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Head to head · Browser hosted · October 2026 research run

Browserbase vs Skyvern

Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Skyvern's 63.1 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Skyvern leads on schema & documentation and security & auth. Both do browser hosted. Browserbase accepts x402. Skyvern doesn't.

BrowserbaseBrowserbase · HTTP API BB76.2/100#34 of 578 SkyvernIkonomos Inc. (Skyvern) · HTTP API B63.1/100#258 of 578

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

  • Reliability, 90 against 57
  • Payments & pricing, 90 against 32
  • Maintenance & community, 92 against 85

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
  • No incidents deducted, where Skyvern loses 3 points for them

Watch for

The hosted MCP setup page passes the API key as ?browserbaseApiKey= in the URL

Skyvern B

Good for Agents that must finish a multi-step job on sites with logins, 2FA and forms, where stored credentials, saved workflows and cached scripts matter more than raw browser time.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 88 against 80
  • Security & auth, 59 against 43

Also in its favour

  • Runs on your own machine
  • Open source

Watch for

Every API key and OAuth token has full organisation authority. The docs state there are no read-only, per-endpoint or per-resource keys

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runBrowserbaseSkyvernEdge
Reliability16%209057Browserbase +33
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28088Skyvern +8
Agent ergonomics13%16.27576Skyvern +1
Security & auth14%17.54359Skyvern +16
Payments & pricing10%12.59032Browserbase +58
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.89285Browserbase +7
Transparency & trust7%8.87172Skyvern +1
Negative events≤150-3
Total76.2 · BB63.1 · B

Facts side by side

FactBrowserbaseSkyvern
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorBrowserbaseIkonomos Inc. (Skyvern)
Hosted endpointhttps://api.browserbase.com/v1https://api.skyvern.com/v1
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio
AuthAPI keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402yesno
LicenceMIT (Stagehand)AGPL-3.0 for the open-source server, SDKs and MCP server. Skyvern Cloud is a proprietary service under Skyvern's terms, and its anti-bot measures aren't in the repository
Tools exposednone114
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registrynot listedio.github.Skyvern-AI/skyvern
Last release2026-09-092026-10-01
Terms last updated2025-08-012026-02-27
Privacy policy last updated2024-06-012026-10-01
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textyes, with an opt-out
Terms restrict automated accessyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyesnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesyes
Popularity25k stars23k stars, 3.2k npm/wk, 1.6k PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3.4/5 (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.

Skyvern

The hosted MCP server annotates every tool as read-only or destructive and can advertise a 29 or 32-tool subset in place of 114, and the API has a written six-month deprecation policy. Every key and OAuth token carries full organisation authority, with no read-only or scoped credential, and no request rate limits are documented.

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

Skyvern

  1. Connect to https://api.skyvern.com/mcp/x/lean or /x/operate, or send X-Skyvern-Scope, so the client loads 32 or 29 tools. The scope filters the list and does not limit permissions
  2. Use a separate Skyvern organisation for each blast radius. Any key or OAuth token can read and write stored credentials and delete workflows
  3. Never pass passwords to skyvern_act or skyvern_type. Store them as credentials and call skyvern_login
  4. Set max_steps on tasks, or x-max-steps-override on agent runs, to cap credits. A run that reaches the cap ends as timed_out
  5. On 503 from POST /v1/run/agents, wait Retry-After seconds. No run was created, so resubmitting is safe

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Browserbase or Skyvern?

Browserbase scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Skyvern's 63.1 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Skyvern leads on schema & documentation and security & auth.

Do Browserbase and Skyvern need an API key?

Browserbase needs an API key. Skyvern takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. An agent can also pay Browserbase per call over x402, with no account.

Can an agent call Browserbase and Skyvern without installing anything?

Yes. Browserbase has a hosted endpoint at https://api.browserbase.com/v1 and Skyvern at https://api.skyvern.com/v1.

Are Browserbase and Skyvern open source?

No open-source release is listed for Browserbase. Skyvern is open source (AGPL-3.0 for the open-source server, SDKs and MCP server. Skyvern Cloud is a proprietary service under Skyvern's terms, and its anti-bot measures aren't in the repository).

Other comparisons with Browserbase or Skyvern

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