# Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) vs Steel (slim)

> Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)'s 30.6 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) leads on transparency & trust. Both do browser automation. Steel accepts x402. Puppeteer…

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/puppeteer-reference-server-archived-vs-steel.md (~2,700 tokens) · this version ~830 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/puppeteer-reference-server-archived-vs-steel.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/puppeteer-reference-server-archived-vs-steel
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-08

Steel scores 70.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)'s 30.6 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) leads on transparency & trust. Both do browser automation. Steel accepts x402. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) doesn't.

- Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server): F 30.6, rank #619 of 629 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/puppeteer-reference-server-archived.min.md
- Steel: BB 70.4, rank #129 of 629 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/steel.min.md
- Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server), good for Nothing new. Ahead on Transparency & trust, 75 against 64. Also No key needed to call it.
- Steel, 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 Reliability, 58 against 12; Schema & documentation, 86 against 41; Agent ergonomics, 79 against 47; Security & auth, 56 against 22; Payments & pricing, 75 against 60; Maintenance & community, 82 against 0. Also 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; No incidents deducted, where Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) loses 4 points for them.

| Category | Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) | Steel |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 12 | 58 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 41 | 86 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 47 | 79 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 22 | 56 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 75 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 0 | 82 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 75 | 64 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) | Steel |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Model Context Protocol (archived) | Nen Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.steel.dev` |
| Transports | stdio | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | yes, from $0.01/call |
| Licence | MIT | 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 | 7 | none |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2025-05-12 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | 2021-09-08 | 2025-02-05 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2023-03-15 | 2026-02-05 |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 294 stars, 25k npm/wk | 47k npm/wk, 63k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 1/5 (2) | none |