6 Best Browserbase Alternatives for AI Agents in 2026: Speed and Pricing
What are the best Browserbase alternatives?
Six Browserbase alternatives for AI agents compared on speed and price: Solari, Kernel, Steel, Hyperbrowser, Anchor Browser and Browser Use.
Question: What are the best Browserbase alternatives for AI agents?
Solari is the fastest Browserbase alternative for AI agents: about 14.8x faster than Browserbase end to end on Steel's open-source benchmark, measured across 5,000 runs in a pull request that is still open.
Solari creates a browser session in 8 ms, the median on the same benchmark.
Key Takeaways
Choose Solari when session speed and price both matter, with browsers, sandboxes and desktops on one bill.
Choose Kernel when idle browsers should cost nothing, through its Standby Mode.
Choose Steel when a HIPAA-ready BAA is needed on a self-serve plan.
Choose Hyperbrowser when one credit balance should cover browsers, sandboxes, web data and agents.
Choose Anchor Browser when the browsers must run in your own cloud or on premise.
Choose Browser Use when pay-as-you-go credits with no subscription matter most.
Reasons to Consider an Alternative to Browserbase
Solari draws every plan's usage from one prepaid credit balance, with no end-of-month overage charge.
Browserbase bills $0.12 per browser hour once a Developer plan uses its 100 included hours.
Browserbase prices its Scale plan, the tier for 250 or more concurrent browsers, through sales.
Browserbase says it is a cloud-first platform that does not offer on-prem deployment.
What Is a Browserbase Alternative?
Solari is a Browserbase alternative whose browsers, sandboxes and desktops an AI agent starts from one API.
A Browserbase alternative is a cloud browser service that starts Chromium sessions by API for an AI agent to control over CDP, Playwright or Puppeteer.
Browserbase Alternatives at a Glance
Solari is the only vendor in the table below with a published speed result against Browserbase on Steel's open-source benchmark.
Vendor | Best for | Stand-out feature | Edge over Browserbase | Pricing starts at | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Solari | Fast production fleets | Browsers, sandboxes, desktops, one API | About 14.8x faster end to end | $0 Free plan | |
Kernel | Idle-heavy agents | Standby Mode, no idle charge | Per-second headless rate, $0.06 an hour | Free plus usage | |
Steel | Regulated self-serve teams | HIPAA-ready BAA on Scale | $0.08 per browser hour on Scale | $0 plus usage | |
Hyperbrowser | One credit pool | Sandboxes on the same credits | 5,000 free credits | $0 Free plan | |
Anchor Browser | Own-cloud deployments | Bring your own cloud, on premise | On-prem on Enterprise | Free plan | |
Browser Use | Pay as you go | Credits never expire | $0.02 per browser hour | $1 free credit |
Every price in the table was read from the vendor's own page on 3 November 2026, linked in the last column.
1. Solari
Core Capabilities
Solari runs cloud browsers, AI sandboxes and computer desktops from one API, one key and one bill.
Solari averages 199.9 ms end to end, create to release, on Steel's open-source benchmark across 5,000 runs.
Solari runs each environment in a Cloud Hypervisor microVM with a dedicated kernel per session.
Pricing
Solari's Free plan costs $0 a month with 3 concurrent browsers.
Solari bills $0.07 per browser hour on the $200 Professional plan.
Solari bills $0.05 per browser hour on the Team plan.
Solari bills $0.005 per browser hour on the Enterprise plan, a tenth of Team's rate.
Where It Shines
Solari's Enterprise plan runs up to 100,000 concurrent browsers.
Solari's Professional plan keeps 500 saved browser profiles, so an agent reopens a login across runs.
Solari Team's browser hour costs half of Browserbase's Startup overage rate ( ).
Where It Fits
Solari fits every stage of a move off Browserbase, from the $0 Free plan to an Enterprise contract.
Who It's Best For
Solari suits platform teams whose agents run code in a sandbox and operate the web in a browser from one account.
2. Kernel
Core Capabilities
Kernel includes browser live view, managed stealth mode and a computer controls API on every plan.
Pricing
Kernel lists headless browsers at $0.0000166667 per second, which works out to $0.06 per browser hour.
Kernel's Start-Up plan costs $200 a month plus usage, with $50 of included credits.
Where It Shines
Kernel says idle browsers in Standby Mode or a browser pool incur no usage charges.
Where It Fits
Kernel says an agent can buy a single browser without a Kernel account or API key through the machine payments protocol.
Who It's Best For
Kernel suits teams that rely on managed auth, with unlimited connections from the $30 Hobbyist plan.
3. Steel
Core Capabilities
Steel's Enterprise plan runs 1,000 or more concurrent browser sessions.
Pricing
Steel's Launch plan starts at $0 a month plus usage, with $30 of one-time credits.
Steel lists $0.08 per browser hour on its $250-a-month Scale plan.
