The right replacement for a hosted headless browser depends on what you need next. Agent builders should look at browser clouds made for AI agents, teams wanting control can run an open source browser themselves, and scrapers fighting blocks are better served by browsers with proxies and unblocking built in.
Your Puppeteer or Playwright scripts run fine. What's changed is everything around them: the free tier feels tight, the proxy line on your usage keeps climbing, and the home page now talks mostly about AI agents. If that sounds familiar, you're probably weighing Browserless alternatives for one of three reasons, and each one points to a different kind of tool.
So rather than one long league table, the nine options here are sorted by what you want next. They're in no particular order, with no crowned pick, because a scraping job and an agent product need very different browsers.
Three directions to move in
You're building AI agents
If your product is an agent that clicks, reads and fills forms, these clouds are built around that job. Browserbase offers cloud browsers for agents with replays and logs, which helps when you need to see why a run failed. Anchor Browser is browser infrastructure for computer-use agents where you describe the task in plain language. Kernel adds managed auth and reusable sessions, handy if the short session limit on your current free plan keeps cutting jobs off. Hyperbrowser bundles cloud browsers, sandboxes and web data APIs on one account.
You'd rather run it yourself
Open source gives you the code and removes a lot of lock-in worry. Steel is an open source browser API for fleets of cloud browsers, with a hosted free start as well. Lightpanda is a headless browser written from scratch for machines; the project claims big speed and memory gains over headless Chrome, so test it against the sites you need, because a new engine won't render every page the same way. For the wider field, our guide to headless browsers for automation covers more options.
You're scraping sites that push back
When blocks and captchas are the real problem, a browser with unblocking built in saves you stitching proxies together. Bright Data Browser API is a scraping browser you drive with Puppeteer or Playwright. ZenRows Browser, formerly Scraping Browser, is a cloud browser with open source clients in several languages. Scrapeless puts an agent browser, AI scraper, web unlocker and scraping API in one service. If you'd rather hand off the whole scraping job, our comparison of scraping platforms is the next stop.
Every vendor counts usage differently
This is the part that trips people up. The Browserless plans page, as of Nov 2026, lists two concurrent browsers and a two minute session cap on its free tier, meters usage in units, and charges proxy traffic in units per MB, with residential and datacenter proxies at different rates. Its free tier also lists only three hosted regions, San Francisco, London and Amsterdam, which matters if your targets sit far from those.
The alternatives don't use the same yardstick. Some count credits, some browser hours, some pages fetched and some proxy traffic. One example from its own plans page: the starter credits on one agent cloud here are described as roughly fifty browser hours or five thousand fetched pages at base rates, as of Nov 2026. That's a useful sum for a light workload, and it tells you nothing about a proxy-heavy one.
So comparing the headline numbers on plan pages will mislead you. The only fair test is your own workload on each meter.
Nine browsers, in no particular order
Anchor Browser
Best for: Teams building computer-use AI agents that are handed a task in plain language, on browser infrastructure designed around agents from the start.
Bright Data Browser API
Best for: Scrapers who want a browser built for web scraping, driven through the Puppeteer or Playwright API, with unblocking part of the product.
Browserbase
Best for: Agent builders wanting hosted cloud browsers with session replays, logs and an open source command line tool for debugging runs.
Hyperbrowser
Best for: Developers who want cloud browsers, sandboxes and web data APIs together, driven by Playwright, Puppeteer or any agent, from one shared credit pool.
Kernel
Best for: Automations that log in again and again: managed authentication and reusable sessions, on what the vendor calls open source browser infrastructure.
Lightpanda
Best for: Engineers running huge volumes of simple page loads who'll trade some site compatibility for a headless browser built from scratch, not a Chrome wrapper.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Scrapeless
Best for: Scraping teams who'd like an agent browser, an AI scraper, a web unlocker and a scraping API under one roof, with captcha solving the vendor says is included.
Steel
Best for: Anyone who wants an open source browser API for controlling fleets of cloud browsers, so a hosted account isn't the only way to run it.
ZenRows Browser
Best for: Scraping-heavy jobs that want a WebSocket cloud browser, previously sold as Scraping Browser, with open source clients in several languages.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Kind of tool | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Anchor Browser | Agent browser cloud | Computer-use agents given tasks in plain language |
| Bright Data Browser API | Scraping browser with unblocking | Proxies and unblocking built into the browser |
| Browserbase | Agent browser cloud | Hosted agent browsers with replays and logs |
| Hyperbrowser | Agent browser cloud | Browsers, sandboxes and web data APIs on one account |
| Kernel | Agent browser cloud | Managed auth and reusable browser sessions |
| Lightpanda | Open-source headless browser | A lightweight headless browser written for machines |
| Scrapeless | Scraping browser with unblocking | Agent browser, scraper and unlocker from one service |
| Steel | Open-source browser API | Open source browser fleets with a free start |
| ZenRows Browser | Scraping browser with unblocking | WebSocket cloud browser aimed at scraping |
A one-day trial that settles it
- Pick one ordinary day of jobs: your usual scripts, your usual targets, your usual proxy needs.
- Swap only the connection endpoint. Many hosted browsers accept Puppeteer or Playwright, so keep the script itself unchanged.
- Run the same day on two or three trials from the group that matches your reason for leaving.
- Write down what each meter recorded, how many jobs failed or got blocked, and how long sessions lasted.
- Check where the browsers run, and whether that region suits your targets and any data rules you work under.
My plain advice on switching browsers
If you're only outgrowing the free tier and the product still suits you, don't move for the sake of it. Run the one-day trial first; you might find your current setup holds up once you look at the real meter. If your work has turned into agents, move to an agent-first cloud, because debugging tools like replays matter more than raw speed there.
If proxy traffic is driving your usage, a scraping browser with unblocking built in is usually the cleaner fix. And if you've got the engineers and want to stop renting, open source is worth the setup time. Keep your browser connection behind one small function in your code so the next switch is a config change. If you're still choosing a framework, our Selenium and Playwright comparison helps there.
Do you make a headless browser or browser automation service? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Frequently asked questions
What does Browserless do?
It provides hosted headless browsers you reach by API or WebSocket, with BrowserQL, proxies and captcha solving, according to its own site, which now leads with AI agents.
Can I keep my Puppeteer or Playwright scripts if I switch?
Usually, yes. Many hosted browsers here are driven through the Puppeteer or Playwright API, so you change the connection endpoint rather than rewriting scripts. Test one script first.
What's the difference between an agent browser and a scraping browser?
Agent browsers focus on letting AI agents act on pages, with tools like replays, logs and reusable sessions. Scraping browsers focus on getting pages without being blocked, with proxies and unblocking built in.
Is an open source headless browser free to run?
The code is free to use, but you host it, scale it and keep it updated. Some open source projects also offer a hosted version if you'd rather start there.
How do I compare usage between browser services?
Run the same day of real jobs on each trial and compare what the meter recorded, the failure rate and session length. Credits, hours, pages and proxy traffic aren't comparable on paper.
Do I need proxies for headless browser scraping?
For many sites, yes, especially at volume. Some browsers here include proxies and unblocking; with others you bring your own. Check each site's terms and the law where you operate, because rules vary.
