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Steel
Steel is an open-source browser API that lets developers control cloud browser sessions for AI agents and web automation.
Steel is an open-source browser API and infrastructure designed for AI agents and web automation. It allows developers to control fleets of browsers in the cloud using a simple API. The platform provides built-in CAPTCHA solving, proxy and browser fingerprinting controls, and session viewers to debug live or recorded sessions. Users can run sessions for up to 24 hours, manage and reuse context by saving and injecting cookies, and connect via a one-line change to Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium. It integrates with Python and Node.js, and can be self-hosted via Docker or run locally.
Steel at a glance
- Best for: Software engineer
- Runs on: API, self-hosted, open source
- Pricing: Free plan with $30 credits; Launch plan with usage; Scale plan $250/month; Enterprise custom pricing
- Released: November 2024
- Category: AI agent tool
- Website: steel.dev
Key features
- Sessions API for cloud browser control
- Auto CAPTCHA solving
- Proxy and browser fingerprinting
- Long sessions up to 24 hours
- Cookie and local storage management
- Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium integration
- Session viewer for live or recorded debugging
- Self-hosted deployment via Docker
Use it for
- Build fully autonomous web agents
- Run large-scale scrape jobs
- Create AI shopping assistants
- Automate sales and customer service workflows
Companions
Tools that articles about Steel recommend using with it, each with its job.
- Playwright — Hand-coded automation for the fixed, high-volume parts.
- Ollama — Any OpenAI-compatible local model, at no cost per task.
- LangChain — Compose exactly the agent your use case needs from model, tools, prompt, and middleware.
- CrewAI — Gives CrewAI agents a real browser.
- n8n — Self-hostable automation with code allowed in any step
- Claude Code — Terminal-first agent that handles multi-hour refactors and migrations
Companion to
Tools whose articles name Steel as a companion, each with its job for them.
Alternatives to Steel
- WebBrain — Runs locally or in the cloud with your choice of LLM and zero telemetry.
- BrowserOS — Runs entirely locally and lets AI agents use real user logins to complete tasks.
- Cloudbrowser — It gives every AI agent an isolated, persistent Chrome browser with saved login states.
- Moli — A lightweight, structure-first browser engine with low memory usage.
- Webwright — Enables code-based web automation with reusable and rerunnable scripts.
- browser-control — Shell-native design with stable element refs and no LLM or framework requirement.
- Composio — Equips AI agents with tools, managed user auth, and sandboxes across 1,500+ apps
- Lightpanda — Lower memory footprint and faster execution than Chrome for automated workflows.
- Dev Browser — Persistent browser tabs keep state across scripts so agents do not restart.
- Browser Use — Managed remote browsers built for protected sites at $0.02 an hour.
- Firecrawl — Provides direct web data access for AI agents with open source flexibility.
- Pw Repl — Shares a single browser session between users and AI agents in real time.
All Steel alternatives