Browser Use vs Steel (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Browser Use grades higher than Steel: 2.6 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Browser Use grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
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
Steel
Open-source browser infrastructure for AI agents
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 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
| 2.6GPABrowser UseGood | 1.6GPASteelWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | 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 | BThe harness is free and open source for Claude Code and Codex, and each cloud person gets a one-time $1 credit. | 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 | CWeb agents, stealth browsers and a choice of models, but concurrency starts at 10 and unlocks by total paid. | CBrowser sessions, proxies, CAPTCHA solving, a scrape tool and self-hosting. The comparison table marks stealth as Enterprise only. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. The page lists an API key and docs, not a no-code app. | DNo rating on record. You use an API and SDK, or host the server yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with three integrations, an API and an open-source harness; no desktop or phone app. | CWeb API with MCP, and a self-hostable server. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | web agents and cloud browsers for developers | 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: Browser Use and Steel. How we grade
Where they differ
- Steel is self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Browser Use | Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5 minimum top-up, used as you go | $250 per month plus usage (Scale), after a free Launch plan |
| 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. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | Launch plan: $30 of credits granted once, no card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Browser Use | Steel |
| Price read from | browser-use.com | steel.dev |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
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
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.
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
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.
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, Browser Use or Steel?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Browser Use starts at $5 minimum top-up, used as you go, and Steel starts at $250 per month plus usage (Scale), after a free Launch plan.
Which has a free plan, Browser Use or Steel?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Browser Use 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.