# 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. Category scores, facts…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playwright-mcp-vs-steel
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- 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

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 MCP: grade B, 67.6/100, rank #189 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playwright-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playwright-mcp.json
- Steel: grade BB, 70.4/100, rank #129 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/steel.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/steel.json

## 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

| Category | Weight | Playwright MCP | Steel | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 57 | 58 | Steel +1 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 86 | Steel +16 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 79 | Playwright MCP +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 56 | Playwright MCP +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 75 | Steel +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 82 | Playwright MCP +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 64 | Playwright MCP +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **67.6 · B** | **70.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Playwright MCP | Steel |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Microsoft | Nen Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.steel.dev` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy) | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | yes, from $0.01/call |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | 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 |
| Tools exposed | 72 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2025-02-05 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-02-05 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 37k stars, 5.3M npm/wk | 47k npm/wk, 63k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (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).


## For agents

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

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