Browserbase and Steel both run real Chrome in the cloud. What differs is the stack above the browser. Browserbase has grown into a managed agent platform: Stagehand as its SDK, Director as a workflow builder, and Browserbase Agents, generally available on every plan, which execute plain-language goals on Browserbase's infrastructure. Steel stayed at the layer underneath: neutral browser and computer infrastructure your agents drive.
Summary
| Topic | Steel | Browserbase |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Browser and computer infrastructure for agents you build or bring | Managed platform plus an agent stack: Stagehand, Director, Agents |
| Portability | Standard CDP/Playwright code that moves with you | Sessions speak CDP; workflows and managed runs stay inside Browserbase |
| Model choice | Any model or framework: Browser Use, Stagehand, plain scripts | Stagehand lets you choose; managed Agents decide for themselves |
| State & auth | Profiles and the Credentials API | Contexts and platform-managed agent identity |
| Observability | Live session viewer, replay, Agent Traces | Session Inspector, Live View, replay, per-run traces |
| Transparency | Open-source runtime you can audit | Managed platform; the Stagehand SDK is open source |
| Pricing | $30 starting credits; a $10 top-up unlocks CAPTCHA, proxies, and advanced features on the entry plan | Tiers where hours, bandwidth, and features unlock by plan |
Differences that matter
1) Who owns the judgment
Describe a goal to Browserbase Agents and its planner decides how pages get read, when to retry, and when a run is done. An optimizer then tunes that behavior, on Browserbase's schedule. Steel puts the judgment on your side of the API. A session is a real browser, increasingly a full computer environment for agents, driven by your own loop, an open framework, or a computer-use model. A managed agent is somebody else's prompt engineering running against your production data, fine until the day you need to change how it decides.
2) Lock-in and transparency
Both hand you a CDP endpoint, so a plain script is portable either way. Switching costs accumulate above that line: Director workflows, agent definitions, and their tuning history are assets built inside one vendor's product; they do not travel. Steel keeps the layer thin on purpose. Your code stays ordinary automation code, and the open-source runtime lets a security team read what the browser layer does with credentials before signing off. Steel Cloud is the recommended way to run it; the open code is evidence, not a deployment suggestion.
3) Pricing you can meter
Steel's Launch plan starts with $30 in credits. A $10 top-up unlocks CAPTCHA solving, proxies, and the advanced feature set from the first plan, and that $10 is a balance you spend rather than a fee. You pay for infrastructure you can count: browser time plus unblocking. Browserbase prices in browser hours with features gated by tier, and managed agent runs add model work whose size the planner chooses. That is legible after the fact, harder to forecast before. Steel pricing verified 2026-08-13.
When Browserbase fits
- Nobody wants to own an agent loop; a prompt-to-result service with nothing to host suits you.
- Your team standardized on Stagehand and Director, and planning behavior that evolves on the vendor's cadence is acceptable.
- You want identity, unblocking, and orchestration under one contract.
When Steel is a good fit
- You are building your own agents and want the browser and computer layer handled without adopting someone else's planner.
- Portability and inspectability are procurement requirements. Standard code plus an open runtime means an exit path by construction.
- You want CAPTCHA, proxies, and stealth on the entry plan, not held back for an upgrade conversation.
- You need evidence that outlives any single agent. The live viewer, replays, and Agent Traces stay the same for whatever you swap in later.
Next steps
Start a session on Steel Cloud and point your existing framework at it. The code you have is the integration.
Humans use Chrome. Agents use Steel.