Browser Use vs Browserbase (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Browser Use grades higher than Browserbase: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Browser Use grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Browserbase grades higher on features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Browser Use
Browser agents and cloud browsers for AI apps
Browserbase
Cloud browsers and APIs for agents that use the web
Which one is for you
Pick Browser Use if
- Fits if you are a developer who wants browser agents with a free harness
- Works for someone who prefers pay as you go to a subscription
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a no-code app, as it is built around an API key and docs
- Watch out: costs follow use at $0.02 a browser hour and $5 a GB on home-IP proxies
- Tight if you scale: concurrency starts at 10 and is 50 after $100 paid
- Watch out: the default model rate is $0.12 per million input tokens, and other models cost more
Pick Browserbase if
- Fits if you run browser agents in code and need hosted browsers
- Works for a developer who wants sessions observed and replayed
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Free: 1 browser hour, 15-minute sessions and 7-day retention
- Watch out: usage past the allowance is billed at the plan's rate, so the bill grows with hours and proxies
- Not for you if you need on-prem, which the FAQ says it does not offer
- Skip it if you need HIPAA or SSO on a self-serve plan
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABrowser UseGood | 2.2GPABrowserbaseFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe open-source harness is free to run in your own Chrome, and the cloud has no subscription, only a $5 top-up that never expires. | CDeveloper is $20 a month for 25 concurrent browsers, about the category's middle, with hours, proxies and calls billed past the allowance. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe harness is free and open source for Claude Code and Codex, and each cloud person gets a one-time $1 credit. | CFree is 3 concurrent browsers and 1 browser hour, with 15-minute sessions and no captcha solving. |
| Features | CWeb agents, stealth browsers and a choice of models, but concurrency starts at 10 and unlocks by total paid. | BCloud browsers, search and fetch, agent identity, a model gateway and observability; HIPAA and SSO are enterprise only. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. The page lists an API key and docs, not a no-code app. | DNo store rating on record. It is used through an SDK and code, with sessions and proxies to configure. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with three integrations, an API and an open-source harness; no desktop or phone app. | BWeb only, with six integrations and APIs; no desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | web agents and cloud browsers for developers | cloud browsers for AI 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: Browser Use and Browserbase. How we grade
Where they differ
- Browser Use is open source, according to its own site.
- Browserbase also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Browser Use | Browserbase | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 minimum top-up, used as you go | $20 per month |
| Free plan | Browser Harness is free and open source (MIT); on the cloud, each person gets a one-time $1 signup credit that never expires. | 3 concurrent browsers, 1 browser hour, 3 agent runs, 1,000 search and 1,000 fetch calls, and $5 in model tokens. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Browser Use | Browserbase |
| Price read from | browser-use.com | browserbase.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Browser Use
- Costs follow use: $0.02 per browser hour, $5/GB on home-IP proxies and $0.20/GB direct.
- The default agent model rate is $0.12 per million input tokens and $0.60 output; other models cost more.
- Concurrency unlocks by total paid: 10 at the start, 50 after $100, 250 after $1,000.
- Aimed at developers: the page lists an API key and docs, not a no-code app.
Browserbase
- Plans scale past included usage at the plan's rate, so the bill grows with browser hours, proxies and API calls.
- Free has no captcha solving and stops sessions at 15 minutes.
- HIPAA (BAA) and SSO are listed for enterprise customers, not the self-serve plans.
- The FAQ says it does not offer on-prem deployment; hybrid setups come through consulting.
Key features
Browser Use
- Web agents
- Send a task and get JSON back. The pricing page lists a median task at $0.006 on the default model.
- Stealth cloud browsers
- Cloud browsers with CAPTCHA solving included and home-IP proxies, billed per browser hour plus traffic.
- Browser Harness
- A free, MIT-licensed tool that gives coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex control of your own Chrome.
- Choice of models
- Agents run on the vendor's BU models or models from OpenAI, Anthropic and others; bring your own key at provider cost plus 0.2x.
- Enterprise deployment
- US or EU cloud regions, on-prem browsers and agents through sales, and SOC 2 Type II with HIPAA and zero data retention available.
Browserbase
- Cloud browsers
- Fleets of headless browsers that agents control through Playwright, Puppeteer, Selenium or Stagehand.
- Search and Fetch APIs
- Search returns relevant sites from one query; Fetch returns pages as HTML, JSON or markdown for agents.
- Agent identity
- Captcha solving on paid plans, plus stealth mode (basic on Developer and Startup, advanced on Scale).
- Runtime and model gateway
- Browserbase Functions run deployed agents on its servers, and one API key reaches major models through Stagehand.
- Observability
- Session recordings, logs and prompts for debugging an agent, with data kept 7 to 30+ days by plan.
Plans
Browser Use
Browser Harness$0
Open-source (MIT) harness for Claude Code and Codex; run it yourself in your own Chrome at no charge.
Pay as you go$5
one-time top-up, used as you go
No subscription: credits from $5 (1 credit = $1) that never expire; up to 1,000 browsers at once.
EnterpriseCustom
Concurrency past 1,000, annual credit pools, custom SLAs, HIPAA, EU data residency and on-prem deployment.
Browserbase
Free$0
3 concurrent browsers, 1 browser hour, 15-minute sessions and 7-day data retention; no captcha solving.
Developer$20
per month
25 concurrent browsers, 100 browser hours then $0.12/hour, 1 GB of proxies then $12/GB, captcha solving.
Startup$99
per month
100 concurrent browsers, 500 browser hours then $0.10/hour, 5 GB of proxies then $10/GB.
ScaleCustom
250+ concurrent browsers, usage-based hours and proxies, advanced stealth mode and verified agents.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Browser Use or Browserbase?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Browser Use starts at $5 minimum top-up, used as you go, and Browserbase starts at $20 per month.
Which has a free plan, Browser Use or Browserbase?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Browser Use and Browserbase have a free plan.
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.