--- title: "4 Best Browserbase Alternatives in 2026 | Scrape.ly" description: "The 4 best Browserbase alternatives in 2026, compared on stealth, CAPTCHA solving, proxy billing and free tiers, with code and steps to switch." url: https://scrape.ly/blog/browserbase-alternatives markdown: https://scrape.ly/blog/browserbase-alternatives.md --- [AI agents](https://scrape.ly/blog/category/ai-agents.md) # 4 Best Browserbase Alternatives in 2026 for Scraping and Agents The 4 best Browserbase alternatives for 2026, compared on anti-bot features, CAPTCHA solving, proxy billing and free tiers. Scrape.ly leads with a hosted anti-bot Chromium your existing Playwright and Puppeteer code uses unchanged, next to 570+ ready-made scrapers. [Scrape.ly Team The team behind Scrape.ly](https://scrape.ly/blog/author/scrapely-team.md) - Published Oct 27, 2026 - Reading time 8 min read ![Pixel-art robot with an orange >\_ on its terminal head walks up to a lit arcade cabinet bearing the Scrape.ly logo and rests its hand on it, thinking of the Scrape.ly mark, while a dark cabinet with the orange Browserbase B logo stands switched off](https://scrape.ly/media/browserbase-alternatives.png?w=1080) The best Browserbase alternatives in 2026 are Scrape.ly, Browserless, Bright Data Browser API and Steel. Among Browserbase alternatives, Scrape.ly is our pick for scraping: its hosted Chromium has anti-bot fingerprints, Cloudflare Turnstile solving and its own residential proxy on every plan, your existing Playwright and Puppeteer code uses it without a changed line, and 570+ ready-made scrapers mean many jobs need no browser script at all. Browserbase is a capable platform for browser agents, with browsers, a runtime, search and fetch APIs and its Stagehand SDK. Teams look for alternatives when the anti-bot features they need sit on a higher plan, when proxy traffic becomes its own line item, or when what they actually want is the data, not a browser to fetch it with. Below: what Browserbase's plans include, sourced from its pricing page, the criteria that matter for scraping, four alternatives side by side, and how to move your scripts over. Every competitor fact was checked on the vendor's own page on 27 October 2026. ## Why teams look for Browserbase alternatives Per [Browserbase's pricing page](https://www.browserbase.com/pricing): - **Anti-bot features are tiered.** The Free plan has no CAPTCHA solving and no stealth mode. Developer ($20 a month) and Startup ($99) include CAPTCHA solving and "Basic" stealth. "Advanced" stealth is on the custom-priced Scale plan. - **Proxy traffic is metered on top.** Developer includes 1 GB of proxies, then $12 per GB. Startup includes 5 GB, then $10 per GB. - **The free tier is small.** Free gives you 1 browser hour, 3 concurrent browsers and sessions of up to 15 minutes. - **Overage has no built-in ceiling.** "Every plan scales past its included usage, so no caps or throttling as you build, billed at your plan's rate." That's convenient while you build, and it means keeping a job inside a budget is up to you. - **A browser is where the scraping work starts.** For data collection, you still write, run and maintain a script for every site, and keep it working when the site changes. ## What to look for in Browserbase alternatives 1. **Anti-bot on every plan.** Realistic fingerprints and challenge solving shouldn't wait for an enterprise contract. 2. **Proxies inside the browser bill,** with country, state and city targeting, so you don't size a separate GB allowance. 3. **No rewrite.** Your Playwright and Puppeteer code should run as it is. 4. **A hard spending cap per job,** browser time included. 5. **Ready-made scrapers,** so the sites everyone scrapes don't need a browser script from you. 6. **A path for AI agents** to run the same jobs over MCP. ## Browserbase alternatives compared | Tool | Free start | CAPTCHA solving | Proxy traffic | Bills by | | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Scrape.ly browser** | $5 of credit every month, no card | Cloudflare Turnstile, on by default, no per-solve fee | Its own residential proxy, country to city, inside the browser credits | 30-second blocks plus traffic per MB, counted toward each run's maximum charge | | Browserbase (for reference) | 1 browser hour, 15-minute sessions | Not on Free; included from Developer ($20) | 1 GB on Developer, then $12 per GB | Browser hours plus proxy GB | | Browserless | 1,000 units a month, 2-minute sessions | 10 units per successful solve | Residential at 6 