Compare 10 free browser automation tools, free tiers, and developer deals. 1 is not a free offer. We could not confirm today's terms for 7 of them: on 2 the page we cite did not answer, and on 5 our own read did not confirm them. Each row says why.
What this name holds: Headless browsers driven by a script, sold as browser sessions rather than as a test suite.
3 other names here answer “how do I check the code and the browser”, and each holds a different list: Code Quality (20), Testing (45), Web Scraping (22).
We track 9 browser automation services with a free tier we hold as current and 1 without. This category has seen some movement — 4 pricing changes recorded across vendors.
| Vendor | Tier | Description | Read / catalogue date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browserless | Free | Headless browser API — 1,000 units/mo (1 unit = up to 30 sec of browser time), 2 concurrent browsers, 2-minute max session with session reconnects, automatic captcha solving, BrowserQL editor. No card required. Supports Chrome, WebKit, FirefoxOur read on 2026-11-08 found the page different from the terms we hold, and we hold no confirmation of the terms we publish. | 2026-11-08 / 2026-10-18 |
| Browserbase | Free | Headless browser infrastructure — Free Plan $0/mo Get started with Browserbase. Explore and prototype ideas. Infrastructure 3 concurrent browsers 1 browser hour 3 Agent runs included 1,000 Search calls 1,000 Fetch calls 15 minutes /session Capabilities 7 days data retention Models $5 in tokens Runtime included Start for freeOur read on 2026-10-24 found the page different from the terms we hold, and we hold no confirmation of the terms we publish. | 2026-10-24 / 2026-10-01 |
| Playwright | Free OSS | Free OSS (Apache 2.0). Microsoft-backed end-to-end testing and browser automation for Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit. Auto-wait, network interception, mobile emulationThe page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-09, so we cannot confirm these terms today. | 2026-10-09 / 2026-07-29 |
| Puppeteer | Free OSS | Free OSS (Apache 2.0). Google-backed Chrome/Chromium automation library. Headless and headful modes, PDF generation, screenshots, network interception. Firefox support via WebDriver BiDiThe page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-09, so we cannot confirm these terms today. | 2026-10-09 / 2026-07-28 |
| Hyperbrowser | Pay-per-use | Pay-per-use cloud browser sessions for AI agents — x402 micropayments, no API key needed. Headless Chrome instances with full browser automation, screenshot capture, and page interaction. Built for agent workflows.Our read on 2026-11-09 found the page different from the terms we hold, and we hold no confirmation of the terms we publish. | 2026-11-09 / 2026-08-17 |
| Steel | Free Credits | Cloud browser API for AI agents. The Launch plan is $0 a month plus usage and comes with a one-time $30 credit, valid for 90 days, which Steel puts at about 300 browser hours at $0.10 an hour. Launch allows 10 concurrent sessions, 15-minute sessions, 60 requests a minute and 7-day data retention; CAPTCHA solving and Steel's proxies need a $10 deposit first. Scale is $250 a month plus usage, with $100 of credit each month.Our read on 2026-11-13 found the page different from the terms we hold, and we hold no confirmation of the terms we publish. | 2026-11-13 / 2026-09-27 |
| Browser Use | Free Credits | Cloud browsers and an agent API for browser automation. Eligible new accounts that sign up with Google, GitHub or Microsoft (not email and password) get a one-time $1 credit, once per person and with no card, and Browser Use says it does not renew. Browser Use cut the credit from $15 to $1 by 2026-10-04. Until a first top-up, free accounts can use only the cheaper models. Browsers cost $0.02 per browser-hour, and the residential proxy is on by default at $5 per GB ($0.20 per GB direct or through your own proxy), so 0.2 GB of proxied traffic uses the whole credit. There are no subscriptions; top-ups start at $5.
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2026-11-06 |
| Anchor Browser | Free | Cloud browsers for AI agents. The Free plan gives $5 of credit each month, 5 concurrent browsers, 5 new sessions a minute, the US region only and 7-day data retention (Anchor's docs), without CAPTCHA solving, full stealth or a choice of location. Usage costs $0.01 per browser created and $0.05 per browser-hour. Since August 21, 2026, AI tasks are billed per step by the tier of the model that runs them: $0.01 for Light models such as GPT-5 Mini and Gemini Flash Lite, $0.05 for Standard models such as Claude Haiku 4.5 and GPT-5, and $0.10 for High Performance models such as Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus and GPT-5.5; with your own model key, every step is a flat $0.01. Before that date every AI step cost $0.01. Anchor's proxy costs $8 per GB and proxyless egress $0.20 per GB, and Free cannot use its own proxy. Starter is $50 a month. | 2026-11-07 / 2026-10-15 |
| Kernel | Free | Browsers as a service for AI agents. The free Developer plan gives $5 of usage credit each month, 5 concurrent browsers in the US, stealth mode with a Kernel-managed proxy and CAPTCHA solver, and 1-day session replays; other proxies cannot be configured. Browsers are headful by default at about $0.48 an hour, so $5 covers about 10 browser-hours (about 83 headless). Kernel says sign-up needs no credit card, but its acceptable use policy lets it require a verified payment method before granting free credit. Hobbyist is $30 a month plus usage, with $10 of credit each month. | 2026-11-12 |
| Airtop | Free | Cloud browsers that AI agents control in plain language. The Free plan gives 1,000 credits a month, which reset and do not roll over; new accounts also get a sign-up bonus for their first billing cycle only (10,000 credits on the pricing page, 30,000 in Airtop's billing help). Free allows 3 simultaneous sessions and 1 deployed agent, with no integrated proxy. Airtop does not publish what a credit buys in browser time, and more credits need a subscription. Starter is $29 a month for 30,000 credits.Our read on 2026-11-12 found the page different from the terms we hold, and we hold no confirmation of the terms we publish. | 2026-11-12 / 2026-10-21 |