit and explicit waits
3. Set `SE_AVOID_STATS=true` to stop Selenium Manager sending usage statistics
4. Point coding agents at https://www.selenium.dev/llms.txt. Most Selenium 2 and 3 era examples use removed APIs
5. Set `--username` and `--password` before exposing a Grid beyond localhost. Check `http://localhost:4444/status` before creating sessions

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Browserbase or Selenium?

Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Selenium's 73.6 (BB), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Selenium leads on schema & documentation.

### Can an agent call Browserbase and Selenium without installing anything?

Browserbase has a hosted endpoint at https://api.browserbase.com/v1. No hosted endpoint is listed for Selenium.

### Are Browserbase and Selenium open source?

No open-source release is listed for Browserbase. Selenium is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

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