Browserbase alternatives
The 6 alternatives below are grouped by kind of sandbox, and each says what it does differently from Browserbase. Start from whatever made you look: missing GPUs, session limits, self-hosting, pricing or isolation.
Why teams look beyond Browserbase
A mature managed-Chromium service for web agents, with strong SDK and framework coverage but an undocumented isolation boundary.
- The isolation boundary (container or VM) is not documented
- Sessions are capped at 6 hours, and 15 minutes on the Free plan
- No self-hosting or BYOC option; the platform itself is closed source
- Browser-only: there is no filesystem or shell for a coding agent
Browserbase alternatives, by kind
Browser and desktop sandboxes
Hosted browsers and full desktops that computer-use agents click, type and browse in.
Anchor Browser
Cloud browsers for agents with a dedicated VM per browser, managed authentication identities, persistent volumes and a Web-Bot-Auth-verified Chromium fork.
- Dedicated VM per browser
- BYOC
How it differs: Authenticated enterprise workflows that need VM-level isolation per browser and managed logins. The strongest isolation story in this group, a dedicated VM per browser, paired with managed authentication for enterprise agents.
Browser Use Cloud
Stealth cloud Chromium at $0.02 per browser hour from the makers of the MIT-licensed Browser Use agent library, with profiles, live view, an EU deployment and a hosted agent API.
- Isolated browser per run
How it differs: Cheap stealth browser hours for agents built on the Browser Use library or any CDP client. Inexpensive stealth browsers with audited compliance and an EU option, best suited to teams already on the Browser Use library.
Browserless
Managed headless Chrome, Firefox and WebKit over WebSocket for Puppeteer, Playwright and Selenium, with BrowserQL stealth, REST endpoints and a Docker image you can self-host.
- Not documented
- Open source
- Self-hostable
- GPU
How it differs: Existing Puppeteer, Playwright or Selenium automations that want a managed or self-hosted browser pool. A proven managed browser pool for automation code, less tailored to agents than its newer peers and silent on isolation.
Hyperbrowser
Credit-billed cloud Chrome sessions with profiles, stealth and captcha solving, plus one-shot agent runs (Claude Computer Use, OpenAI CUA, Browser Use) and separate VM-based code sandboxes.
- Isolated browser instance
How it differs: Agents that need cheap browser hours with a built-in path to run computer-use models as one-shot tasks. A credit-priced browser cloud with the broadest built-in agent-model support, held back by thin isolation and compliance documentation.
Kernel
Browsers for agents where each Chromium runs in its own Unikraft unikernel VM, with standby that stops billing, profiles, and open-source images under Apache-2.0.
- Unikernel VM per browser
- Open source
- Self-hostable
- GPU
- Pause/resume
How it differs: Agents that need fast, hypervisor-isolated browsers with pay-only-while-active billing. Hypervisor-isolated browsers with standby billing and open images, the most transparent isolation story among the closed clouds.
Steel
Open-source browser API for agents (Apache-2.0, self-hostable with Docker) with a managed Steel Cloud adding stealth, captcha solving, profiles and a hosted MCP server.
- Isolated Chromium session
- Open source
- Self-hostable
How it differs: Teams that want an open-source browser API they can run themselves or scale on a managed cloud. The open-source choice among hosted browser APIs: self-host for free, move to Steel Cloud for stealth, captchas and concurrency.
Browserbase vs alternatives
| Sandbox | Isolation | Open source | Self-host / BYOC | Cold start (vendor) | Max session | Snapshots / pause | GPU | SDKs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Browserbase | Isolated Chromium session | No | No / No | <2 s (claim) | 6 h (15 min Free) | No / No | No | Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, REST API, MCP server |
| Anchor Browser | Dedicated VM per browser | No | No / Yes | Not documented | 3 h default, configurable | No / No | No | Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, REST API, MCP server |
| Browser Use Cloud | Isolated browser per run | No | No / No | Not documented | 1 h default, 4 h max | No / No | No | Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, REST API |
| Browserless | Not documented | Yes | Yes / No | Not documented | 2 min to 60 min by plan | No / No | Yes | JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, CLI, REST API, MCP server |
| Hyperbrowser | Isolated browser instance | No | No / No | <500 ms (claim) | Up to 12 h | No / No | No | Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, CLI, REST API, MCP server |
| Kernel | Unikernel VM per browser | Yes | Yes / No | ~30 ms p50 (claim) | Up to 72 h | Yes / Yes | Yes | JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Go, CLI, REST API, MCP server |
| Steel | Isolated Chromium session | Yes | Yes / No | Not documented | 15 min / 1 h / 24 h | No / No | No | Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, Rust, CLI, REST API, MCP server |
Frequently asked questions
What are the main alternatives to Browserbase?
Is there an open-source alternative to Browserbase?
Cite this page
Agent Sandboxes. (2026). Browserbase alternatives. agentsandboxes.org. Last reviewed November 9, 2026. https://agentsandboxes.org/alternatives/browserbase/
Found an error or a missing sandbox? Submit a correction — every entry links to the sources it relies on.