units per MB | Units of up to 30 seconds per browser connection | | Bright Data Browser API | 5,000 credits a month, 1 GB included | Included | Built in | Per GB: $8 without a commitment | | Steel | $30 of credits, one time | $3 per 1,000 solves on Launch | $10 per GB on Launch | Browser hours, proxy GB and solves | The sources for every competitor cell are the pricing pages linked in each section below. ## 1. Scrape.ly: an anti-bot browser inside a scraping platform Scrape.ly is a web data platform with a [Store](https://scrape.ly/store.md) of 570+ ready-made scrapers called Actors, a cloud runtime for your own code, managed proxies, an API, and an MCP server for AI agents. The [Scrape.ly browser](https://scrape.ly/docs/browser.md) is the hosted Chromium those Actors run on. **Anti-bot built in, on every plan.** The browser has anti-bot fingerprints, solves Cloudflare Turnstile challenges by default, and routes traffic through its own residential proxy. You pick where it exits (country, state, city) and how it presents itself (Windows, macOS or Android), and the time zone and language follow the exit country unless you set them. There's no stealth tier to upgrade to. **Your code doesn't change.** Turn the browser on for an Actor under **Settings → Scrapely Browser** and rebuild. Every browser launch in that Actor is then redirected to it: Crawlee's `PlaywrightCrawler` and `PuppeteerCrawler`, raw `chromium.launch()` and `puppeteer.launch()`, in JavaScript and Python. Firefox, WebKit and Camoufox launches are redirected to the Scrape.ly browser's Chromium too. Code that connects over CDP itself gets a `CDP_URL` in every run. **It runs where your code runs.** Unlike Browserbase, you don't connect to the Scrape.ly browser from your own server: it accepts connections from Actor runs on the platform. That's the point. Your script, the browser, the proxy, the scheduler, the dataset and the logs live in one place, and you don't host anything. **One bill with a cap.** Browser time is billed in 30-second blocks plus the browser's proxy traffic per MB, and that traffic is never billed again as proxy GB. Browser credits count toward the run's maximum charge, so when the cap is reached the run stops. The Free plan's $5 of monthly credit covers it, no card needed. **Often, no browser script at all.** Store Actors open browser sessions when a page needs one, and on most of them that browser time is included in a fixed price per result, as on the [Amazon Product Scraper](https://scrape.ly/store/shelfbright/amazon-product-scraper.md). The [Website Content Crawler](https://scrape.ly/store/querystone/website-content-crawler.md) fetches pages over HTTP and uses Chrome only when a page needs JavaScript. Either way, you send an input and get rows or Markdown back. **Agents included.** The hosted MCP server at `https://mcp.scrape.ly` lets Claude, Cursor, VS Code and ChatGPT run any Store Actor or your own, with a scoped API key and a daily charge limit to keep them on budget. **Best for:** teams that use a cloud browser to collect data and want stealth, proxies and challenge solving included, their existing code unchanged, and ready-made scrapers for the common sites. Read more about how it works in [what is a cloud browser](https://scrape.ly/blog/what-is-a-cloud-browser.md). ### What a browser configuration looks like To choose the exit location and fingerprint, pass a browser configuration to your crawler. From the [browser docs](https://scrape.ly/docs/browser.md): ```javascript import { Actor, PlaywrightCrawler } from 'scrapely'; await Actor.main(async () => { const browserConfiguration = await Actor.createBrowserConfiguration({ countryCode: 'US', state: 'California', os: 'windows', }); const crawler = new PlaywrightCrawler({ browserConfiguration, async requestHandler({ page }) { await Actor.pushData({ title: await page.title() }); }, }); await crawler.run(['https://example.com']); }); ``` Invalid values fail when you create the configuration, before any browser starts. The same options exist in Python as `Actor.create_browser_configuration(country_code="US", state="California", os="windows")`, and `solveCloudflare` is on unless you turn it off. ## 2. Browserless [Browserless](https://www.browserless.io/pricing) hosts Chrome, Firefox and WebKit browsers that your automation code connects to. It bills in units: "a block of browser time of up to 30 seconds per browser connection", and session reconnects count as new connections. Residential proxy traffic costs 6 units per