Cloudflare Browser Run
Headless Chrome on Cloudflare's network (formerly Browser Rendering), driven from a Workers binding, a REST API or a CDP endpoint, billed by browser hour on the Workers plan. Convenient edge Chrome for Workers users and quick page tasks, not a long-lived or isolation-documented agent browser.
Overview
Browser Run, renamed from Browser Rendering on 15 April 2026, runs headless Chrome on Cloudflare's global network. Quick Actions are single HTTP requests for screenshots, PDFs, Markdown, structured data and crawls; Browser Sessions give direct control through Cloudflare's forks of Puppeteer and Playwright inside a Worker, through Stagehand, or from any environment over a CDP endpoint added in April 2026. MCP clients can also use it as a remote browser. Cloudflare does not describe how one browser is isolated from another.
Browsers time out after 60 seconds of inactivity, extendable to 20 minutes with keep_alive, and a Durable Object can hold a live browser across requests; there is no profile or login persistence. The rename brought Live View, Human in the Loop hand-off, session recordings and WebMCP support. Pricing follows the Workers plan: 10 minutes a day free, or 10 hours a month and 10 concurrent browsers included on Workers Paid, then $0.09 per hour and $2 per extra concurrent browser.
Notable
- Generally available on 2 April 2024; renamed Browser Run on 15 April 2026 with Live View, recordings and WebMCP
- CDP exposed as an endpoint for external clients on 10 April 2026
- Workers Paid concurrency raised from 30 to 120 at the rename; the limits page now lists 200 per account
Cloudflare Browser Run specifications
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Isolation | Not documented; sessions draw from a global pool of warm Chrome instances and the per-browser boundary is not described |
| Deployment | Hosted platform |
| Open source | No |
| SDKs and interfaces | JavaScript/TypeScript, REST API, MCP server |
| Cold start (vendor claim) | Blog states sessions come from a global pool of warm instances with no cold start waiting for a browser; no figure given |
| Max session length | Browser closes after 60 seconds of inactivity by default; keep_alive extends the inactivity timeout to at most 20 minutes |
| Persistence | None documented beyond reusing a live browser across requests (for example from a Durable Object); session recordings for debugging |
| GPU | No — not offered |
| Networking | Runs on Cloudflare's edge near users; no proxy or stealth features documented |
| Pricing | Workers Free: 10 minutes of browser time per day, 3 concurrent browsers. Workers Paid: 10 browser hours per month included then $0.09 per additional hour; 10 concurrent browsers (averaged monthly) included then $2.00 per additional browser; up to 200 concurrent per account |
| Free tier | Workers Free: 10 minutes of browser time per day, 3 concurrent browsers, 1 new browser every 20 seconds |
| Compliance | Not documented |
| Regions | Cloudflare global network; sessions open near the user |
Facts from Cloudflare Browser Run’s public documentation, verified November 9, 2026. Performance numbers are vendor claims.
Strengths and trade-offs
Strengths
- You already run on Cloudflare Workers and want a browser binding
- You need one-shot screenshot, PDF or scrape endpoints without infrastructure
- You want edge-local sessions near end users
- You want a free daily allowance for light use
Trade-offs
- Isolation between browsers is not documented
- Short sessions: 60 seconds idle by default and 20 minutes at most with keep_alive
- No proxies, stealth, captcha solving or persisted profiles
- Concurrency and request rates are tight on the Free plan
Good fit for: Screenshots, scraping and short agent browsing from Workers without running a browser fleet.
How Cloudflare Browser Run compares
| Sandbox | Isolation | Open source | Self-host / BYOC | Cold start (vendor) | Max session | Snapshots / pause | GPU | SDKs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Browser Run | Not documented | No | No / No | Warm pool (claim) | 60 s idle, 20 min keep_alive | No / No | No | JavaScript/TypeScript, REST API, MCP server |
| 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 |
| Lightpanda | Not documented | Yes | Yes / No | Not documented | 15 min per connection | No / No | No | CLI, REST API, MCP server |
| 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 |
| Cloudflare Sandbox SDK | MicroVM (Containers) | Yes | No / No | 1–3 s | No fixed cap | Yes / Not documented | Not documented | TypeScript (Workers) |
| 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 is Cloudflare Browser Run?
How does Cloudflare Browser Run isolate code?
Is Cloudflare Browser Run open source?
How much does Cloudflare Browser Run cost?
What are the alternatives to Cloudflare Browser Run?
Sources
Cite this page
Agent Sandboxes. (2026). Cloudflare Browser Run. agentsandboxes.org. Last reviewed November 9, 2026. https://agentsandboxes.org/sandboxes/cloudflare-browser-rendering/
Found an error or a missing sandbox? Submit a correction — every entry links to the sources it relies on.