Overview

Steel is an open-source browser API for controlling browser fleets in the cloud, with an option to self-host. The Sessions API starts browser sessions on demand, while stateless Browser Tools handle page scraping, screenshots, and PDF generation through individual calls. That split is useful for teams that need both longer interactive browser workflows and smaller, discrete browser tasks.

Steel supports Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium, plus integrations including Browser Use, OpenAI Agents, Claude Computer Use, Gemini Computer Use, Stagehand, and CrewAI. Teams can choose established automation libraries or connect browser capability to agent workflows. Language support is multiple, but Steel supports one browser engine, a constraint for teams that need to target several engines.

Key features

Sessions and browser control

Sessions can preserve browser context, support live viewing, and provide recorded-session debugging. Those capabilities can help with workflows that need persistent state and with diagnosing automation failures. Sessions run for up to 24 hours depending on plan: Launch is capped at 15 minutes, Scale at one hour, and Enterprise at 24 hours. Launch and Scale therefore fit short tasks better than long-running browser jobs.

Tools for difficult web tasks

Steel provides managed residential proxies, proxy rotation, and CAPTCHA solving, with availability and pricing dependent on plan. These options suit web tasks that need proxy or CAPTCHA handling, but they are not a uniform entitlement across plans. Proxy and browser fingerprinting controls add further control over browser behavior.

The Credentials API encrypts stored credentials and injects them into sessions without exposing sensitive fields to agents or viewers. That is a useful design for agent workflows handling authenticated sites, while teams should weigh it alongside the plan's security and compliance provisions.

Pricing

Steel uses a freemium model with a free plan and paid plans from $250/mo. All plan prices are per month plus usage, so the base subscription is not the full cost of a workload.

Plan	Price	What it fits
Launch	0.00 USD per free; billed monthly, per month plus usage; $30 credits one time	Short sessions and initial development. Its 15-minute session limit and one-time credit make it a constrained starting point rather than a long-term allowance.
Scale	250.00 USD per month; billed monthly, per month plus usage; $100 credits per month	Teams needing longer sessions and recurring credits. Sessions are limited to one hour, so it is not the tier for workflows that must stay open longer.
Enterprise	Custom pricing; per month plus usage; 1,000+ concurrent browser sessions	High-concurrency deployments and sessions up to 24 hours. Scale and Enterprise include Enterprise SSO and a HIPAA-ready BAA.

There is no free trial. The free Launch plan offers a way to begin without a subscription, but its one-time $30 credits and short session cap limit how much sustained use it can support. Scale adds $100 credits per month and a one-hour session limit; its $250.00 monthly price plus usage is best suited to workloads that justify a paid baseline. Enterprise has custom pricing, with the stated capacity of 1,000+ concurrent sessions and the longest session duration.

Platforms

Steel is available through an API, on the web, and as a self-hosted deployment. Cloud and self-hosted deployment options let teams choose between managed browser execution and operating the deployment themselves. Its integration set spans Python and Node.js alongside the browser libraries and agent tools.

Support channels include email, community, and documentation. Steel is open source and lists SSO SAML and HIPAA among its compliance attributes; Scale and Enterprise include Enterprise SSO and a HIPAA-ready BAA.

Who it's for

Steel fits teams building AI agents, model training workflows, AI shopping assistants, web scraping, RPA, sales automation, QA, or customer service agents. It is most compelling when a project benefits from reusable browser context, session viewing or replay, or established automation-library integrations. Teams with long-running sessions should plan for Enterprise, while those needing multiple browser engines should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

Pros: Open-source code and self-hosted deployment give teams an alternative to using only managed cloud sessions.
Pros: Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium support plus agent integrations accommodate different browser automation stacks.
Pros: Saved context, live viewing, and recorded-session debugging support stateful workflows and troubleshooting.
Pros: The Credentials API encrypts credentials and avoids exposing sensitive fields to agents or viewers.
Cons: Launch sessions stop at 15 minutes and Scale at one hour, making long-running tasks dependent on Enterprise.
Cons: Scale starts at 250.00 USD per month plus usage, and Enterprise has custom pricing, so sustained use requires budget planning.
Cons: Steel supports one browser engine, which limits fit for teams requiring multi-engine coverage.

Alternatives

Browser Automation Tools is a directory category for comparing browser automation options. For a free plan with a stated cap of one concurrent browser and 15 minutes per session, consider BrowserCloud; its entry also shows a $19.00 monthly Hobby plan.

Kameleo is another freemium option, with platforms spanning mobile, desktop, API, extension, and web. Airtop is worth considering for its free plan with three simultaneous sessions and a free trial. For a free tier with 5K credits per month and 1GB included monthly, consider Bright Data Browser API; its pay-as-you-go plan is 8.00 USD per month, billed at $8 /GB.

Browserbase has a free plan with three concurrent browsers, one browser hour, and a 15-minute session cap, making its stated free allocation an alternative to Steel's one-time Launch credits. BrowserCat offers a free Hobby plan with 1,000 credits per month and 1,000 concurrent requests. Cloudflare Browser Run and Floppydata Cloud Browser are additional alternatives.

Verdict

Choose Steel if your team needs an open-source browser API that can run self-hosted or in the cloud, and values both established automation libraries and agent integrations. Its session features and credential handling make it a strong fit for stateful browser workflows. Look elsewhere if a one-hour Scale limit is too short, a single browser engine is insufficient, or the $250.00 monthly Scale price plus usage does not suit the workload.

	Steel	Watir
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	$250/mo	Free
Open source	Yes	No
Platforms	api, self-hosted, Web	Linux, macOS, Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	250 /mo	—
Browser engines	one	multiple
Language support	multiple	javascript
Cloud execution	Yes	No
Self-hosted option	Yes	Yes

Steel vs Watir

Steel

Watir