MB, datacenter 2 units per MB, and each successful CAPTCHA solve 10 units. The Free plan has 1,000 units a month with 2-minute sessions; Prototyping costs $25 a month billed annually for 20,000 units and 15-minute sessions, with overage at $0.002 per unit. Enterprise plans include licensed self-hosting. **Best for:** teams that run their own Puppeteer or Playwright code on their own servers and want a browser endpoint, or want to self-host. The [Scrape.ly vs Browserless](https://scrape.ly/compare/browserless.md) comparison covers the differences in detail. ## 3. Bright Data Browser API [Bright Data's Browser API](https://brightdata.com/pricing/scraping-browser) is a hosted browser with Bright Data's unblocking built in: CAPTCHA solving, fingerprinting and automatic retries. It works with Puppeteer, Playwright and Selenium. It bills per GB of traffic: a free tier of 5,000 credits a month with 1 GB included, $8 per GB without a commitment, or Scale at $499 a month. **Best for:** teams already buying Bright Data proxies or datasets who want the browser on the same contract. Because it bills per GB, heavy pages with images and scripts cost more than light ones. See [Scrape.ly vs Bright Data](https://scrape.ly/compare/bright-data.md) for the platform comparison. ## 4. Steel [Steel](https://steel.dev/pricing) is a browser API for AI agents, with an open-source Steel Browser on GitHub. The Launch plan has no monthly fee and starts with $30 of credits, one time, then bills browser hours ($0.10), proxy bandwidth ($10 per GB) and CAPTCHA solves ($3 per 1,000), with 10 concurrent sessions of up to 15 minutes. Scale costs $250 a month plus usage, with $100 of credits every month and 1-hour sessions. Its stealth browser is included only on Enterprise. **Best for:** agent builders who want a session-based browser API and can live without stealth below Enterprise. For scraping protected sites, Scrape.ly's fingerprints and Turnstile solving come on every plan. ## How to switch from Browserbase to Scrape.ly **1. Check the Store first.** For each site your scripts visit, search the [Store](https://scrape.ly/store.md). Amazon, Google Search, Google Maps, LinkedIn and YouTube all have ready-made Actors, and each one you use is a script you stop maintaining. **2. Put the remaining scripts in an Actor.** Install the CLI, log in with an API token, and start from a browser template, or add a config to your existing project: ```shell npm install -g scrapely-cli scrapely login scrapely create my-scraper --template crawlee-playwright ``` Move your page logic into the request handler, or keep your own code and run `scrapely init` in its folder instead. **3. Delete the remote-session code.** Where your script created a Browserbase session and connected to it over CDP, use a plain `chromium.launch()` or `puppeteer.launch()`. With the browser setting on, the platform redirects it. If you prefer to connect yourself, use `chromium.connectOverCDP(process.env.CDP_URL)`. **4. Turn on the Scrape.ly browser and push.** Enable **Use Scrapely browser** in the Actor's **Settings**, then run `scrapely push`. The setting follows the build, so rebuild whenever you change it; the build log shows `Browser patch: on (remote browser)`. **5. Cap, schedule and share it.** Set a maximum charge on each run, save the input as a task with a schedule, and add `https://mcp.scrape.ly` to your agent with `claude mcp add --transport http scrapely https://mcp.scrape.ly`. For pages that render content with JavaScript, our guide to [headless browsers](https://scrape.ly/blog/what-is-a-headless-browser.md) covers the patterns, and [Playwright stealth](https://scrape.ly/blog/playwright-stealth.md) explains what fingerprinting does. ## FAQ ### What is the best Browserbase alternative? Scrape.ly. Its hosted browser includes anti-bot fingerprints, Cloudflare Turnstile solving and a residential proxy on every plan, your Playwright and Puppeteer code uses it unchanged, every run has a hard spending cap, and 570+ ready-made scrapers cover the common sites without a script. ### Is there a free Browserbase alternative? Scrape.ly's Free plan gives you $5 of credit every month without a card, and the browser, the Store and the MCP server all draw from it. Browserbase's Free plan includes 1 browser hour with no CAPTCHA solving, and Browserless's free plan 1,000 units with 2-minute sessions. ### Does the Scrape.ly browser solve CAPTCHAs? It solves Cloudflare Turnstile challenges by default, with no per-solve fee: you pay for browser time