Browser Use Cloud ranks #12 of 12 in our web scraping apis testing. a landmark open-source library with a hosted tier we could not price.
58/100
the most important open-source project in this category by adoption, wrapped in a hosted service whose own per-minute rate we could not confirm from its own site.
why people look for an alternative
−the vendor's own pages give conflicting per-minute browser rates
−real cost includes llm tokens on top of unforecastable browser time
−the cloud service itself is not self-hostable, only the library
−no mcp server status we could confirm either way
stay with Browser Use Cloud if the underlying library is MIT with 109,980 stars and daily commits is the thing you care about most — nothing below beats it on that.
#2 in web scraping apis · cheapest verified price per thousand, with a failure guarantee that has a cliff
80/100
verdictthe cheapest thousand pages we could actually verify, with itemised per-feature credits — undercut by anti-bot handling that can silently raise the price of a call.
Scrapfly vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
Scrapfly
price
$29 / month on Dev
$30 / month on Discovery
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
proxy + scraping infrastructure
1k js pages
not per-page priced
~$0.90
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
6 credits per js request
concurrency
25 on dev
5 on discovery
self-host
library only — MIT
none published
switch forhigh-volume html scraping where you want the lowest verified unit cost
pros
+about $0.90 per 1,000 js pages — cheapest verified in the category
+per-feature credit costs itemised in the documentation
+failed scrapes are not billed under normal failure rates
+free plan with 1,000 credits
cons
−the failure guarantee switches off above a 30% hourly failure rate
−anti-bot handling can upgrade the proxy pool and raise the real cost
−5 concurrent requests on the entry plan
−no mcp server or self-host option we could confirm
#3 in web scraping apis · pay per successful record, everything bundled, concurrency uncapped
79/100
verdictthe most complete bundle in the category with a genuine pay-only-for-success guarantee and no concurrency ceiling — sold through a pricing surface that hides its own plan prices behind a slider.
Bright Data vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
Bright Data
price
$29 / month on Dev
$1.50 / 1,000 records pay-as-you-go
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
proxy + scraping infrastructure
1k js pages
not per-page priced
$1.50
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
per successful record
concurrency
25 on dev
unlimited
self-host
library only — MIT
none published
switch forproduction scraping at volume where unlimited concurrency matters more than the last cent
#4 in web scraping apis · the best real browser to hand an agent, billed by the hour
77/100
verdictthe strongest agent-browser product here, with captcha solving and stealth included from the entry tier — and a time-based bill that makes a fixed page count impossible to forecast.
Browserbase vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
Browserbase
price
$29 / month on Dev
$20 / month on Developer
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
agent browser sessions
1k js pages
not per-page priced
not per-page priced
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
$0.12 / browser-hour
concurrency
25 on dev
25 on developer
self-host
library only — MIT
no — cloud only
switch foragents that need to log in, click through and act rather than just read a page
pros
+Stagehand is the most mature agent-driving layer in the category
+official mcp server over hosted streamable http
+captcha solving and stealth included from the $20 tier, not metered
+25 concurrent browsers on the entry plan
cons
−billed by browser-hour, so a fixed page count has no predictable price
−proxy data at $12/GB is the most expensive here
−no self-hosting — cloud only, private cloud is enterprise-gated
−the per-call Fetch api is not confirmed to render javascript
#5 in web scraping apis · the clearest js surcharge in the category, stated in dollars
75/100
verdictthe most legible pricing table of the proxy vendors — a flat $1.35 per thousand rendered results regardless of target — held back by a hard requests-per-second ceiling.
Oxylabs vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
Oxylabs
price
$29 / month on Dev
$49 / month on Micro
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
proxy + scraping infrastructure
1k js pages
not per-page priced
$1.35
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
per successful result
concurrency
25 on dev
50 requests/sec
self-host
library only — MIT
none published
switch forbuyers who want the javascript premium stated as a price rather than a multiplier
pros
+javascript surcharge printed as a flat $1.35/1,000, independent of target
+billed per successful result, with rendered and non-rendered split out
+proxies and captcha handling included as standard
+soc 2 type 2 and gdpr posture stated on the product page
cons
−concurrency capped as a 50 requests/second rate limit, not parallel threads
−residential bandwidth priced on a separate page from the scraper api
#6 in web scraping apis · flat multipliers, cheapest entry plan, and 404s count as wins
73/100
verdictthe cheapest entry plan here with multipliers simple enough to do in your head — as long as your targets never push you onto the 75-credit stealth tier.
