Scrape.ly vs Browserless: a hosted browser plus the platform around it
Browserless rents you remote browsers for your Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium code. Scrape.ly runs that code as an Actor and can connect it to the Scrapely browser, a hosted Chromium with anti-bot fingerprints and Cloudflare Turnstile solving, with storage, scheduling, and proxies included.
Competitor facts and prices as listed on Oct 14, 2026. Sources
const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP( 'wss://…' )const page = await browser .newPage()
The short answer
If you need browsers you can reach from your own servers, with Firefox, WebKit, or Selenium support, or want to self-host, Browserless is built for that. If you want the scraper itself hosted, Scrape.ly runs your Playwright or Puppeteer code as an Actor, connects it to a hosted anti-bot Chromium without code changes, and stores the results, with a Store of ready-made scrapers and an 80% creator share if you sell your own.
Apify-compatible
$2–$4/GB residential, $0.75–$1/GB datacenter
Creators keep 80% of paid fees
Scrape.ly vs Browserless, side by side
Browserless: Hosted headless browsers (Chrome, Firefox, WebKit) for Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium, plus BrowserQL and REST endpoints for screenshots, PDFs, and scraping.
| Feature | Scrape.ly | Browserless |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Platform to run scrapers, with a hosted anti-bot Chromium | Hosted headless browsers, BrowserQL, and REST endpoints |
| Where your code runs | Inside an Actor on Scrape.ly | Anywhere; it connects to the remote browser |
| Browsers | Chromium (Firefox, WebKit, Camoufox redirected to it) | Chrome, Firefox, WebKit |
| Frameworks | Playwright and Puppeteer, without code changes | Puppeteer, Playwright, Selenium |
| Browser billing | Browser credits: 30-second blocks plus proxy MB | Units: up to 30 seconds of browser time per connection |
| Anti-bot | Fingerprints and Cloudflare Turnstile solving | CAPTCHA solving, 10 units per solve |
| Proxies | Browser has its own residential exit; managed proxy $2–$4/GB residential, $0.75–$1/GB datacenter | Residential 6 units/MB, datacenter 2 units/MB, or your own |
| Free plan | Monthly usage credit | 1,000 units, 2 concurrent browsers |
| Storage and scheduling | Datasets, key-value stores, request queues, schedules | Persisted sessions and replays |
| MCP server | Hosted | Yes |
| Self-hosting | Not offered (hosted platform) | Open-source core; licensed on Enterprise |
| Marketplace | Scrape.ly Store; creators keep 80% | None found |
Pricing compared
Browserless prices as listed on Oct 14, 2026 on their public pricing pages; check their site for current figures. Scrape.ly's current plans are on the pricing page.
Scrape.ly
- Free plan
- Monthly usage credit, no credit card to start
- Paid plans
- Raise concurrency, memory, and other limits, and can add a Store discount
- Usage
- Compute, storage, transfer, proxy, and browser usage from a prepaid USD balance
- Residential proxy
- $2–$4 per GB
- Datacenter proxy
- $0.75–$1 per GB
- Spending control
- Optional maximum charge per run; the run stops when it is reached
Browserless
- Pricing model
- Monthly plans with included units (a unit is up to 30 seconds of browser time per connection); overage is billed per unit, and proxy traffic and CAPTCHA solves also consume units.
- Free tier
- Free plan: $0/mo, 1,000 units per month, 2 concurrent browsers, 2-minute max session.
Browserless plans
| Browserless plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 1,000 units/mo, 2 concurrent browsers, 2 min max session |
| Prototyping | $35/mo monthly, or $25/mo billed annually | 20,000 units/mo, 5 concurrent (10 on annual), 15 min max session, overage $0.0020/unit |
| Starter | $200/mo monthly, or $140/mo billed annually | 180,000 units/mo, 30 concurrent (40 on annual), 30 min max session, overage $0.0017/unit |
| Scale | $500/mo monthly, or $350/mo billed annually | 500,000 units/mo, 80 concurrent (100 on annual), 60 min max session, overage $0.0015/unit |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom units and concurrency; private deployments or licensed self-hosting, SSO, custom proxy limits |
Browserless usage and proxy pricing
| Browserless product | Price as listed on Oct 14, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Residential proxy | 6 units per MB (no per-GB dollar price published) |
| Datacenter proxy | 2 units per MB (no per-GB dollar price published) |
| Bring your own proxy | Supported from the Prototyping plan up |
| CAPTCHA solving | 10 units per successful solve |
- Both count browser time in 30-second blocks. Browserless bundles units into plans with per-unit overage; the Scrapely browser bills browser credits as run usage from a prepaid balance, with your price per credit shown in the dashboard.
- Browserless does not publish a dollar price per GB of proxy traffic, only units per MB, so a direct proxy price comparison is not possible.
Feature by feature
Where Scrape.ly and Browserless overlap, and where they take different approaches.
The browser
The Scrapely browser is a hosted Chromium with anti-bot fingerprinting, Cloudflare Turnstile solving, and a residential exit you can place by country, state, or city, with a Windows, macOS, or Android fingerprint. It is off by default; turn it on per Actor and rebuild.
Remote Chrome, Firefox, and WebKit browsers for Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium, with session reconnects, persisted sessions, and session replays. CAPTCHA solving costs 10 units per successful solve.
