Browser Use vs Thunderbit (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Browser Use and Thunderbit share a 2.6 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about the free plan, where Browser Use grades higher, or ease of use, where Thunderbit does.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money, features 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
Thunderbit
AI web scraper that turns pages into spreadsheets
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 Thunderbit if
- Fits if you scrape lists of pages into a spreadsheet now and then
- Works for people who prefer to describe the data in words rather than build selectors
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you scrape more than 6 pages a month on Free
- Watch out: bulk, subpage and enrichment features need Starter
- Watch out: the page shows a limited-time 31% off on Pro with no end date
- Skip it if you need the API, which is sold on custom terms
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABrowser UseGood | 2.6GPAThunderbitGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | A$9 a month billed yearly ($15 monthly), under 60% of the category's cheaper quarter of $19. Pro is $16.50. |
| 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 gives 6 pages a month and at most 30 credits a page. Bulk, subpage and enrichment features need Starter. |
| Features | CWeb agents, stealth browsers and a choice of models, but concurrency starts at 10 and unlocks by total paid. | CDescribe-the-data scraping, subpages, bulk URLs, pagination, schedules and exports. The Web Scraper API and Business plan are custom terms. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. The page lists an API key and docs, not a no-code app. | CNo store rating on record. You describe fields and check what it pulled, and set up exports and schedules. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with three integrations, an API and an open-source harness; no desktop or phone app. | BChrome extension and web, with Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable and Notion exports. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | web agents and cloud browsers for developers | AI web scraper in Chrome |
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 Thunderbit. How we grade
Where they differ
- Browser Use is open source, according to its own site.
- Thunderbit also covers workflow automation and spreadsheets.
At a glance
| Browser Use | Thunderbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 minimum top-up, used as you go | $9 per month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly) |
| 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. | 6 pages a month, at most 30 credits per page, with data export and extraction tools. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Browser Use | Thunderbit Inc. |
| Price read from | browser-use.com | thunderbit.com |
| 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.
Thunderbit
- The free plan stops at 6 pages a month, and bulk, subpage and enrichment features need Starter.
- Yearly plans give credits upfront for the year; the page shows yearly saving as 20% and a limited-time 31% off on Pro, with no end date.
- The Web Scraper API and Business plan are sold on custom terms.
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.
Thunderbit
- Describe-the-data scraping
- An AI agent reads the page and extracts the fields you ask for, with no CSS selectors or drag-and-drop setup.
- Subpages, bulk URLs and pagination
- Paid plans follow links into subpages and scrape up to 2,000 URLs in bulk and up to 200 paginated pages.
- Scheduled scrapers
- Scrapers can run on a schedule, with a minimum monitor frequency of 1 hour on Starter and 5 minutes on Pro.
- Exports
- Results export to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable and Notion.
- Free extractors and API
- Email, phone number and similar extractors are listed on every plan, and a Web Scraper API, CLI and MCP server are offered separately.
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.
Thunderbit
Free$0
per month
6 pages a month, 3 bulk URLs, 3 paginated pages, 14-day data retention and 1 scheduled scraper.
Starter$9
per month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly)
5,000 credits a year when billed yearly (500 a month when monthly), subpage and bulk scraping, enrichment and 5 scheduled scrapers.
Pro$16.5
per month, billed yearly ($38 billed monthly)
30,000 credits a year when billed yearly (3,000 a month when monthly), unlimited scrapers and 25 scheduled scrapers. Page shows $24 crossed out.
BusinessCustom
Custom credits, limits and billing terms, with priority support and account management.
Ways to pay less
Browser Use
No public discounts listed.
Thunderbit
- Annual discount
Save 20% on yearly billing
The pricing page says yearly subscriptions save 20%, with all credits for the year given upfront. Pro also shows a limited-time 31% off.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Browser Use or Thunderbit?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Browser Use starts at $5 minimum top-up, used as you go, and Thunderbit starts at $9 per month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Browser Use or Thunderbit?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Browser Use and Thunderbit have a free plan.
Which platforms do Browser Use and Thunderbit run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Thunderbit lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.