# Anchor Browser (slim)

> Anchor Browser runs cloud browser sessions for AI agents, controlled through a REST API, a CDP WebSocket, TypeScript and Python SDKs and hosted MCP servers. It adds managed logins with MFA, profiles, proxies, CAPTCHA solving and recordings.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anchor-browser.md (~8,400 tokens) · this version ~2,080 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anchor-browser.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anchor-browser
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-08

**B · 67.3/100 · rank #211 of 722 · #7 in Browser automation · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: The API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 document, per-unit prices and Agent Access, an unauthenticated flow that issues a trial API key without a dashboard account. No service agreement is published, only a website terms of use, and the documented CDP connection puts the API key in the URL.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Anchor Forge Inc. · category: Browser automation · legal entity: Anchor Forge Inc. · provenance 61/100
- Endpoint: `https://api.anchorbrowser.io` (HTTP)
- Auth: OAuth or key · pricing: Freemium · x402: no · licence: Proprietary cloud service. No service agreement was found, only a website terms of use. The TypeScript and Python SDKs and the self-hosted MCP server are Apache-2.0
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Surface graded: The hosted API at https://api.anchorbrowser.io with CDP at wss://connect.anchorbrowser.io and the hosted MCP servers. The self-hosted MCP server is described but not graded
- API: OpenAPI 3.1.0, version 1.0.0, 101 paths and 136 operations under /v1. Sessions, AI tools, tasks, applications and identities, profiles, OS-level control, recordings, batch sessions, webhooks, volumes, extensions, certificates and billing
- MCP servers: Hosted, streamable HTTP. /v1/mcp (web tasks, site actions, saved tasks, managed logins, sessions, docs search and endpoint discovery), /v1/mcp/all, /v1/mcp/actions/{domain} and /v1/mcp/browser. OAuth sign-in through signin.anchorbrowser.io or the `anchor-api-key` header
- Agent Access: Unauthenticated. GET /v1/agent-access/challenge, then POST /v1/agent-access with the token and answer. 1 credit anonymous, 5 with a verified-email OIDC token from Google, GitHub or Vercel. 60-minute session cap
- Free plan: $5 of credits a month, up to 5 concurrent browsers, 5 session creations a minute, 7-day data retention, US region. No authenticated browsers, CAPTCHA solving or geolocation
- Rate limits: Session creation 5 a minute on Free, 25 on Starter, 100 on Growth. Concurrent browsers 5, 25 and 200. Web Unlocker 2,000 requests a minute per API key
- Session limits: Default maximum duration 180 minutes, set with `session.timeout.max_duration`, and `idle_timeout` ends a session after its last connection drops
- Errors: JSON body `{error: {code, message}}` with the HTTP status as the code. 429 on session creation carries `RateLimit` and `Retry-After` headers. 402 means insufficient credits. Agent Access errors carry a `next` step
- SDKs: TypeScript `anchorbrowser` 1.0.0 on npm (26 July 2026) and Python `anchorbrowser` 1.0.1 on PyPI (28 July 2026), both Apache-2.0 and generated from the OpenAPI document
- Managed logins: Applications and identities sign in to third-party sites and handle TOTP and email codes. Identity links let a person sign in without giving the agent a password. A 1Password integration is documented
- Observability: Session recordings on by default with pause, resume and delete, a live view with a read-only mode, session history with filters, webhook delivery logs and a billing usage endpoint
- Security: SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR per the security page and the SafeBase trust portal. Zero Data Retention mode on request. No security.txt. The SDK's SECURITY.md sends reports to support@anchorbrowser.io
- Regions: AWS us-east-2 by default. eu-central-1, Asia and Australia on Growth, any region on Enterprise
- Prices: Browser creation $0.01 per call; Browser usage $0.05 per browser-hour; Anchor proxy traffic $8 per GB of traffic; Egress with your own proxy or none $0.20 per GB of traffic; AI step, Light model tier $0.01 per call; AI step, Standard model tier $0.05 per call; AI step, High Performance model tier $0.10 per call; Overage credit, Starter and Growth $1 per credit; Starter plan $50 per month (plan); Growth plan $2000 per month (plan)

- Scores: Reliability 80, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 80, Agent ergonomics 73, Security & auth 54, Payments & pricing 60, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 57, Transparency & trust 51 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Graded as a hosted service. · Schema & documentation, OpenAPI 3.1.0 at docs.anchorbrowser.io/openapi.yaml with 101 paths and 136 operations and the `anchor-api-key` header scheme (25). · Agent ergonomics, The main MCP server lists about 24 tools and reaches the other REST routes through `list_endpoints`, `get_endpoint` and two call tools. · Security & auth, API keys in the `anchor-api-key` header, per project. · Payments & pricing, No machine payment protocol was confirmed on Anchor's own endpoints. · Maintenance & community, The newest dated releases are the TypeScript SDK 1.0.0 on npm on 26 July 2026 and the Python SDK 1.0.1 on PyPI on 28 July, 72 days before th… · Transparency & trust, The service is closed.
- Sources: 31, open questions: 12, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: browser.control, browser.hosted, browser.debug, web.fetch, web.scrape, scraping.proxies, scraping.anti-bot, pdf.generate
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anchor-browser.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/anchor-browser.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anchor-browser from a page on anchorbrowser.io or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/anchorbrowser/AnchorBrowser-SDK-Typescript, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Send the key in the `anchor-api-key` header. For CDP, build `wss://connect.anchorbrowser.io?apiKey=<key>&sessionId=<id>` and keep that URL out of logs
2. Set `session.timeout.idle_timeout` and `max_duration` and end sessions with DELETE. The default maximum is 180 minutes, and browser time bills by the minute
3. Session creation is capped at 5 a minute on Free, 25 on Starter and 100 on Growth. On 429, wait for the `Retry-After` seconds
4. Connect the `Anchor` MCP server or `Anchor (all)`, not both, because the docs say the pair duplicates tool names
5. Authenticated browsers, CAPTCHA solving and proxies by country need the Starter plan or higher. The Free plan and Agent Access keys run plain sessions and web tasks

## Connect

```bash
npm install anchorbrowser
```

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.anchorbrowser.io/v1/tools/perform-web-task -H "anchor-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"prompt":"Go to example.com and return the page title","url":"https://example.com"}'
```

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http anchor https://api.anchorbrowser.io/v1/mcp
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/anchor-browser

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Steel | BB | 70.4 | browser.control, browser.hosted, browser.debug, web.scrape, web.fetch, scraping.proxies, scraping.anti-bot, pdf.generate | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/steel.min.md |
| Browserless | BB | 70.4 | browser.control, browser.hosted, browser.debug, scraping.anti-bot, scraping.proxies, web.scrape, pdf.generate | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserless.min.md |
| Airtop | C | 55.3 | browser.control, browser.hosted, browser.debug, web.scrape, scraping.proxies, scraping.anti-bot | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtop.min.md |
| Spider | BB | 74.1 | web.scrape, web.fetch, browser.hosted, scraping.proxies, scraping.anti-bot | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/spider-cloud.min.md |
| Scrapfly | B | 69.6 | web.scrape, web.fetch, browser.hosted, scraping.proxies, scraping.anti-bot | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/scrapfly.min.md |


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