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BrowserForHire vs Browserbase

Stagehand-compatible cloud browsers with per-request billing and an Apache-2.0 self-host image. Built for AI agents and high-volume automation.

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Why teams switch from Browserbase

Browserbase nailed the AI-agent narrative and Stagehand is a great SDK. Where they leave teams stuck: hourly browser-hour billing inflates costs on long-running agents, there is no self-host option for compliance-bound buyers, and the Search API depends on Exa rather than a proprietary index. We match the Stagehand SDK shape, bill per request, ship a self-host image, and publish a weekly anti-bot success-rate dashboard.

Side-by-side

Feature	BrowserForHire	Browserbase
Pricing unit	Per request (≤30s)	Per browser-hour
Free tier	1,000 credits/mo	1 browser-hour/mo
Self-host	Apache-2.0 Docker image	Cloud-only
Stagehand	Compatibility mode	Native (their SDK)
MCP server		Partial
Public success-rate dashboard
Multi-vendor anti-bot rotation		Single stack
LangChain / Vercel AI SDK adapters
Director / no-code agent builder	Roadmap
Persistent sessions
Connect URL	Standard CDP/WS	Standard CDP/WS
SOC2	Type II in audit	Type II

Sourced from Browserbase's public pricing and documentation as of 2026-04-26 — see https://www.browserbase.com for the latest.

Pricing TL;DR

Browserbase: free 1 browser-hour, $20/mo Developer (100 hours), $99/mo Startup (~500 hours), then custom. We: free 1,000 credits, $29/mo Starter (20,000 credits, ~~30s each), $99/mo Growth (100,000 credits). Long-running AI agents typically cost 30–50% less per task on credits because short tool calls don't waste hourly buckets.

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Migration is one line

Swap the Stagehand connect URL. Everything else stays the same.

Migration diffStagehand

- new Stagehand({ env: 'BROWSERBASE', apiKey: BB_KEY })
+ new Stagehand({ env: 'CUSTOM', browserWSEndpoint: 'wss://cloud.browserforhire.com?token=' + BFH_KEY })

FAQ

Will my Stagehand code work without changes?+

Yes. Pass env: 'CUSTOM' and our connect URL. The Stagehand surface (act/extract/observe) maps to our gateway transparently.

Why does per-request billing matter for agents?+

Real AI agents take many short tool calls (1–10 seconds each), interspersed with model thinking time. Hourly billing charges you for the gaps — per-request only charges for actual browser work.

Can I keep using Director-style flows?+

Today, no. Director-equivalent visual builder is on our Q3 roadmap. If that's your primary need, stay on Browserbase for now and migrate when ours ships.

What about compliance?+

We have a SOC2 Type II audit in progress, GDPR-ready DPA, HIPAA on Enterprise. The self-host image is the strongest answer for buyers whose security team will not allow shared cloud infrastructure.

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Free 1,000 credits. No credit card. Migrate in one line.

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