Browserless

Browserless is the simplest path to production headless browsers for teams already using Puppeteer or Playwright. The one-line migration is real — swap launch() for connect() and you're live. The recent additions (Authenticated Profiles CLI, new REST APIs, smarter Browserless agent) make it even more compelling for AI agent use cases, where persistent sessions and CAPTCHA solving matter. When to pick this: You have existing Puppeteer/Playwright code and need to scale without rewriting. Your scrapes hit anti-bot measures — Browserless's stealth fingerprints and built-in CAPTCHA solving (reCAPTCHA, Cloudflare Turnstile, DataDome) work out of the box. You want a browser layer for AI agents that handles login persistence and multi-tab browsing. When to pass: You need a no-code visual automation builder (Browserless is code-first). Your team uses Selenium, not Puppeteer/Playwright. Long-running sessions at scale — unit pricing (one unit per 30 seconds) adds up for hour-long automations. You need massive residential proxy pools (Bright Data is stronger in that dimension). Compared to alternatives: Bright Data has superior proxy network but much more complex integration. Browserbase offers a similar managed browser service but with a different pricing model (per-session vs per-unit) and less emphasis on code preservation. Browserless is the best fit for devs who want to keep their code untouched. Real-world caveats: The free tier maxes out at 1k units/month and 2 concurrent browsers — fine for testing, not production. Unit pricing makes cost predictable for short sessions but expensive for long ones (e.g., 60-minute session = 120 units). Session reconnects also consume units. Make sure your script is efficient to avoid overage bills.