Side by side

Browser Use vs Steel

Both stand on browser automation tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Browser Use

Free plan Open source APILinuxMac+3

Choose Browser Use if you need hosted or self-hosted browser task execution with persistent sessions, recordings, and broad automation integrations. The listed entry point is usage billed at $0.02, paid once; teams seeking a standard free plan or trial should look elsewhere.

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Steel

Free plan Open source APISelf-hostedWeb

Steel provides browser sessions and one-call tools alongside integrations for automation and agents. Session duration and the availability of proxies or CAPTCHA solving depend on the selected plan.

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The facts

	Browser Use	Steel
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Yes	Yes
Runs on	API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows	API, Self-hosted, Web
Lowest paid plan	See the plans	Scale: $250 a month
Plans published	4	3
Maker	Browser Use, Inc.	Nen Labs, Inc.
Website	browser-use.com	steel.dev
On browser automation tools	#1 of 62	#6 of 62

Browser Use: what it does well

Supports cloud execution and self-hosting.
Retains browser profiles and login state.
Provides live session URLs and recordings.
Offers residential proxies in 195+ countries.
Can return structured outputs and files.

What to know first

No standard free plan or free trial.
Browsers is billed by the minute.
Browser Use Agents and Enterprise have custom pricing.

Steel: what it does well

Open-source browser API
On-demand browser sessions through an API
Works with Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium
Sessions can preserve browser context
Cloud and self-hosted deployment options

What to know first

Launch sessions are limited to 15 minutes
Scale sessions are limited to one hour
Scale costs $250 per month, plus usage
Enterprise pricing is custom

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