Browserless
Managed headless browser infrastructure for Puppeteer, Playwright, and AI agents.
Browserless is the pragmatic choice for teams running Puppeteer or Playwright that need production-grade headless browsing without rewrites. The one-line migration, built-in anti-bot features, and flexible deployment options make it a solid middle ground. If you need a massive residential proxy network, Bright Data is stronger, but for most automation and AI agent use cases, Browserless delivers reliability and simplicity at a fair price.
Verified 10d ago · liveness 87/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/browserless
- Web scraping teams needing to bypass anti-bot measures on JavaScript-heavy sites
- Developers migrating existing Puppeteer/Playwright scripts to production without rewriting
- AI agent developers requiring persistent browser sessions with login state preserved
- Automation engineers running multi-step workflows with screenshots and PDFs
- Teams wanting a fully no-code visual automation builder with drag-and-drop workflows
- Projects using Selenium or other non-Puppeteer/Playwright frameworks
- Users expecting the free tier to handle long-running sessions (max 1 min) or high concurrency
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Skip Browserless if you need a no-code visual automation builder, use Selenium, or require massive residential proxy volumes that Bright Data provides.
Going over your unit allowance incurs overages at $0.0020 per unit on the Prototyping plan, which can add up with high-volume scraping.
Usage-based pricing starts free at 1k units/month and scales to $25/mo (Prototyping), $140/mo (Starter), $350/mo (Scale), and custom Enterprise. Annual billing saves 30%. Compared to Bright Data ($$$) and Browserbase (similar pricing), Browserless is competitive for developers who want predictable per-use costs without a massive upfront commitment.
In short
Browserless — Managed headless browser infrastructure for Puppeteer, Playwright, and AI agents. Best for Web scraping teams needing to bypass anti-bot measures on JavaScript-heavy sites, Developers migrating existing Puppeteer/Playwright scripts to production without rewriting, AI agent developers requiring persistent browser sessions with login state preserved. Free to start; paid plans from $25/mo.
What's new in Browserless
Checked 10 days agoAcross the latest 5 updates: 5 feature updates.
Run an AI browsing task with one REST call
The new /agent/run endpoint lets you POST a task in plain English to get a JSON result, with optional webhooks. It handles navigation, clicking, typing, and reading, and is available on Cloud plans (beta).
Upload and download files from your automations
New uploadFile and fileDownloaded commands let you move files in and out of remote browsers. The Browser Agent also supports file attachments and downloads.
Datacenter proxies: a faster, lower-cost proxy option
Added datacenter proxy support at 2 units/MB (vs 6 for residential), selectable across sessions, REST APIs, and BrowserQL. Cheaper and faster, ideal for non-residential sites.
Autologin with 1Password
Connect a 1Password service account to let agents log in with real credentials, resolved server-side and locked from screenshots. Works with Puppeteer, Playwright, BrowserQL, and the Browser Agent.
CLI syncs local browser profiles to the cloud as Authenticated Profiles
The Browserless CLI lets you sync local logged-in sessions to the cloud, enabling skip-login automations where agents start signed in.
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is Browserless? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: September 2026
How we score →Key Features
- One-line Puppeteer/Playwright migration
- Anti-bot bypass with stealth fingerprints
- CAPTCHA solving (reCAPTCHA, Cloudflare Turnstile, DataDome)
- Residential proxies (6 units/MB)
- Datacenter proxies (2 units/MB)
- Automatic session persistence and reconnects
- REST APIs: /screenshot, /pdf, /smart-scrape, /search, /map, /crawl, /unblock
- MCP server for AI agents
- Browser Agent built-in
- Product REST API /agent/run for plain-English tasks
- Authenticated Profiles via CLI
- Autologin with 1Password
- File upload and download commands (uploadFile, fileDownloaded)
- Mobile emulation for Android (emulationOs=android)
- Multiple API keys (up to 20 per account)
About Browserless
Browserless is a managed headless browser service for teams running Puppeteer or Playwright scripts in production without the overhead of maintaining Chrome infrastructure. With over 2,000 paying customers and 173M+ Docker pulls, it handles browser scaling, anti-bot bypass, and session persistence. You keep your existing scripts and change one line—swap launch() for connect()—and Browserless handles the rest. The platform includes stealth fingerprints to avoid detection, automatic CAPTCHA solving (reCAPTCHA, Cloudflare Turnstile, DataDome), and both residential (6 units/MB) and datacenter (2 units/MB) proxies. It offers REST APIs for common tasks like /screenshot, /pdf, /smart-scrape, /search, /map, /crawl, and /unblock. For AI agents, there's an MCP server, a built-in Browser Agent, and a new /agent/run REST API that takes a plain-English task and returns a JSON result, with optional webhooks. Recent additions include Autologin with 1Password, which resolves credentials server-side and locks them from screenshots, and a CLI that syncs local browser profiles to the cloud as Authenticated Profiles, so agents start signed in. You can also upload and download files from automations with uploadFile and fileDownloaded commands. Deployment is flexible: cloud, managed cloud, or self-hosted with the same API. Security and compliance are covered with SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA certifications. Pricing is usage-based, with a free tier offering 1k units/month and 2 concurrent browsers, making it easy to test before committing.
