TL;DR
- Compare browser infrastructure and task-running agents by cost per verified completed workflow, including failed attempts and retries, rather than headline rates. Anchor fits authenticated, stealth-sensitive, high-scale workloads through its managed browser fleet and task execution. Anchor reports 12× faster execution, 80× fewer tokens, and 23× fewer errors in its own comparisons; these are not independently verified results.
- Browser Use fits cost-conscious experimentation with a task-running agent when you can manage recovery yourself.
- Skyvern fits task automation across unfamiliar or changing interfaces.
- Browserbase fits managed browser infrastructure with integrated agent runs and Stagehand.
- Steel fits developers who want browser infrastructure while choosing their own agent tools.
What a browser-agent stack actually is
A browser-agent stack combines browser sessions with software that acts on a website. Managed browser infrastructure supplies hosted sessions and networking. Task-running agents interpret a goal, choose actions, and check the result. Traditional robotic process automation (RPA) follows predefined interface steps. You can combine these layers rather than choose only one.
Providers supply different parts of the stack. Steel focuses on browser infrastructure, while Browser Use and Skyvern offer task-running agents. Browserbase offers browser sessions and agent runs. Anchor combines a managed browser fleet with task execution. You can also pair a separate agent with managed browsers.
A headline browser-hour or token price cannot tell you what a finished task will cost. A failed attempt may consume browser time, model tokens, and proxy traffic before a retry begins. Agent decisions can change the number of model calls across attempts at the same task. To compare stacks, divide total billable spend across successful attempts, failures, and retries by the number of workflows you independently verify as complete.
Comparison table: Anchor, Browser Use, Skyvern, Browserbase, Steel
These providers supply different layers of a browser-agent stack. Their published prices use different units, so the table shows product fit and billing structure rather than ranking cost or reliability.
How we define cost per completed workflow
A completed workflow needs an independently checked outcome. Before testing a provider, define the task, permitted retries, and evidence of success. For example, a form-submission workflow succeeds when the destination system records the expected entry, not when an agent reports that it clicked Submit.
Calculate observed cost per completed workflow by dividing total billable spend across every attempt, including failed attempts and retries, by the number of independently verified completions. Record browser time, model tokens, proxy traffic, and task or action charges. Allocate subscription fees consistently across the tested workload. If no workflow succeeds, report that result rather than a cost per completion.
Published prices cannot replace those measurements. Browser Use charges for browser time, model usage, and applicable traffic. Skyvern publishes credit-based plans, while Steel lists browser-hour and other usage charges. Browserbase includes browser hours and agent runs in its plans, and Anchor publishes credit-based tiers. A shared workload lets you account for those different units without treating them as equivalent prices.
Use the same authorized tasks, acceptance criteria, retry limit, and test conditions for each provider. Track success rate, token cost, and median and 95th-percentile session time separately. Log failures, recovery charges, and whether repeatable steps run deterministically. Review credential handling, access controls, and data retention against your security requirements. Without matched-workflow results, this article does not rank providers by cost or reliability.
Anchor
Anchor combines managed browser infrastructure with built-in task execution for authenticated, high-scale, and stealth-sensitive workflows. OmniConnect supports persistent authentication, while Anchor Chromium, humanized browser behavior, proxy and network options, and Web Unlocker support different access needs. These tools do not guarantee access to a protected site.
Anchor can reduce repeated agent work when a workflow follows known steps. Anchor’s documentation describes versioned Automation Tasks that run on demand and Web Action Cache for executing repeatable actions as deterministic code. OmniConnect manages authentication across sessions, including persistent logins. For regulated workloads, Anchor lists deployment and security options that include customer-managed cloud environments, retention controls, and SSO/RBAC on Enterprise.
Capacity figures describe different limits. Anchor supports batch creation of up to 5,000 browser sessions. Its Enterprise program supports launch throughput of 100,000 or more sessions per minute. Launch throughput measures starts over time, not active concurrency. Published plan concurrency ranges from 5 browsers on Free to 500 or more on Enterprise. Those distinctions matter when a workload arrives in bursts or holds sessions open for long periods.
