Scraping API PricesAll products / Kernel
Kernel pricing
How Kernel bills active browser compute, what its pricing page and documentation leave unresolved, and which teams fit.
published session-time meter only
Fixed for this page; volume is the control.Every available option was priced in advance from published vendor rules. Changing a control only switches between those checked options; nothing is sent anywhere and no account is needed.
Your job
What Kernel counts
Nothing to count: Kernel publishes no rate for metered browser session time. Its 1 published billing meter prices other work.
What you pay
Successes you want
200 browser hours
Your stated workload. Every vendor on this site is priced against this same number.
- ÷ 1
Attempts you are billed for
200 browser hours
Kernel bills failed fetches. This workload assumes none fail, so nothing is added here.
- ∅
Cash per month
Not comparable here
no published rate for browser.session_time
Bars share one linear scale across the 2 counted stages, so a multiplier shows as length. Units differ by stage and are labelled. Cash is not on that scale.
Not comparable. This product publishes no rate for this kind of work.
no published rate for browser.session_time
This is a finding about what Kernel publishes, not a gap in the data. It stays visible so a definitive market claim cannot quietly ignore it.
Published exact bills for comparable products
Same 200 metered browser-session hours a month, excluding separate proxy and model charges, ranked by what you would actually be billed. Unknown totals never enter the numeric order.
Every Kernel plan
| Plan | Monthly | If billed yearly | Prepaid pack | Included | Simultaneous sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobbyist | $30.00 | n/a | n/a | 10 usd | 10 |
| Start-Up | $200.00 | n/a | n/a | 50 usd | 150 |
What consumes a unit
This is where a bill actually grows. One operation is not one billed unit, and the multiplier is published here rather than on the pricing page.
| Operation | Costs | Per | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| compute.unit | 0.0000166667 usd | not published | source |
What Kernel does not publish
- The pricing page and docs disagree on whether the headless rate is per GB-second or per browser-second.
- The memory allocation used to turn a browser-second into a GB-second for an ordinary on-demand session is not published.
- compute.unit remains per null: the source billing unit is one GB-second, but gb-second is outside the validator's closed per.unit vocabulary; browser_second would omit the GB memory component. Source: https://www.kernel.sh/pricing (retrieved 2026-07-26).
What Kernel is
Kernel provides cloud browsers and a serverless application platform for browser automation and agents. It is aimed at development teams that need on-demand or reserved browsers, persistent sessions, replays, and deployable automation code. Browserbase, Browserless, and Anchor Browser are the nearest named competitors. Kernel’s pricing distinction is active browser compute measured as a resource-time unit, while the subscription level governs included usage credit, concurrency, retention, and platform features. Sources: Kernel pricing, Kernel pricing and limits documentation, Kernel documentation, Browserbase pricing, Browserless pricing, and Anchor Browser, retrieved 2026-07-26.
How billing works
The current public pricing page describes the usage unit as a gigabyte-second of active browser compute. Both memory allocation and active duration therefore multiply usage. Kernel says it does not add a proxy charge or charge for idle time under that model. Reserved browser pools can add storage while idle. The subscription includes a monetary usage credit, then active usage continues against the compute meter. The common buying mistake is to convert the rate directly into a browser hour without knowing the browser’s billable memory allocation. An hour is not a complete unit when the billing unit also includes gigabytes. Sources: Kernel pricing and Kernel pricing and limits documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26.
What Kernel does not publish clearly
- One reconciled meter name. The pricing page describes a gigabyte-second, while the documentation table labels headless and headful rates per browser-second. Sources reviewed: Kernel pricing and Kernel pricing and limits documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26.
- The ordinary on-demand browser memory allocation needed to convert a browser-second into a gigabyte-second. Sources reviewed: Kernel pricing and Kernel documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26.
- A success-only rule. Active compute consumed before a navigation or task failure remains resource usage. Source reviewed: Kernel pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26.
- A public fixed enterprise rate for custom concurrency and controls. Source reviewed: Kernel pricing, retrieved 2026-07-26.
Who it suits
Kernel suits teams that want browser compute, persistent sessions, and deployable automation on one platform and can observe both memory and active time. It may suit workflows with meaningful idle periods if the no-idle-charge rule applies to their browser mode. It is less suitable for procurement that requires a clean browser-hour comparison before a call, because the public unit descriptions conflict and the memory conversion is not published. Sources: Kernel pricing, Kernel pricing and limits documentation, and Kernel documentation, retrieved 2026-07-26.
Answer
What Kernel costs, what it publishes, and what it does not. Every figure sourced and dated.
Recorded 2026-07-25 from the vendor's own pricing page.We could not confirm this price in the latest check, so it remains visible for context but cannot lead a price ranking. Check the vendor's pricing page before buying.