and traffic only. It also uses anti-bot fingerprints and residential IPs, which keep many challenges from appearing in the first place. Our guide to [CAPTCHA solving for scraping](https://scrape.ly/blog/captcha-solving-for-scraping.md) explains the approaches. ### Can I connect to the Scrape.ly browser from my own server? No. It accepts connections from Actor runs on Scrape.ly, which is how it keeps your browser, proxy, scheduling and data in one place with one spending cap. Push your script as an Actor and the platform runs both. ### Is there an MCP server for browser agents? Browserbase documents its own [MCP server](https://docs.browserbase.com/integrations/mcp/introduction). Scrape.ly's hosted MCP server at `https://mcp.scrape.ly` gives agents every Store Actor and your own, including Actors that drive the Scrape.ly browser. See [AI browser agents](https://scrape.ly/blog/ai-browser-agents.md) for how browser agents compare with scrapers, and [Tavily alternatives](https://scrape.ly/blog/tavily-alternatives.md) for search APIs built for agents. Scrape.ly Store Skip the browser script Crawl whole sites to clean Markdown, with browser sessions opened only where a page needs JavaScript. $0.50 per 1,000 pages plus usage, on $5 of free monthly credit. [Try it free](https://scrape.ly/store/querystone/website-content-crawler.md) [Browse the Store](https://scrape.ly/store.md) About the author [Scrape.ly Team](https://scrape.ly/blog/author/scrapely-team.md) The team behind Scrape.ly Scrape.ly is the web data platform from TeraShift GmbH in Switzerland, powered by Evomi: ready-made scrapers in the Scrape.ly Store, a cloud runtime, an API with JavaScript and Python SDKs, proxies, a hosted anti-bot browser and an MCP server for AI agents. - [Website](https://scrape.ly/index.md) Keep reading ## More in AI agents - [![Pixel-art robot with an orange >\_ on its terminal head pulls a card with curly braces out of a monitor showing the purple ScrapeGraphAI spider logo and a graph of nodes that runs from a small web page to curly braces, and drops it into a crate](https://scrape.ly/media/scrapegraphai-guide.png?w=750)](https://scrape.ly/blog/scrapegraphai-guide.md) ### [ScrapeGraphAI Tutorial: How It Works, a Tested Setup and a Hosted Alternative](https://scrape.ly/blog/scrapegraphai-guide.md) [ScrapeGraphAI turns a prompt and a URL into JSON by sending the page to an LLM. We installed version 2.3.1, traced a SmartScraperGraph run node by node, priced its hosted API, and show the Scrape.ly route that returns structured data without paying for LLM tokens on every page.](https://scrape.ly/blog/scrapegraphai-guide.md) - [![Pixel-art robot with an orange >\_ on its terminal head carries a cable from a search results page headed by the Google G logo into a server rack labelled MCP](https://scrape.ly/media/web-search-mcp-server.png?w=750)](https://scrape.ly/blog/web-search-mcp-server.md) ### [6 Best Web Search MCP Servers for AI Agents in 2026](https://scrape.ly/blog/web-search-mcp-server.md) [The 6 best web search MCP servers for Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT, compared on where results come from, price per 1,000 searches, sign-in and spending control. With a real Google search run through MCP and the truth about Google Search MCP servers.](https://scrape.ly/blog/web-search-mcp-server.md) - [![Pixel-art robot with an orange >\_ on its terminal head carries a cable from a house, fronted by a red mailbox and a yard sign bearing the blue Zillow logo, into a server rack labelled MCP](https://scrape.ly/media/zillow-mcp.png?w=750)](https://scrape.ly/blog/zillow-mcp.md) ### [Zillow MCP: Property Data for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor](https://scrape.ly/blog/zillow-mcp.md) [A Zillow MCP server lets your AI agent pull listings, prices, Zestimates and rent estimates into the chat as data it can compare and export. See how Zillow's own connector differs, connect Scrape.ly's hosted server to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, and see real tool calls, output and costs.](https://scrape.ly/blog/zillow-mcp.md) ## The internet is full of data. Start owning yours. Scrape.ly gives you the infrastructure, the tooling, and the team to extract, process, and operationalize web data at any scale. Setup takes minutes. [Get Started Free](https://my.scrape.ly/register) [Chat with Support](mailto:hello@scrape.ly?subject=Question%20about%20Scrape.ly\&body=Hi%2C%20I%20have%20a%20question%20about%20Scrape.ly.) No credit card. No setup calls.