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Steel: Pricing, Features & Alternatives

Steel is an open-source browser API for AI agents. It manages Chromium sessions, cookies, proxies and CAPTCHA solving behind a simple API that works with Playwright, Puppeteer and agent frameworks. The hosted service gives 100 free browser hours a month, the most generous free tier in the category, and bills by usage after that. Because the core is open source, you can self-host it if you outgrow the cloud (as of August 2026).

Category

Browser Infrastructure for AI Agents

Pricing

Free tier available

Free tier

Yes

Best for

Browser Infrastructure for AI Agents — headless-browser, ai-agents

Steel Pricing Plans (2026)

PlanPrice
FreePopular$0 (100 browser hours / month)
Usage-basedPay per browser hour after free tier
Open Source$0 (self-hosted)

Pricing summary: Free · then usage-based. Always confirm current pricing on the official site.

Key Steel Features

  • 100 browser hours / month
  • Session management
  • Playwright and Puppeteer

Pros

  • +100 free browser hours a month
  • +Open source, so you can self-host
  • +Agent-friendly API

Cons

  • −Smaller company than Browserbase
  • −Fewer enterprise features
  • −Self-hosting browsers is heavy on memory

Best Steel Alternatives

Compare all

Steel Compared

In-depth guideBest Browser Infrastructure for AI Agents 2026: Kitesurf vs Browserbase vs Browser UseCloudflare shipped a browser with no Chromium in it. Kitesurf, Browserbase, Browser Use, Steel, Stagehand and Firecrawl compared on cost per browser hour, session persistence, and anti-bot reality.

Steel FAQ

What is Steel used for?⌄

Steel is a browser infrastructure for ai agents tool. Open-source browser API for AI agents with 100 free browser hours a month, then usage-based pricing.

Is Steel free?⌄

Yes — Steel has a free tier you can start with, and paid plans for more usage and features.

How much does Steel cost?⌄

Steel is free to use, with usage-based pricing on some features.

What are the best Steel alternatives?⌄

Popular Steel alternatives include Browserless, Browserbase, Browser Use. Compare pricing and features on our Steel alternatives page.

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