How you connect
On the platform, the SDK connects every Playwright and Puppeteer launch to the browser over CDP, so crawler code stays the same. Every run also gets a CDP URL you can connect to yourself. The browser only accepts connections from platform runs.
Your existing code connects to the remote browser from wherever it runs. BrowserQL and REST endpoints cover screenshots, PDFs, scraping, and search.
Everything around the browser
Actors come with datasets, key-value stores, and request queues, plus tasks, schedules, and webhooks. The Store has ready-made Actors, and the hosted MCP server lets AI agents run them.
Browserless focuses on browser infrastructure and offers an MCP server. No Actor or scraper marketplace was found.
Self-hosting and openness
Scrape.ly is hosted. Its SDKs are built on the open-source Crawlee library and keep the Apify SDK API.
The Browserless core is open source on GitHub and self-hostable; licensed self-hosting and Docker are available on Enterprise.
How to switch from Browserless
Your Playwright or Puppeteer code moves into an Actor, and the Scrapely browser takes the place of the remote endpoint.
- 01
Create an Actor from a template
Install the scrapely CLI, log in, and start from a Playwright or Puppeteer template, then paste in your page logic.
Quick start → - 02
Turn on the Scrapely browser
Enable it for the Actor and rebuild. Browser launches connect to the hosted Chromium without code changes.
Scrapely browser → - 03
Pick location and fingerprint
Set the exit country, state, or city and the operating system in the browser configuration.
Anti-blocking → - 04
Run, schedule, and cap spend
Run from the dashboard, API, or a schedule. Browser credits count toward the run’s maximum charge.
Run Actors →
When to choose which
Browserless is a good fit for: Teams that already write Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium code and want managed browser infrastructure, or want to self-host the browser layer.
Choose Scrape.ly if
- You want your whole scraper hosted: code, browser, proxy, storage, and schedules in one place.
- You scrape sites that block headless browsers and want anti-bot fingerprints and Turnstile solving turned on per Actor.
- You already have Apify Actors or Crawlee code.
- You want ready-made scrapers from a Store, or to sell yours and keep 80% of event fees.
Choose Browserless if
- You want remote browsers reachable from your own servers and code.
- You use Selenium, or need Firefox or WebKit sessions.
- You want BrowserQL or REST endpoints for screenshots and PDFs.
- You want to self-host the browser layer with the open-source core or an Enterprise license.
Worth knowing before you decide
- Browserless sells browser time in units. Scrape.ly also has a hosted Chromium (the Scrapely browser), and adds an Actor runtime, storage (datasets, key-value stores, request queues), and a Store of ready-made scrapers.
- The Scrapely browser accepts connections only from Scrape.ly runs, so your browser code runs inside an Actor. Browserless browsers are reachable from your own servers.
- Scrape.ly runs existing Apify Actors, SDK code, and API clients with few or no changes; Browserless does not advertise Apify compatibility.
- Browserless bills proxy traffic in units per MB; the Scrapely browser's proxy traffic is part of its browser credits, and Scrape.ly's managed proxy is billed per GB ($2 residential, $1 datacenter).
- Browserless offers an open-source core and self-hosting; Scrape.ly is a hosted platform.
- Browserless also supports Firefox, WebKit, and Selenium; on Scrape.ly, Firefox, WebKit, and Camoufox launches are redirected to the Scrapely browser (Chromium) when it is on.
Need something custom, such as volume pricing or a managed scraper? Talk to us.
Scrape.ly vs Browserless, answered
Is Scrape.ly an alternative to Browserless?
Partly. Both offer hosted Chromium for automation. Scrape.ly also runs complete scrapers (Apify-compatible Actors) with built-in storage, scheduling, and a Store, while Browserless focuses on browser infrastructure and BrowserQL.
Can I keep my Puppeteer or Playwright code?
Yes, inside an Actor. With the Scrapely browser on, Playwright and Puppeteer launches connect to the hosted Chromium without code changes. Browserless lets you connect from code running anywhere.
Can I connect to the Scrapely browser from my own server?
No. The Scrapely browser only accepts connections from Scrape.ly runs. If you need a remote browser for code running elsewhere, Browserless is designed for that.
How is Browserless priced?
In units of up to 30 seconds of browser time. As listed on Oct 14, 2026, paid plans started at $35 per month billed monthly, or $25 per month billed annually, for 20,000 units.
How is the Scrapely browser billed?
In browser credits on top of the run's compute: session time in 30-second blocks plus the browser's proxy traffic per MB. The account that runs the Actor pays, and credits count toward the run's maximum charge.
Sources and method
Every Browserless fact on this page comes from their public website and docs, read on Oct 14, 2026. Prices change, so check the linked pages before you buy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Browserless (accessed Oct 14, 2026)
Scrape.ly
- Proxy groups and per-GB prices
- Plans, prepaid credits, and billing
- Creator earnings (80%) and payouts
- Maximum charge per run
- JavaScript SDK (API-compatible with the Apify SDK)
- Python SDK
- Migrating from apify-client (JavaScript)
- Migrating from apify-client (Python)
- Scrapely browser
- MCP server
- CLI reference
- Store
- Pricing
Browserless is a trademark of its owner, used here only to identify their product. Scrape.ly is not affiliated with Browserless.
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