Browserbase vs Browserless

Decision boundary: for browser time without built-in proxy traffic or CAPTCHA solving, the recurring free tiers tie at one whole hour. Browserless is lower from 2 through 8 hours, Browserbase from 9 through 141, Browserless from 142 through 191, and Browserbase from 192 through 1,099. The bills tie at 1,100 hours, then Browserless is lower from 1,101 through 2,067, Browserbase from 2,068 through 3,009, the bills tie at 3,010, Browserless is lower from 3,011 through 5,612, and Browserbase is lower from 5,613 through the tested 10,000-hour range. These flips use Browserbase monthly prices and Browserless effective monthly prices under annual billing. (Browserbase pricing, Browserless pricing, Browserless unit consumption, retrieved 2026-07-26)

The calculation converts one continuous browser hour into 120 Browserless Units because Browserless deducts one Unit for every started 30 seconds. It then chooses the least costly published plan plus overage at each volume. Browserbase uses its included browser hours and hour overage. Many short sessions can move the result because Browserless rounds each session upward to a 30-second increment, while Browserbase applies a one-minute minimum to each created session. (Browserless unit consumption, Browserbase cost optimization, retrieved 2026-07-26)

Billing models side by side

Browserbase keeps product allowances separate. Free includes one browser hour. Developer costs $20 for 100 browser hours and then $0.12 per hour. Startup costs $99 for 500 browser hours and then $0.10 per hour. Search, Fetch, Extract, Agent runs, and proxy bandwidth have their own included quantities or overage meters and do not automatically draw from unused browser hours. (Browserbase pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)

Browserless uses one Unit balance for browser time and selected additions. Free includes 1,000 Units. Under annual billing, Prototyping is $25 for 20,000 Units with $0.002-per-Unit overage, Starter is $140 for 180,000 with $0.0017 overage, and Scale is $350 for 500,000 with $0.0015 overage. Built-in residential traffic adds six Units per MB, datacenter traffic adds two, and each documented CAPTCHA attempt adds ten. (Browserless pricing, Browserless unit consumption, retrieved 2026-07-26)

Elapsed time remains an infrastructure meter rather than a completed-task meter. Browserless charges time while a session is open, including idle time within the increment. Browserbase documents a minimum per created session and advises explicit session reuse or cleanup. The hour boundary therefore says nothing about how many pages either platform completes. (Browserless unit consumption, Browserbase cost optimization, retrieved 2026-07-26)

What each provides that the other does not

Browserbase is the only one of this pair whose reviewed plan separates browser hours from included Agent runs, Search calls, Fetch calls, Extract calls, model access, and proxy gigabytes. It also exposes Stagehand, identity features, observability, and a six-hour published maximum browser-session duration. (Browserbase pricing, Browserbase timeout documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26)

Browserless is the only one of this pair whose reviewed self-serve balance directly combines browser time, built-in proxy traffic, and CAPTCHA attempts. It also offers BrowserQL, multiple browser engines on the free plan, screen recording on paid plans, and enterprise licensed self-hosting or private deployment. (Browserless pricing, Browserless unit consumption, retrieved 2026-07-26)

Who should pick which

Pick by the applicable hour band only for long-session, no-proxy browser time. Choose Browserbase when its lower band and separate Search, Fetch, Extract, Agent, or identity allowances fit. Choose Browserless when its current band is lower and a shared Unit balance for time, proxy traffic, and CAPTCHA handling is useful. Add megabytes and solve attempts before buying Browserless, and model created-session count before buying either product. (Browserbase pricing, Browserless pricing, Browserless unit consumption, retrieved 2026-07-26)

Browserless monthly-billing prices were not obtainable in the reviewed public text, so its annual effective amounts are labeled rather than treated as month-to-month. Its pricing page and unit documentation also conflict on whether CAPTCHA billing applies to successful solves or all attempts. Browserbase does not publish a fixed Agent-run overage. (Browserless pricing, Browserless unit consumption, Browserbase pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26)