# Browserless vs Skyvern

> Browserless scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Skyvern's 63.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Skyvern leads on security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do browser automation. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-skyvern
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-skyvern.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-skyvern.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-skyvern.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

Browserless scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Skyvern's 63.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Skyvern leads on security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do browser automation.

- Browserless: grade BB, 70.4/100, rank #128 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserless.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserless.json
- Skyvern: grade B, 63.1/100, rank #288 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/skyvern.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/skyvern.json

## Which one, for what

### Browserless (BB)

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 57
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 32

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No incidents deducted, where Skyvern loses 3 points for them

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

### 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:
- Security & auth, 59 against 53
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 62

Also in its favour:
- 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

| Category | Weight | Browserless | Skyvern | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 82 | 57 | Browserless +25 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 88 | Browserless +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 76 | Browserless +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 53 | 59 | Skyvern +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 32 | Browserless +8 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 85 | Skyvern +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 72 | Skyvern +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **70.4 · BB** | **63.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Browserless | Skyvern |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | browserless.io, Inc. | Ikonomos Inc. (Skyvern) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://production-sfo.browserless.io` | `https://api.skyvern.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | 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 | 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 exposed | 14 | 114 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.Skyvern-AI/skyvern` |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-02-27 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 14k stars, 3.5k npm/wk | 23k stars, 3.2k npm/wk, 1.6k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**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 no machine payment route exists.

**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

### 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. Match the path to the protocol. Use `/chromium` for CDP clients and `/chromium/playwright` only for `playwright.connect()`

### 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, Browserless or Skyvern?

Browserless scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Skyvern's 63.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Skyvern leads on security & auth and transparency & trust.

### Do Browserless and Skyvern need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

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

Yes. Browserless has a hosted endpoint at https://production-sfo.browserless.io and Skyvern at https://api.skyvern.com/v1.

### Are Browserless and Skyvern open source?

No open-source release is listed for Browserless. 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).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Browserless or Skyvern

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