Steel
Open source browser API for running and controlling cloud browsers, aimed at AI agents.
How the 8.0 was reached
- Quality of output7/10
7,709 GitHub stars, Apache-2.0, active in September 2026; Puppeteer/CDP control with stealth features. github.com
- Ease of use8/10
Install via npm or pip, CLI setup script, and $30 free credits; the pricing page was not found. docs.steel.dev
- Pricing value9/10
Open source Apache-2.0 plus $30 free credits; browser hours from $0.08. docs.steel.dev
- API and integration quality9/10
REST API, Node and Python SDKs, works with Puppeteer, Playwright and Selenium, plus WebSocket. docs.steel.dev
- Solves the problem it claims to solve7/10
Delivers a browser API with page-to-markdown and screenshots; 7.7k stars, moderate adoption. github.com
8.0/10 is the mean of the 5 criteria that apply. Scored on the five-criteria rubric v1, 29 September 2026. How scoring works
Pricing
- Apache-2.0 licence
- Self-host via npm or pip
- CAPTCHA solves from $1/1k
- Proxies from $6/GB
Key Features
- Puppeteer and CDP browser control
- Session, cookie and local storage persistence
- Stealth plugins and fingerprint management
- REST API with Node.js and Python SDKs
- Page-to-markdown, screenshot and PDF endpoints
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Open source under Apache-2.0
- Works with Puppeteer, Playwright and Selenium
- Low usage-based pricing with free credits
- REST API, SDKs and WebSocket support
Cons
- Adoption of 7.7k stars is moderate
- Pricing page was not found in the evidence
- Stealth features need care around site terms
- Self-hosting means running the infrastructure
Steel is a good fit for developers who want a flexible, cheap browser layer they can self-host or rent. Teams that want a fully managed agent product may want something more packaged.
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