Behind the Verdict
Browserless is a solid choice if you're already using Puppeteer or Playwright and want to move to production without a rewrite. The one-line swap from launch() to connect() is genuinely simple, and the free tier lets you test before paying. The recent additions of /agent/run, Autologin with 1Password, and Authenticated Profiles show the team is investing in AI agent workflows, which is a differentiator. Strengths: It handles the boring infrastructure—Chrome upgrades, memory leaks, scaling—so you don't have to. CAPTCHA solving, stealth, and proxies are built in, so you don't need to piece together a stack. The REST APIs (/screenshot, /pdf, /smart-scrape, /search, /map, /crawl, /unblock) cover common tasks without writing browser code. Self-hosting with the same API is a plus for compliance. Weaknesses: It's not a no-code tool; you need to write code or use their API. The free tier is limited to 1 minute max session time and 2 concurrent browsers, so it's only for testing. Datacenter proxies were only added recently, and residential proxies cost 6 units/MB, which can add up. Some features like external proxies and Hybrid Automations require higher tiers. Where it fits: Web scraping teams, AI agent developers, developers migrating Puppeteer/Playwright scripts, and enterprises needing SOC 2/HIPAA compliance. It's not for teams wanting a no-code visual builder, those using Selenium, or anyone whose use case needs extremely high concurrency on the free tier. Bottom line: If you're already in the Puppeteer/Playwright world, Browserless is a reliable, cost-effective way to run browsers at scale. The AI agent features are a bonus but not required to get value.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Browserless actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You have a Puppeteer script scraping a JavaScript-heavy site that blocks you. You change launch() to connect() with your Browserless endpoint, add stealth mode, and run it. The built-in CAPTCHA solving and proxies handle the blockers.
Outcome: Your scraper runs reliably in production with minimal code changes, and you don't worry about Chrome upgrades or infrastructure.
You're building an AI agent that needs to browse the web. You connect via MCP or use the /agent/run API. The agent uses saved Authenticated Profiles to stay logged in and solves CAPTCHAs automatically.
Outcome: Your agent completes multi-step tasks without getting blocked, and you don't need to manage browser infrastructure.
You need to automate login to a SaaS platform and perform actions across sessions. You use the CLI to create an Authenticated Profile, then reuse it across runs, avoiding login walls.
Outcome: Your automation starts signed in every time, saving time and reducing failures.
Use Cases
- Scrape JavaScript-heavy e-commerce sites while bypassing anti-bot measures and CAPTCHAs.
- Automate PDF generation from user dashboards for billing or reporting at scale.
- Run AI agent web browsing tasks using Browser Use with automatic CAPTCHA resolution.
- Monitor website availability and visual changes via scheduled screenshot APIs.
- Pre-login to a SaaS platform once, then run hundreds of parallel automated workflows without re-authenticating.
- Extract structured data from multiple pages using the /crawl and /smart-scrape REST endpoints.
- Run an AI browsing task with a single REST call using /agent/run, posting a plain-English query to get a JSON result.
Limitations
- Browserless is a managed headless browser service, not an AI model provider.
- The /agent/run endpoint is in beta and available on Cloud plans, and it handles its own model key management.
- Free plan limits include 2 max concurrent browsers, 2 minutes max session time, and 1K units per month.
- Unit overages are priced at $0.0020 per unit, and some features like external proxies and Hybrid Automations are only available on higher tiers.
- Mobile emulation currently only supports Android; iOS and Safari are not emulated.
as of 2026-08-28
Verification history
We have re-verified Browserless 15 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-checked, vendor evidence unchanged
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- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
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12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published Browserless tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free
$0/mo
Ideal for
Solo developers testing Browserless for the first time with up to 1k units/month and 2 concurrent browsers, ideal for small experiments.
What this tier adds
Starting entry point with 2 max concurrent browsers, 1k units/month, and 1-day session storage. No cost, no credit card.
Prototyping
$25/mo billed annually
Ideal for
Small teams or developers prototyping automation that need more concurrency and longer sessions, up to 20k units/month.
What this tier adds
Adds 10 concurrent browsers (+5 burst), 20k units/month, 15-min max session time, $0.0020/unit overages, and 7-day storage.
Starter
$140/mo billed annually
Ideal for
Growing teams with moderate production workloads needing 40 concurrent browsers and 180k units/month.
What this tier adds
Adds 40 concurrent browsers (+10 burst), 180k units/month, 30-min max session time, $0.0017/unit overages, and 30-day storage.
Scale
$350/mo billed annually
Ideal for
Teams with high-volume scraping or automation needs, offering 100 concurrent browsers and 500k units/month.
What this tier adds
Adds 100 concurrent browsers (+20 burst), 500k units/month, 60-min max session time, $0.0015/unit overages, and 90-day storage.
Enterprise
Custom
Ideal for
Large enterprises requiring private deployments, custom concurrency, and compliance features.
What this tier adds
Custom pricing with private deployments, GPU-enabled infrastructure, SSO, dedicated TAM, and custom proxy limits.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Browserless's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Usage-based pricing starts free at 1k units/month and scales to $25/mo (Prototyping), $140/mo (Starter), $350/mo (Scale), and custom Enterprise. Annual billing saves 30%. Compared to Bright Data ($$$) and Browserbase (similar pricing), Browserless is competitive for developers who want predictable per-use costs without a massive upfront commitment.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Browserless — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
For developers with existing Puppeteer/Playwright scripts: under 5 minutes to swap launch() for connect() and get your API key. For AI agents using MCP: about 10 minutes to configure the MCP server. For /agent/run API: a few minutes to POST a task and poll for results. The free tier lets you test immediately without a credit card.
Switching to or from Browserless
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From Puppeteer/Playwright local scripts: Replace launch() with connect() using your Browserless WebSocket endpoint.
- →From Chromium processes you manage yourself: Point your CDP connection to Browserless's endpoint and let them handle scaling.
- ↗To self-hosting: Browserless offers a self-hosted option with the same API, so you can move to your own infrastructure.
- ↗To Bright Data: If you need a massive residential proxy network, Bright Data offers that, but you'll need to rewrite your integration.
Integrations
Resources & Guides
Tutorials & Learning
Official links
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Frequently Asked Questions
Best-of guides
Topics
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