{"data":{"slug":"steel","name":"Steel","tagline":"Apache-2.0 browser API for AI agents — self-host or cloud","category":"agents","categoryName":"AI Agents","url":"https://steel.dev","github":"https://github.com/steel-dev/steel-browser","pricing":"open-source","hook":"Steel is the open-source browser API for agents: sessions, CDP, stealth, and scrape helpers without owning Chromium ops.","whatsGood":"Apache-2.0 (steel-dev/steel-browser). Docker one-liner for API+UI; Puppeteer/Playwright/Selenium over CDP; session state, proxies, extensions, markdown/screenshot/PDF helpers. Cloud at steel.dev when you do not want to run Chrome fleets. Built for agent automation, not generic SEO scrapers only.","theCatch":"Vs Browserbase (managed fleet), Stagehand (AI Playwright layer), Browser Use (LLM browser framework): Steel is the browser sandbox/API — bring your own agent logic. Self-host means Chrome resource cost; cloud is freemium/paid convenience. Anti-bot arms race still applies.","verdict":"Apache-2.0 agent browser API. Self-host Steel; pay Browserbase-shaped cloud only if you must.","addedAt":"2026-09-14","featured":false,"domain":"AI Agents","subSpecialty":"Browser Automation","subcategory":"Browser Automation","tags":["api","self-host","permissive","browser-automation","scraping","active"],"capabilities":["browser","api","agents"],"surfaces":["API","Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Node.js","Browser","Multi-platform"],"licenseModel":"Apache-2.0","githubStars":7835,"starsPerWeek":76,"access":"free","archived":false,"repo":{"createdAt":"2024-11-01","pushedAt":"2026-10-19","license":"Apache-2.0","archived":false,"checkedAt":"2026-10-19"}},"related":[{"slug":"claude-code","name":"Claude Code","tagline":"Terminal-first coding agent with deep repository context"},{"slug":"cursor","name":"Cursor","tagline":"The AI-first code editor that understands your codebase"},{"slug":"devin","name":"Devin","tagline":"Autonomous AI engineer for defined engineering tasks"},{"slug":"stagehand","name":"Stagehand","tagline":"AI-native browser automation that mixes code and natural language"},{"slug":"browser-use","name":"Browser Use","tagline":"Open-source framework for LLM-driven browser agents"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/steel","html":"/gems/steel","markdown":"/gems/steel.md","category":"/api/gems?category=agents","categoryPage":"/stacks/agents"}}