Anchor’s illustrative cost model calculates about $0.4917 per browser session across 10,574 sessions, with browser duration, proxy traffic, and AI steps included. Proxy traffic accounts for most of that example’s spend. The figure is a vendor example, not a guaranteed quote or a cost per verified completed workflow. Anchor also reports 12× faster execution, 80× fewer tokens, and 23× fewer errors than comparison browser agents. Those figures are vendor-reported, not independently verified results. Test your own tasks, including failed attempts and retries, before using the session-cost example or performance figures to estimate production cost.
Browser Use
Browser Use fits you if you want an open-source, task-running agent and can build your own outcome checks. You can use its agent to carry out browser tasks, then verify the outcome in your application before marking a workflow complete.
Browser Use pricing lists cloud browsers at $0.02 per browser-hour, with agent charges based on model cost plus 20%. Browser time and traffic add to that amount, and browser billing has a one-minute minimum. In Browser Use’s example, $1 of model usage becomes $1.20 before browser time or traffic. A failed attempt that consumes model calls and browser time raises your cost per verified completion, even if a retry succeeds.
If your workflow reuses Chrome profiles locally, test whether profile state persists and sessions reconnect as expected. A closed Browser Use issue documents an example of those integration problems, not a current failure rate. Record retry charges and verify the task outcome in your production comparison.
Skyvern
Skyvern fits workflows that encounter unfamiliar or frequently changing interfaces. Its task-running agent uses vision models to interpret page layouts and choose actions without relying solely on fixed selectors. You can also use Playwright selectors for predictable steps and fall back to AI when a selector fails. For a form that changes its button placement, that choice lets you test whether the AI fallback preserves completion rates without using it on every step.
Skyvern’s pricing uses credits rather than a published price per verified completion. The Free plan includes 5,000 credits and estimates about 170 actions. Hobby costs $29 per month for 30,000 credits and about 1,200 estimated actions, while Pro costs $149 per month for 150,000 credits and about 6,200 estimated actions. Those action estimates do not show how many full workflows finish successfully. In a matched test, record credits, model-token consumption, retries, and verified outcomes. Pages that require more interpretation or repeated attempts can change the cost of a finished task.
Skyvern lists stored credentials on Hobby, 2FA/TOTP and 1Password on Pro, and a SOC-2 report on Enterprise. If you plan to self-host or distribute a modified version, review the core repository’s AGPL-3.0 license with counsel as part of your adoption decision.
Browserbase
Browserbase fits teams that want managed cloud browsers and an integrated agent SDK. Stagehand supplies browser actions and agent execution, while Browserbase runs the cloud sessions. Stagehand can also run with a local browser, so you can use the SDK without Browserbase infrastructure. Stagehand’s documentation describes both options.
Browserbase’s pricing includes separate allowances for browser hours and agent runs. Free includes one browser hour and three agent runs. Developer costs $20 per month and includes 100 browser hours and 15 agent runs, with additional browser time at $0.12 per hour. Startup costs $99 per month and includes 500 browser hours and 50 agent runs, with additional browser time at $0.10 per hour. Proxy use and model-gateway charges can add to the bill, so browser-hour rates alone cannot represent an agent workflow’s cost.
Browserbase provides replays and logs that you can use to inspect failed runs. For longer workflows, Stagehand’s keepAlive setting can preserve a cloud session after the application closes or crashes, allowing you to reconnect using its session ID. The public pricing page does not disclose enough about charges for additional agent runs to calculate a verified cost per completed workflow. You would need billing data and completion results from your own workload to make that calculation.
Steel
Steel provides browser infrastructure for developers who want control over the automation tools they use on top of it. Steel also offers self-hosting. You supply the agent logic that decides what to do in each browser session.
