Browserless

Browserless is a managed browser automation platform for scraping, screenshots, PDFs, and AI-agent workflows with Puppeteer, Playwright, REST, BrowserQL, or MCP.

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Overview

Browserless is a browser automation platform that provides managed browser infrastructure for Puppeteer, Playwright, REST, BrowserQL, and MCP-based workflows. It is built for teams that need to run real browsers reliably in production without maintaining the browser fleet themselves.

The platform centers on a shared managed runtime with browser sessions, stealth features, CAPTCHA solving, persistent state, and regional endpoints. It supports cloud use as well as self-hosted deployment, so teams can choose the control plane that fits their workflow and infrastructure requirements.

Core capabilities

Multiple ways to drive the same runtime

Use BrowserQL, Puppeteer, Playwright, REST APIs, or MCP against the same managed browser runtime, depending on the workflow and the amount of control you need.

Managed browser fleet

Run against managed Chromium, Chrome, Firefox, and WebKit instances that are kept patched, isolated, and ready to launch across the platform’s supported regions.

Session persistence and authenticated profiles

Keep browser state across requests with persistent sessions, authenticated profiles, cookies, local storage, and indexedDB so repeated logins are not required every run.

Anti-bot and proxy controls

Use built-in stealth features, CAPTCHA solving, and residential proxy routing to handle blocked pages and anti-bot checks from the runtime layer.

REST tools for common browser tasks

Generate screenshots, PDFs, and content extraction results through REST endpoints, including paths such as `/screenshot`, `/pdf`, `/crawl`, and `/smart-scrape`.

Flexible deployment options

Deploy in managed cloud or self-hosted mode, including open-source and licensed enterprise builds for environments that need their own infrastructure.

Practical ways teams use Browserless

Run existing automation in production
Connect existing Puppeteer or Playwright code to a hosted browser runtime instead of maintaining your own browser servers, updates, and scaling layer.
Handle one-off scraping and page rendering
Extract content, take screenshots, or generate PDFs through REST endpoints when you want browser output without adding a browser library to the calling service.
Support browser-based AI agents
Give an AI agent a browser that can keep state across turns, sign in once, and work through multi-step tasks with MCP or agent-oriented browser access.
Reuse login state across sessions
Use authenticated profiles to store cookies and other authentication state so repeated automation runs can start already signed in.
Run browser workloads in self-hosted environments
Deploy on your own infrastructure when you need data sovereignty, air-gapped operation, or tighter control over browser execution.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Supports several access patterns, including BrowserQL, Puppeteer, Playwright, REST APIs, and MCP.
Offers a managed browser fleet with stateful sessions, stealth features, and CAPTCHA solving.
Includes REST endpoints for screenshots, PDFs, scraping, and related browser tasks.
Provides cloud, managed, and self-hosted deployment options.
Publishes a clear usage-based pricing model with a free plan and enterprise path.

Cons

The source does not provide a full, page-by-page list of all API limits or operational constraints.
Some advanced capabilities are only described at a high level, so buyers may still need to confirm fit for their specific workflow.

FAQ

What does Browserless do?

Browserless provides a managed browser runtime and APIs for tasks such as scraping, automation, screenshots, PDFs, and AI-agent browser access. It also supports self-hosted deployment for teams that need to run the same APIs on their own infrastructure.

Does Browserless have a free plan?

The source shows a free plan with 1,000 units per month and no credit card required. Paid plans and enterprise pricing are also available, with enterprise options for private deployments or licensed self-hosting.

Do I need to rewrite my automation code?

Yes. The platform is designed to work with existing Puppeteer and Playwright code through connection-based workflows, and the site also documents REST APIs and MCP-based access for other use cases.

Can I self-host Browserless?

Browserless offers managed cloud, self-hosted, and enterprise deployment options. The self-hosted path is intended for teams that want to run the same APIs inside their own VPC, on-premises, or in air-gapped environments.

How does unit-based pricing work?

The pricing page defines a unit as a block of browser time of up to 30 seconds per browser connection, with longer runs using additional units. Reconnects count as new connections and incur a fresh unit charge.