BrowserCloud vs Steel
BrowserCloud
browsercloud.ioSteel
steel.devSide by side
| Figure | BrowserCloud | Steel |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $19/mo | $250/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 10 | 5 |
| Spec score · Headless Browser APIs | 8.6 (#4) | 8.1 (#13) |
| Spec score · Browser Automation Tools | 8.7 (#9) | 8.2 (#20) |
| Company | BrowserCloud says it was founded in 2020, is self-funded, and was started by engineers with 12+ years of experience in browser automation, web scraping, and distributed systems. | The homepage footer identifies the company as Nen Labs Inc. |
| Compliance | SOC 2, ISO 27001 | sso saml, HIPAA |
| 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 | The homepage lists Puppeteer, Playwright, n8n, Zapier, Make.com, Python, JavaScript, PHP, Java, and C# integrations. | Puppeteer, Playwright, Selenium, Python, Node.js, Browser Use, OpenAI Computer Use, Claude Computer Use |
| Key features | Hosted Chrome browser sessions with Puppeteer and Playwright connectivity · HTTP APIs for scraping, PDF generation, screenshots, and custom scripts · Persistent browser contexts and cache across sessions · Stealth modes and randomized device fingerprints · Proxy selection, country targeting, and sticky behavior · CAPTCHA solving for supported CAPTCHA types · Live session monitoring and recording · Automation scenarios supporting form entry, clicks, scrolling, and data extraction | 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 | BrowserCloud provides scalable browser automation infrastructure for AI agents and web applications. | Steel is an open-source browser API that lets developers control fleets of browsers in the cloud for AI agents. |
| Support | The pricing comparison lists email-only support for Free, standard support for Hobby, priority support for Startup, and high priority support for Business and Enterprise. | 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, community | email, community, docs |
| Use cases | The maker describes the platform for web scraping, testing, and automation workflows. | Steel lists AI agents, model training, AI shopping assistants, web scraping, RPA, sales automation, QA, and customer service agents as use cases. |
Plans
BrowserCloud
- FreeFree
- Hobby$19 a month
- Startup$99 a month
- Business$249 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- 100 Sessions$690 a month
- 200 Sessions$940 a month
- 300 Sessions$1,100 a month
- 400 Sessions$1,250 a month
- FreePrice not published
Steel
- LaunchFree
- Scale$250 a month
- LaunchFree
- Scale$250 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
BrowserCloud
BrowserCloud has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.