Get an audit

Head to head · Browser automation · October 2026 research run

Playwright MCP vs Steel

Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Playwright MCP's 67.6 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Playwright MCP leads on agent ergonomics and transparency & trust. Both do browser automation. Steel accepts x402. Playwright MCP doesn't.

Playwright MCPMicrosoft · MCP server B67.6/100#169 of 578 SteelNen Labs, Inc. · HTTP API BB70.4/100#115 of 578

Which one, for what

Playwright MCP B

Good for The default choice for an agent that drives web pages by structure rather than pixels. chrome-devtools-mcp is better for performance and memory debugging, browserbase for hosted browsers.

Ahead on

  • Agent ergonomics, 84 against 79
  • Transparency & trust, 72 against 64

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it

Watch for

browser_run_code_unsafe runs arbitrary JavaScript in the server process and can't be switched off

Steel BB

Good for Agents that need a real cloud browser with persistent profiles, stored logins, CAPTCHA solving and a human takeover path, and teams that want an open-source runtime they can also self-host.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 86 against 70
  • Payments & pricing, 75 against 60

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • 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

Three incidents of more than an hour hit the API or session creation in the 90 days to 8 October 2026, the longest 5 hours 41 minutes

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runPlaywright MCPSteelEdge
Reliability16%205758Steel +1
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27086Steel +16
Agent ergonomics13%16.28479Playwright MCP +5
Security & auth14%17.55756Playwright MCP +1
Payments & pricing10%12.56075Steel +15
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88482Playwright MCP +2
Transparency & trust7%8.87264Playwright MCP +8
Negative events≤1500
Total67.6 · B70.4 · BB

Facts side by side

FactPlaywright MCPSteel
KindMCP serverHTTP API
VendorMicrosoftNen Labs, Inc.
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.steel.dev
Transportsstdio, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy)HTTP, stdio
AuthNoneAPI key
PricingFreeFreemium
x402noyes, from $0.01/call
LicenceApache-2.0Proprietary cloud service under Steel's terms. steel-browser and the Node and Python SDKs are Apache-2.0. The MCP server and the CLI are MIT
Tools exposed72none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registryio.github.microsoft/playwright-mcpnot listed
Last release2026-09-282026-10-02
Terms last updatedno document linked2025-02-05
Privacy policy last updatedno document linked2026-02-05
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingyes
Terms or service can change without noticeyes
Arbitration or class-action waiveryes
Popularity37k stars, 5.3M npm/wk47k npm/wk, 63k PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (2)none

Verdicts

Playwright MCP

Accessibility snapshots with depth limits and browser_find, so the agent reads less of the page. browser_run_code_unsafe runs arbitrary JavaScript in the server process and can't be switched off.

Steel

The hosted API has a public OpenAPI document, per-unit prices, $30 of starting credit and x402 payment for scrape, screenshot and PDF calls. The status page records three API or session-creation incidents of more than an hour in 90 days, and the documented CDP connection puts the API key in the URL.

Before you call either

Playwright MCP

  1. Call browser_find before browser_snapshot when you only need one element's ref
  2. Pass depth or a target to browser_snapshot on large pages
  3. Run with --isolated for untrusted sites. The default profile persists cookies between runs
  4. Add --caps only for the groups the task needs. Each group adds tools to the schema
  5. Pin a version in npx @playwright/mcp@<version>. 0.0.x releases can rename tools

Steel

  1. Use POST /v1/scrape for pages you only need to read. It starts no session and costs $5 per 1,000 calls, or $0.01 a call by x402
  2. Release every session with POST /v1/sessions/{id}/release and set inactivityTimeout. Browser time bills by the minute, rounded up
  3. Build the CDP URL as wss://connect.steel.dev?apiKey=<key>&sessionId=<id> and keep it out of logs, because it carries the key
  4. Launch sessions end after 15 minutes at most, and timeout cannot be changed on a live session
  5. CAPTCHA solving and Steel's managed proxies on Launch need $10 of paid balance. Free credit does not count

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Playwright MCP or Steel?

Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Playwright MCP's 67.6 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Playwright MCP leads on agent ergonomics and transparency & trust.

Do Playwright MCP and Steel need an API key?

Playwright MCP needs no key. Steel needs an API key. An agent can also pay Steel per call over x402, with no account.

Can an agent call Playwright MCP and Steel without installing anything?

Playwright MCP runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Steel has a hosted endpoint at https://api.steel.dev.

Are Playwright MCP and Steel open source?

Yes. Playwright MCP is open source (Apache-2.0). Steel is open source (Proprietary cloud service under Steel's terms. steel-browser and the Node and Python SDKs are Apache-2.0. The MCP server and the CLI are MIT).

Other comparisons with Playwright MCP or Steel

Machine-readable

For companies

Do agents find, use and choose your tools?

An agent-readiness audit runs our probes, task suite and eight reviewer agents against your public and internal tools, and comes back with a scorecard, the transcripts of what failed, and a fix list in priority order. From $2,500, re-run included. We never take payment to move a rank. We do help companies earn one.

Get an auditSee a sample report