BrowserCat vs Steel
BrowserCat
browsercat.comSteel
steel.devSide by side
| Figure | BrowserCat | Steel |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $50/mo | $250/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 5 |
| Spec score · Browser Automation Tools | 8.7 (#8) | 8.2 (#21) |
| Spec score · Headless Browser APIs | 8.5 (#6) | 8.1 (#13) |
| Deployment | cloud | Steel says its browser runtime is open source under Apache-2.0 and can be run locally or self-hosted with Docker. |
| Integrations | BrowserCat supports Playwright, Puppeteer and CDP-based clients, with examples and language support including JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET, Ruby, PHP, Go and Rust. | Puppeteer, Playwright, Selenium, Python, Node.js, Browser Use, OpenAI Computer Use, Claude Computer Use |
| Key features | Single endpoint and API key for connecting to managed browser backends · Routing based on capability, latency, and availability, with automatic failover · Playwright, Puppeteer, and CDP client support · Managed cloud browser execution · Configurable browser instances and launch options · Third-party proxy support · Usage dashboard with alerts, usage caps, and logs · Browser automation for scraping, CI testing, PDF/image generation, and page monitoring | Managed cloud browser sessions · Browser automation through Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium · Web scraping, screenshots, and PDF generation · Persistent cookies and reusable browser context · Proxy and browser fingerprinting controls · Automatic CAPTCHA solving · Session viewer and replay-based debugging · Authentication and automatic sign-in support |
| Product | BrowserCat provides one API endpoint for managed cloud browsers and routes each session to a browser backend. | Steel is an open-source browser API that lets developers control fleets of browsers in the cloud for AI agents. |
| Support | The Hobby plan includes basic email support, Business includes priority email support, and Enterprise lists dedicated support. | Launch and Scale include email and community support, Scale includes a dedicated Slack channel, and Enterprise includes a 911 email and support and uptime SLAs. |
| Support | email, docs | email, community, docs |
Plans
BrowserCat
- HobbyFree
- Business$50 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Starter credit pack$20, paid once
- Growth credit pack$87.50, paid once
- Scale credit pack$300, paid once
- HobbyFree
Steel
- LaunchFree
- Scale$250 a month
- LaunchFree
- Scale$250 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
BrowserCat
BrowserCat has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.