Locus product guide · Updated November 10, 2026

Browserbase alternatives: Hyperbrowser, Steel, Anchor

The main Browserbase alternatives are Hyperbrowser ($0.10 a browser hour, 5,000 free credits), Steel (open source, $0.10 an hour with $30 of free credit), Browser Use Cloud (billed by the minute, $1 of free credit), Anchor Browser (free tier, paid from $50 a month), Kernel (billed per GB-second, $5 free a month) and Browserless (from $25 a month, with self-hosting). Browserbase charges $20 a month for 100 browser hours, then $0.12 an hour. Through Locus Pro, an agent can run Browser Use tasks per call from one prepaid balance. Prices checked November 10, 2026.

How do Browserbase alternatives compare on price?

All of these run headless browsers in the cloud for agents and scrapers. They differ in how they bill browser time, proxies and concurrency. Figures come from each vendor’s pricing page. Prices checked November 10, 2026.

How do Browserbase alternatives compare on price?
Provider	Pricing model	Entry price	Browser time	Free tier	Best at
Browserbase	Plans with included hours, then usage	Developer: $20 a month	100 hours included, then $0.12 an hour. $0.10 on Startup.	1 browser hour, 3 concurrent browsers	Search and fetch APIs next to browsers, plus session recordings
Hyperbrowser	Credit plans shared by browsers, sandboxes, web data and agents	Startup: $30 a month in usage	$0.10 an hour, plus $10 per GB of proxy data	5,000 credits, about 50 browser hours	One balance for browsers, sandboxes and scraping
Steel	Usage billing, with a monthly plan for more capacity	Launch: $0 plus usage	$0.10 an hour on Launch, $0.08 on Scale	$30 of credit once	Open-source browser API you can also self-host
Browser Use Cloud	Pay as you go, credits never expire	No monthly fee	Billed by the minute	$1 of credit once	Short sessions with no plan, and its own web agent models
Anchor Browser	Monthly credit plans with overage	$50 a month for 50 credits	$0.09 an hour in its cost calculator	5 credits a month, up to 5 concurrent browsers	Logged-in browsers and Cloudflare-verified agents on higher plans
Kernel	Plan fee plus usage per GB-second	Hobbyist: $30 a month	$0.0000166667 per GB-second, idle time free	$5 of credit a month	Paying only for active memory, with no proxy charges
Browserless	Units of up to 30 seconds of browser time	Prototyping: $25 a month billed yearly	20,000 units a month, then $0.0020 a unit	1,000 units a month, 2 concurrent browsers	Self-hosting under a commercial license on Enterprise

What does Browserbase cost, and where does it get expensive?

Browserbase’s Developer plan costs $20 a month with 100 browser hours and 25 concurrent browsers. Startup costs $99 with 500 hours and 100 concurrent browsers. Extra hours cost $0.12 and $0.10.

Proxies are the bigger cost for many teams. Developer includes 1 GB, then $12 per GB. Startup includes 5 GB, then $10. Free sessions end after 15 minutes. Browserbase says a typical scrape runs in under 2 minutes, so 100 hours covers about 3,000 page-level tasks.

What do 1,000 three-minute sessions a month cost?

1,000 sessions of 3 minutes each come to 50 browser hours. The table counts browser time only. Proxy data, CAPTCHA solving and AI steps cost extra on most providers.

What do 1,000 three-minute sessions a month cost?
Provider	How the 50 hours are billed	Monthly cost
Browserbase	Inside the 100 hours on Developer	$20
Hyperbrowser	50 hours at $0.10, from the free 5,000 credits the first time	$5 in usage
Steel	50 hours at $0.10 on Launch, from the $30 free credit first	$5 of usage
Anchor Browser	50 hours at its $0.09 calculator rate	About $4.50 plus plan
Browserless	6,000 units of 30 seconds, inside the 20,000 on Prototyping	$25

Can an agent use a cloud browser through Locus Pro?

Yes, for task-level work. An agent can run a Browser Use task from one prepaid balance with no Browser Use account. Searching the catalog and reading a price are free, so the agent sees the price before each call. The table lists these endpoints as they appeared in the Locus catalog on November 10, 2026.

The price of a Browser Use task depends on the request, so set a max_credits ceiling to cap any one task. If you run browser tasks all day, Browser Use can cost less per task with your own Browser Use account and API key.

For screenshots and rendered page content, ScreenshotOne and Firecrawl do the job without a full browser session.

Can an agent use a cloud browser through Locus Pro?
Locus endpoint	How it is priced	Use it for
Browser Use run task	Depends on the task	A browser task described in plain language
Browser Use task status or output	Fixed price per call	Polling a running task and reading its result
ScreenshotOne take screenshot	Fixed price per screenshot	A full-page or element screenshot
Firecrawl scrape	Depends on the options used	Page content as markdown, with optional browser actions

How do I choose a Browserbase alternative?

Pick by how long sessions run and who drives them.

Many short sessions billed by the minute with no plan: Browser Use Cloud.
Browsers plus sandboxes and scraping on one bill: Hyperbrowser.
Open source with a hosted option: Steel or Browserless.
Logged-in sessions that look like a real user: Anchor Browser.
Long sessions that sit idle between steps: Kernel, which does not bill idle time.
An agent that only needs a page read or a screenshot now and then: Firecrawl or ScreenshotOne through Locus Pro.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hyperbrowser?

Hyperbrowser is a cloud service for browsers, sandboxes, web data and AI agents. One credit balance covers all four. Browser time costs $0.10 an hour and new accounts get 5,000 credits.

What is Anchor Browser?

Anchor Browser sells cloud browsers for AI agents, with authenticated sessions, CAPTCHA handling and geolocation. Its free plan includes 5 credits a month and paid plans start at $50 a month.

Is Steel browser open source?

Yes. Steel Browser is developed in the open on GitHub and can be self-hosted with Docker. Steel also runs a hosted service with $30 of free credit and $0.10 per browser hour on its Launch plan.

Which alternative has the longest sessions?

Among published limits, Steel Enterprise allows up to 24 hours and Steel Scale 1 hour. Browserless Scale allows 60 minutes. Free tiers are short: 15 minutes on Browserbase and Steel Launch, and 2 minutes on Browserless.

Implementation references

Use these first-party references for current request contracts and account requirements. Tool availability, prices, and negotiated terms can change.

Sources

Third-party details were checked on November 10, 2026. Vendors change pricing and features often, so confirm on their site before you decide.