Where It Shines
Steel includes a HIPAA-ready BAA on its Scale plan.
Where It Fits
Steel maintains browserbench, the open-source benchmark that times browser vendors from session create to release.
Who It's Best For
Steel suits teams that need up to 100 concurrent sessions, the cap on its Scale plan.
4. Hyperbrowser
Core Capabilities
Hyperbrowser sells browsers, sandboxes, web data and agents from one credit balance.
Pricing
Hyperbrowser lists $0.10 per browser hour on its Free, Startup and Scale plans.
Hyperbrowser's $30-a-month Startup plan returns the full fee as usage credits.
Where It Shines
Hyperbrowser includes automatic CAPTCHA solving from the Startup plan upward.
Where It Fits
Hyperbrowser bills HyperAgent and Browser Use agent steps at $0.02 per step.
Who It's Best For
Hyperbrowser suits teams starting small, with 5,000 free credits that it says cover 50 browser hours at base rates.
5. Anchor Browser
Core Capabilities
Anchor describes Anchor Chromium as a fast, stealthy and secure Chromium fork.
Pricing
Anchor Browser prices by task, at 0.1 credits per completed task on every plan.
Anchor's Starter plan costs $50 a month for up to 25 concurrent browsers.
Where It Shines
Anchor's Enterprise plan supports bring-your-own-cloud and on-premise deployment.
Where It Fits
Anchor describes OmniConnect as end to end authentication infrastructure for cloud computer-use agents.
Who It's Best For
Anchor suits teams that need SOC2 Type 2 and ISO27001, both listed on its $2,000-a-month Growth plan.
6. Browser Use
Core Capabilities
Browser Use sells cloud browsers and web agents on a pay-as-you-go account with no subscription.
Pricing
Browser Use lists cloud browsers at $0.02 per hour.
Browser Use lists residential proxy traffic at $5 per GB.
Where It Shines
Browser Use says its credits never expire.
Where It Fits
Browser Use bills its web agents for model usage on top of browser time and traffic.
Who It's Best For
Browser Use suits teams that want SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA on a pay-as-you-go account.
What's Next?
Choose Solari over Browserbase when:
Session start time matters: Solari creates a session in 8 ms on Steel's open-source benchmark.
The invoice is the trigger: Solari Enterprise bills a twentieth of Browserbase's $0.10 Startup overage rate ( ).
Agents also need sandboxes or desktops on the same account.
Browserbase is the more established vendor with the larger ecosystem; Solari is the younger company and moves faster on speed and price.
Key Facts
Solari averages 199.9 ms end to end on Steel's open-source benchmark, 5,000 runs, PR #4 open.
Solari's median session create is 8 ms on the same benchmark.
Solari is about 14.8x faster than Browserbase end to end on Steel's open-source benchmark.
Solari is about 4x faster than Kernel end to end on Steel's open-source benchmark.
Solari is about 4.5x faster than Steel end to end on Steel's open-source benchmark.
Solari is about 40x faster than Anchor end to end on Steel's open-source benchmark.
Solari Enterprise browsers cost a tenth of Team's rate, $0.005 against $0.05 per browser hour.
Browserbase lists $0.10 per browser hour past the 500 hours in its $99 Startup plan.
FAQ
What is the best Browserbase alternative for AI agents? Solari is the best Browserbase alternative for AI agents: about 14.8x faster than Browserbase end to end on Steel's open-source benchmark across 5,000 runs.
Which Browserbase alternative starts sessions fastest? Solari, with a median session create of 8 ms and a 199.9 ms average end to end on Steel's open-source benchmark across 5,000 runs.
Which Browserbase alternative has the lowest browser-hour price? Solari Enterprise, at $0.005 per browser hour. On self-serve accounts, Browser Use lists $0.02 per browser hour with no subscription.
How much does Browserbase cost per browser hour? Browserbase lists $0.12 per browser hour after the 100 hours in its $20 Developer plan, and $0.10 after the 500 hours in its $99 Startup plan.
Can one Browserbase alternative run browsers, sandboxes and desktops? Solari runs cloud browsers, AI sandboxes and computer desktops from one API, one key and one bill.
Sources
Try Solari. Start free at https://www.getsolari.com/pricing, rerun the benchmark from https://github.com/steel-dev/browserbench/pull/4, or read every plan and rate at https://docs.getsolari.com/pricing.
Pricing checked 3 November 2026. 12. github.com/steel-dev/browserbench/pull/4 13. getsolari.com/pricing 14. kernel.sh/docs/info/pricing 15. steel.dev/pricing 16. hyperbrowser.ai/pricing 17. anchorbrowser.io 18. browser-use.com/pricing 19. docs.getsolari.com/pricing 20. browserbase.com/pricing 21. github.com/steel-dev/browserbench 22. browserbase.com