Steel

Steel is an open-source browser API built for AI agents and web automation. It lets you control fleets of browser sessions in the cloud through a simple REST API or Python/Node SDKs, handling JavaScript rendering, logins, proxies, CAPTCHAs, and scaling so you can focus on your AI application instead of browser infrastructure.

Key Features

• Full Browser Control: Uses Puppeteer and CDP for complete control over Chrome instances; connect with Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium.
• Session Management: Maintains browser state, cookies, and local storage across requests; persistent profiles for login-gated data.
• Proxy Support: Built-in proxy chain management for IP rotation, plus stealth plugins and fingerprint management.
• Quick Actions: /scrape, /screenshot, /pdf endpoints extract clean markdown, HTML, or data — one-shot jobs without session setup.
• Token Optimization: Optimized page formats reduce token usage and costs by up to 80%.
• Observability: Live session viewers, replays, and request logging for debugging.
• Self-Hostable: Run locally or self-host with the Docker image; deploy to Railway or Render in one click.
• SDKs: Fully typed steel-sdk for Node and Python.

Use Cases

Who Should Use This Tool?

• AI Engineers: Building web agents, RAG pipelines, or scraping tools that need reliable browser infrastructure.
• Open-Source Advocates: Teams that want to self-host browser infrastructure without vendor lock-in.
• Scaling Scrapers: Large-scale jobs with rotating proxies and anti-detection.

Problems It Solves

1. Infrastructure overhead: Browser lifecycle, sessions, and proxies handled for you.
2. Anti-bot friction: Stealth plugins, fingerprint management, and CAPTCHA handling.
3. Token cost: Clean markdown/HTML extraction cuts LLM context costs significantly.

Pricing

Advantages & Unique Selling Points

Compared to Competitors:

1. Open source: The entire platform is on GitHub — self-host or audit the code.
2. Batteries included: Sessions, proxies, stealth, extensions, and quick actions in one container.
3. Developer ergonomics: Clean REST API plus fully typed Python and Node SDKs.

What Makes It Stand Out:

• One Docker container delivers API + UI + debugger.
• Optimized page formats (markdown) purpose-built for LLM context windows.
• Quick Actions endpoints that skip session management entirely for one-shot jobs.

Getting Started

Quick Start Guide

1. Run locally: docker run -p 3000:3000 ghcr.io/steel-dev/steel-browser (API at localhost:3000, UI at /ui).
2. Install the SDK: npm install steel-sdk or pip install steel-sdk.
3. Create a session: client.sessions.create() and connect Puppeteer via WebSocket.
4. Or use Quick Actions: POST to /scrape or /screenshot for one-shot extraction.

Integration

Integrates with:

• Puppeteer, Playwright, Selenium
• Python and Node.js SDKs
• Railway, Render, and any Docker host

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Steel really open source?

Yes — the full platform is on GitHub (steel-dev/steel-browser) and can be run locally or self-hosted.

Can I use Playwright with it?

Yes — connect Playwright to Steel sessions via WebSocket, or use the Sessions API directly.

How does it reduce token usage?

Quick Actions convert pages to clean markdown/HTML formats, cutting LLM context costs by up to 80%.

Alternatives

If Steel isn't the right fit, consider these alternatives:

• Browserbase: Managed browser infrastructure with Agent Identity and CAPTCHA solving.
• Kitesurf: Cloudflare's lighter agent browser on Workers.
• Cloudflare Computer: For persistent filesystem and code execution, not just browsing.

Tips & Best Practices

1. Self-host for cost control: The Docker image gives you the full platform without per-session fees.
2. Use Quick Actions for one-shot jobs: No session setup needed for scrape/screenshot/PDF.
3. Keep profiles for logins: Persistent profiles maintain cookies across runs for gated data.

Conclusion

Steel is the open-source browser API that makes web automation infrastructure feel like a solved problem — sessions, proxies, anti-detection, and clean LLM-ready extraction in one self-hostable platform. If you want browser infrastructure you control, Steel is a strong, transparent choice.