Steel
Last verified 2026-08-09
Steel provides an open-source browser API (steel-browser on GitHub) plus a hosted cloud with a Sessions API for agents to drive real browsers. It is usage-priced by browser-hour with a free Launch tier ($30 in one-time credits, about 300 browser hours), and can be self-hosted for full control.
Key specs
| Isolation | Cloud browser (isolated) |
| Pricing model | Per browser-hour + plan (open source self-host) |
| GPU | No |
| Session limit | 15 min (Launch) to 24h (Enterprise) |
| Persistence | Session-scoped |
| MCP support | n/a |
| Deployment | Managed cloud + open source (self-host) |
| Free tier | Launch: $0 + usage, $30 one-time credits (~300 browser-hrs) |
| Browser-hour | $0.08 to $0.10 |
| Plans | Launch $0, Scale $250, custom |
| Open source | Yes |
Strengths
- Open source and self-hostable
- Browser-hours from $0.08
- Sessions API with proxies and captcha
- Generous starter credits
Trade-offs
- Launch tier caps sessions at 15 minutes
- Anti-bot / stealth is on higher tiers
Best for: Developers who want an open-source, self-hostable browser API for agents.
How Steel works
Steel is the open-source option in this sub-category: its browser API (steel-browser on GitHub) can be self-hosted, or you can use the hosted cloud and its Sessions API to spin up real browsers for agents. Sessions support proxies, ad blocking and custom dimensions, and higher tiers add anti-bot handling. Because the core is open source, teams that need full control over where browsers run, or want to avoid per-hour cloud costs, can host it themselves.
Pricing in practice & watch-outs
The hosted Launch tier is free plus usage and includes a one-time $30 in credits, about 300 browser hours, with browser time billed by the minute from $0.10/hour (dropping to $0.08 on the $250/month Scale tier). Proxies and captcha solves are metered separately. The main constraints on the free tier are a 15-minute maximum session and 10 concurrent sessions, and stealth plus HIPAA-ready features are reserved for Scale and Enterprise. Self-hosting sidesteps the metering entirely at the cost of running the infrastructure.
Head-to-head
Alternatives to Steel
See the full Steel alternatives comparison →
Sources: Steel ↗ · Steel pricing & limits ↗
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