Steel
Open-source browser infrastructure for AI agents via a simple developer API
💬 What is Steel?
Steel is an open-source browser-as-a-service API that lets developers spin up and control fleets of cloud browser sessions for AI agents and web automation. It provides on-demand session creation, built-in CAPTCHA solving, proxy and browser fingerprinting controls, and sessions that can run up to 24 hours. Developers can drop into Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium with a one-line change and reuse cookies, local storage, and authentication context across sessions. A live Session Viewer offers observability and debugging for running and recorded sessions. It targets teams building autonomous web agents, large-scale scrapers, RPA workflows, and AI shopping or customer-service tools.
Who it's for
Best for: Developer teams of 1–20 engineers building AI web agents, scrapers, and RPA workflows
- Autonomous AI web agents
- Large-scale web scraping for model training
- AI shopping assistants
- Sales automation and lead enrichment
- QA test automation in the cloud
Pros & cons
- Open-source browser API with SDK
- Sub-1-second session start in the same region
- Sessions supported up to 24 hours
- Built-in CAPTCHA solving and fingerprinting controls
- Drop-in support for Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium
- Specific pricing tiers and limits are not shown on the homepage
- Session duration is capped at 24 hours
- Fastest session start times are limited to clients in the same region
Key features
- On-demand cloud browser sessions via Sessions API
- Built-in automated CAPTCHA solving
- Proxy and browser fingerprinting controls to avoid bot detection
- Long-running sessions up to 24 hours
- Cookie and local storage persistence and injection across sessions
- One-line integration with Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium
- Live Session Viewer for observing and debugging sessions
- Auto sign-in for auth-walled websites and apps
Pricing
Prices listed on the Steel pricing page: $250/mo
Source: steel.dev pricing page. Price checked 2026-10-02. Confirm current plans before buying.
💬 Community sentiment (from public reviews)
No third-party reviews found yet. Grade reflects our 27% verification confidence.
💬 Steel user reviews (0)
Write a reviewNo reviews yet. Be the first to review!
Trust & safety
Badge for Steel
OptionalListing is free and never requires a link. If steel.dev links back to this page, the listing earns Partner perks: a higher category rank, a Partner badge on its card, and an ad-free direct “Visit” link. Use any link attributes you like — rel="nofollow" is fine.
Frequently asked
What is Steel?
Steel is an open-source browser infrastructure API that runs cloud browser sessions for AI agents and web automation.
Does Steel work with Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium?
Yes. The site says existing scripts can be moved to Steel with a one-line change to launch Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium in the cloud.
How long can a session run?
Each session can run up to 24 hours according to the product page.
Does Steel handle CAPTCHAs and bot detection?
Yes. Steel includes automated CAPTCHA solving and proxy/fingerprinting controls designed to keep automations from being flagged.