ScrapingBee vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
ScrapingBee
price
$29 / month on Dev
$19.99 / month on Hobby
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
proxy + scraping infrastructure
1k js pages
not per-page priced
$1.33
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
5 credits per js request
concurrency
25 on dev
25 on hobby
self-host
library only — MIT
none published
switch forsmall teams who want a predictable bill and a cheap way in
pros
+cheapest entry plan in the ranking at $19.99/month
+four flat credit multipliers, simple enough to forecast mentally
+25 concurrent requests on the entry plan
+1,000 free credits, no card required
cons
−404 and 410 responses are billed as successful requests
−stealth tier costs 75 credits a call — 15x the ordinary rendered rate
−no confirmable mcp server, self-host option or captcha documentation
#7 in web scraping apis · the agent browser you can actually run yourself
71/100
verdictthe only genuinely self-hostable browser platform here, Apache-2.0 and running in docker — with every resource drawing from one credit pool that makes forecasting a modelling exercise.
Steel vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
Steel
price
$29 / month on Dev
$0.10 / browser-hour pay-as-you-go
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
agent browser sessions
1k js pages
not per-page priced
not per-page priced
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
$0.10 / browser-hour
concurrency
25 on dev
10 free, 100 on scale
self-host
library only — MIT
yes — Apache-2.0
switch forteams who want agent browser infrastructure without a vendor dependency
pros
+Apache-2.0 and self-hostable via docker — the permissive open option here
+7,521 github stars and actively developed
+no monthly minimum on the pay-as-you-go tier, billed by the minute
+$30 of free credits to start
cons
−browser hours, proxy, captcha and tool calls all meter from one pool
−captcha solving is marketed as built-in but billed per solve
−$250/month is a steep jump to the first flat plan
−no per-page price exists, so budgeting means benchmarking
#8 in web scraping apis · a marketplace of ready-made scrapers, priced in ram-hours
69/100
verdictthe largest library of pre-built scrapers in the category and a first-class mcp server — sold in a compute unit that makes the cost of a page unknowable until after you run it.
Apify vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
Apify
price
$29 / month on Dev
$29 / month on Starter
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
scraper marketplace
1k js pages
not per-page priced
not derivable
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
1 cu = 1gb ram-hour
concurrency
25 on dev
unpublished on starter
self-host
library only — MIT
mcp server only
switch forgetting a working scraper for a specific site today instead of building one
pros
+thousands of pre-built Actors for specific sites, ready to run
+official mcp server, open source, that lets agents discover and run Actors
+Crawlee is Apache-2.0 with 25,453 stars
+$5 of free platform credit every month
cons
−compute-unit billing means no derivable per-page cost
−Actor rental prices stack on top of platform compute
−residential proxy at $8/GB is the priciest here
−concurrency on the entry paid tier is not published
#9 in web scraping apis · every rate itemised on the pricing page, and nothing behind it
66/100
verdictthe most transparently itemised pricing of the browser-session vendors — attached to a company with no visible open-source presence or agent integration.
Hyperbrowser vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
Hyperbrowser
price
$29 / month on Dev
$30 / month on Startup
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
agent browser sessions
1k js pages
not per-page priced
not per-page priced
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
$0.10 / browser-hour
concurrency
25 on dev
25 on startup
self-host
library only — MIT
none published
switch forteams who want browser sessions with residential proxy bundled and the arithmetic spelled out
#10 in web scraping apis · no commitment, no overage penalty, and a sixteenfold price range
64/100
verdictgenuinely fair terms — no minimum, no overage penalty, $5 to try it — wrapped around a price that varies sixteenfold on a tier assignment you do not control.
Zyte vs Browser Use Cloud
Browser Use Cloud
Zyte
price
$29 / month on Dev
$1.01 / 1,000 rendered pages at the Simple tier
free tier
yes
yes
type
agent browser sessions
proxy + scraping infrastructure
1k js pages
not per-page priced
$1.01 to $16.08
billing unit
per minute, rate unconfirmed
per 1k, by site tier
concurrency
25 on dev
not published
self-host
library only — MIT
none published
switch forscraping simple targets where you can confirm your sites fall in the cheap bands
pros
+no minimum commitment and no overage penalty, stated explicitly
+$1.01 per 1,000 at the Simple tier is the cheapest rendered rate here
+$5 free credit with thirty days to use it
+stands behind Scrapy, BSD-3-Clause with 63,982 stars
cons
−rendered pricing spans 16x across five tiers you do not control
−the $0.06 headline figure requires three separate qualifiers to reach
−concurrency, failure-billing and compliance terms are unpublished
every tool on this page went through the same test as Browser Use Cloud — same tasks, same order, scored the same way. the comparison tables are the figures from that testing, not vendor spec sheets.