Anchor Browser vs Steel (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Anchor Browser grades higher than Steel: 1.8 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Anchor Browser grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Anchor Browser
Cloud browsers and authentication for computer-use agents
Steel
Open-source browser infrastructure for AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Anchor Browser if
- Fits if your agents must stay logged in to sites that have no API
- Works for teams that want a browser task kept as repeatable code
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 5 credits a month and 5 concurrent browsers
- Pricey if you need the full stealth browser, which sits on the $2,000 a month Growth plan
- Skip it if you want to host browsers yourself, as that is Enterprise only
- Watch out: the pricing page's structured data lists a $20 Starter and 25 free browsers, which contradicts the visible cards
- Watch out: past included credits every paid plan charges $1.00 a credit
Pick Steel if
- Fits if you want browser infrastructure you could also run on your own servers
- Works for developers testing agents on the free credits
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you outgrow Launch, as Scale is $250 a month plus usage
- Tight if you stay free: $30 once, 15-minute sessions and 7-day retention
- Watch out: the comparison table marks the stealth browser Enterprise only, but the homepage describes stealth generally
- Watch out: browser hours are billed on top, $0.10 on Launch and $0.08 on Scale
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAAnchor BrowserWeak | 1.6GPASteelWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $50 a month, the start of the category's dearer quarter, with extra credits at $1.00 each. Team is $500. | DScale is $250 a month plus usage, past the category's $150 dearest-tenth start. Launch is free, but only a one-time credit. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free plan gives 5 credits a month, 5 concurrent browsers and 500 sessions. Authenticated browsers and CAPTCHA bypass need paid. | CLaunch has $30 of one-time credits, no card, 10 concurrent sessions and 15-minute limits. The open-source server is free but needs your own hosting. |
| Features | CHosted browsers, logins, a VPN and task caching. Custom proxy and 30-day retention need Team, and full stealth Chromium needs the $2,000 Growth plan. | CBrowser sessions, proxies, CAPTCHA solving, a scrape tool and self-hosting. The comparison table marks stealth as Enterprise only. |
| Ease of use | DNo rating on record. It is used through an SDK, MCP or automation tools, so it takes code or wiring. | DNo rating on record. You use an API and SDK, or host the server yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | CCloud web service with MCP, and no desktop or phone app. Self-hosting only comes with Enterprise bring-your-own-cloud. | CWeb API with MCP, and a self-hostable server. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | hosted browsers for agent logins | open-source browser API for agents |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Anchor Browser and Steel. How we grade
Price against what you get
Anchor Browser starts at $50 a month and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Steel starts at $250 a month and scores 1.7.
They score the same, and Anchor Browser starts $200 a month lower. Of the other AI agents on the chart, 78 score higher than Anchor Browser for less, and 95 score higher than Steel for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Steel is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Anchor Browser also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Anchor Browser | Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $50 per month | $250 per month plus usage (Scale), after a free Launch plan |
| Free plan | 5 credits a month, up to 5 concurrent browsers and 500 browser sessions, with an embedded browser agent. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | Launch plan: $30 of credits granted once, no card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Anchor | Steel |
| Price read from | anchorbrowser.io | steel.dev |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Anchor Browser
- Usage past included credits is $1.00 per credit on every paid plan; the calculator on the page uses $0.09 per browser hour, $8 per GB of proxy and $0.01 per AI step.
- The page's structured data lists a $20 Starter plan and 25 free browsers, conflicting with the visible cards ($50, 5 browsers), which are recorded here.
- Authenticated browsers and CAPTCHA bypass start at Starter; custom proxy and 30-day retention at Team; SOC 2 reporting at Growth.
- Anchor's browsers are cloud-only unless you take the Enterprise plan with bring-your-own-cloud.
Steel
- Usage is billed beyond included credits: browser hours are $0.10 on Launch and $0.08 on Scale.
- The comparison table marks the stealth browser as Enterprise only, while the homepage describes stealth for the product generally.
- Launch sessions stop at 15 minutes and 7 days of data retention; Scale allows 1 hour and 14 days.
- Dedicated IPs cost $5 each on Scale; reserved browser pools need Enterprise.
Key features
Anchor Browser
- Anchor Chromium
- A Chromium fork the vendor says is recognized as human, with Web-Bot-Auth verification and parallel browsers.
- OmniConnect authentication
- Handles onboarding, management and use of the logins an agent needs to act on behalf of a user.
- Planned deterministic tasks
- An agent turns a plain-language task into a browser workload and falls back to AI at runtime only when needed; a web action cache keeps workflows as code.
- Built-in VPN
- An enterprise VPN offered as a network backbone that does not rely on third-party proxies.
- Flexible deployment
- Used through an SDK, MCP or automation platforms; bring-your-own-cloud and on-premises deployment are listed for Enterprise.
Steel
- Browser sessions over an API
- Start thousands of real browser sessions on demand, each released when the work is done, and control them from agent code.
- Stealth and CAPTCHA solving
- The site describes fingerprint rotation, human-like mouse movement and CAPTCHA solving, billed at $3 per 1,000 solves on Launch.
- Residential proxies
- Proxy traffic from many countries, billed at $10 per GB on Launch and $6 per GB on Scale.
- Open-source and self-hosting
- Steel Browser is open source on GitHub, and Steel Outpost runs the platform in your own cloud with your own keys.
- Scrape tool
- A browser tools endpoint for scraping is billed at $5 per 1,000 requests on every plan.
Plans
Anchor Browser
Free$0
5 credits a month, up to 5 concurrent browsers, up to 500 sessions and an embedded browser agent.
Starter$50
per month
50 credits, then $1.00 per extra credit; 25 concurrent browsers, authenticated browsers, automated CAPTCHA bypass and any geolocation.
Team$500
per month
500 credits, then $1.00 per extra credit; 50 concurrent browsers, Cloudflare-verified agents, custom proxy and 30-day data retention.
Growth$2000
per month
2,000 credits, then $1.00 per extra credit; 200 concurrent browsers, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR, and the full stealth Anchor Chromium.
EnterpriseCustom
500+ concurrent browsers, SSO, RBAC, BAA and HIPAA, custom regions, bring your own cloud or on-premises, and a dedicated Slack channel.
Steel
Launch$0
per month, plus usage
$30 of one-time credits, 10 concurrent sessions of up to 15 minutes, up to 3 seats, email and community support.
Scale$250
per month, plus usage
$100 of credits every month, 100 concurrent sessions of up to 1 hour, unlimited seats, Slack channel and HIPAA-ready BAA.
EnterpriseCustom
1,000+ concurrent sessions, sessions up to 24 hours, reserved browser pools, SLAs and SSO.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Anchor Browser or Steel?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Anchor Browser is cheaper to start with: $50 a month, against $250 a month for Steel. Anchor Browser starts at $50 per month, and Steel starts at $250 per month plus usage (Scale), after a free Launch plan.
Which has a free plan, Anchor Browser or Steel?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Anchor Browser has a free plan. Steel does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.