Steel

Steel is an open-source browser API for agents. Browser hours print at $0.10 / hour on Launch and $0.08 / hour on Scale. The GitHub repo steel-dev/steel-browser is still the self-host path. The old page said "free + usage, unspecified," "Developer $29 / Pro $99 / Team $499," and "up to 80% token savings." Those lines are not on the limits doc we used.

Compare Browserbase if you wanted a hosted $20 / $99 / $249+ cloud, and Playwright if you wanted a local library.

Key Features

Sessions API: Create a cloud or self-hosted Chrome session and attach Puppeteer, Playwright, or CDP.
Browser tools: /scrape, /screenshot, and /pdf are metered at $5 / 1k on Launch and Scale.
Usage credits: Credits cover browser hours, proxy bandwidth, CAPTCHA solves, and Browser Tools. They are not 100 / 5,000 unit packs.
Self-host: Docker / GitHub remains the infra-only option if you run the browsers yourself.

Use Cases

Agent teams that want a hosted browser and will start on Launch's one-time $30 credit.
Orgs that prefer to self-host from steel-dev/steel-browser.
People comparing Steel Scale $250 + usage vs Browserbase Startup $99 / Scale from $249.

Limitation: Launch sessions cap at 15 minutes and 10 concurrent browsers. Scale is 1 hour and 100 concurrent. CAPTCHA and Steel proxies on Launch need a $10 paid-balance verify; free credits do not count. We did not keep the 80% token-savings claim.

Pricing

docs.steel.dev/overview/pricinglimits on 2026-08-17 (doc last edited 2026-06-30):

Plan	Price	Notes from that page
Launch	$0 + usage	One-time $30 credit, 90 days. $0.10 / browser hour. 10 concurrent. 15-minute sessions. Up to 3 seats.
Scale	$250 / month + usage	$100 credits / month. $0.08 / browser hour. 100 concurrent. 1-hour sessions. SSO and Slack.
Enterprise	Custom + usage	1,000+ concurrent. Up to 24-hour sessions. Stealth Browser and reserved pools.
Self-hosted	Infra only	Run steel-browser yourself.

Other listed meters: proxy $10 / GB Launch / $6 / GB Scale; CAPTCHA $3 / 1k Launch / $1 / 1k Scale; dedicated IPs $5 / IP / month on Scale.

Getting Started

Open docs.steel.dev/overview/pricinglimits and create a Launch key, or clone the GitHub repo.
Create one session and attach Playwright before you buy Scale.
Count browser-hour burn on a real login flow, not a blank page.
Confirm Browserbase if you want a seat-priced host instead of $0 / $250 + meters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the cloud still unpriced?

No. Launch is $0 plus usage with a one-time $30 credit. Scale is $250 plus usage.

Is Developer still $29?

Not on the public table on the public page.

Same as Browserbase?

Both host browsers for agents. Browserbase's public seats are $20 / $99 / from $249. Steel's cloud table is Launch / Scale / Enterprise plus a self-host repo.

Alternatives

Browserbase: Hosted $0 / $20 / $99 / from $249, plus about $0.12 / hr.
Playwright: Local / CI browsers, Apache-2.0.
Cloudflare Computer: Edge computer-use if you are already on Cloudflare.

Tips

Quote Launch $0 + $30 credit and Scale $250 + $100 / month together, plus $0.10 / $0.08 per browser hour.
Do not paste "80% token savings" or 100 / 5,000 credit packs into a deck.
Confirm whether you need the cloud or just the Docker image.