Steel’s published pricing lists Launch at $0 per month plus usage, with $30 in one-time credits. Launch charges $0.10 per browser-hour, $10 per GB of proxy bandwidth, $3 per 1,000 CAPTCHA solves, and $5 per 1,000 scrape calls. It allows 10 concurrent sessions, each lasting up to 15 minutes. Scale costs $250 per month plus usage and includes $100 in monthly credits. Its rates are $0.08 per browser-hour, $6 per GB of proxy bandwidth, $1 per 1,000 CAPTCHA solves, and $5 per 1,000 scrape calls. Scale allows 100 concurrent sessions lasting up to one hour. Enterprise offers custom rates and 1,000 or more concurrent sessions, alongside reserved pools and support and uptime agreements.
Steel’s rates do not cover the model or agent orchestration you choose. To calculate cost per verified completed workflow, add those costs to browser and usage charges across successful attempts, failures, and retries, then divide by the number of completed workflows.
Mastra: an adjacent framework, not a substitute
Mastra belongs outside the ranked browser-provider comparison because it supplies agent logic rather than managed browsers. Its TypeScript framework provides agents, workflows, memory, and observability. You can pair Mastra with Anchor’s browser infrastructure when an agent needs to navigate a site or complete a browser task.
Mastra’s open-source framework can be used without a framework license fee, but connected models and browser tools may have separate charges. A framework price therefore cannot be compared directly with a browser-hour or credit rate. For a Mastra-based workflow, include those model and browser charges, along with failed attempts and retries, when calculating cost per verified completion.
Choose a stack by workload
- Choose Browser Use for task-running agent experiments when you can build your own outcome checks and retry handling. Its agent pricing adds model cost, browser time, and traffic, so the low browser-hour rate does not predict the cost of a finished task.
- Choose Skyvern when unfamiliar or changing interfaces make fixed selectors hard to maintain. Its vision-based agent can interpret page layouts, but you should measure token use and completion rates on your pages.
- Choose Browserbase when you want managed browsers and agent tooling in one stack. Browser hours and agent runs appear as separate pricing units, so test their combined cost.
- Choose Steel when you want control over browser infrastructure and agent orchestration. Add your chosen agent’s model costs, retries, and Steel’s usage charges before comparing completed workflows.
- Choose Anchor for authenticated enterprise workflows, stealth-sensitive browsing, or high-scale launches. OmniConnect manages login state, while Anchor Chromium, humanized browser behavior, proxy and network options, and Web Unlocker support browser access without guaranteeing it. Anchor’s managed fleet and task execution give you a way to test those needs together.
Run the same authorized workflows on your shortlisted providers. Count every failed attempt and retry in billable spend, then divide by independently verified completions. Published prices use different units and cannot settle the choice on their own.
FAQs
Is browser-hour pricing or token pricing cheaper overall? Neither rate settles the question. Browser Use charges for model usage, browser time, and applicable traffic, so you need to measure all three on the same workflow. Compare total spend per verified completion, not individual rates.
Can a provider guarantee bypassing bot detection? No. Browser behavior, network options, and site protections can affect access, but a successful run on one site does not guarantee access on another. Test authorized workflows against the sites you need.
How should failed retries count? Include every billable attempt in total spend, then divide by independently verified completions. Record failures and human recovery separately so a low per-attempt price does not hide repeated work.
Can Mastra replace a browser-infrastructure provider? No. Mastra handles agent logic and workflows. A browser provider supplies the sessions that execute browser actions, and you can use the two together.
Are vendor-reported performance multiples reliable on their own? Treat them as claims to test. Anchor reports 12× speed, 80× fewer tokens, and 23× fewer errors, but those figures do not establish results for your workload. Run matched tasks and measure completions, retries, tokens, and time.
The takeaway
Shortlist providers by the layer your workflow needs, then run matched, authorized tasks with the same acceptance criteria. Compare spend per verified completion alongside recovery effort and your security requirements. Repeat the test when prices or website behavior change.
