Keywords AI

Stagehand vs Steel

Compare Stagehand and Steel side by side. Both are tools in the Browser Agents category.

Quick Comparison

	Stagehand	Steel
Category	Browser Agents	Browser Agents
Pricing	Open Source	—
Best For	Developers who want an open-source framework for building reliable AI browser interactions	—
Website	github.com	steel.dev
Key Features	AI web interaction framework Natural language selectors Built on Playwright Vision and DOM understanding Open-source by Browserbase	—
Use Cases	Building reliable browser automation AI-powered web testing Web scraping with natural language Form interaction and data extraction Web workflow automation	—

When to Choose Stagehand vs Steel

Choose Stagehand if you need

Building reliable browser automation
AI-powered web testing
Web scraping with natural language

Pricing: Open Source

How to Choose a Browser Agents Tool

Key criteria to evaluate when comparing Browser Agents solutions:

ReliabilityHow consistently the agent completes tasks without getting stuck or making errors.

Website compatibilityAbility to handle dynamic sites, SPAs, authentication, and CAPTCHAs.

Cloud infrastructureManaged browser infrastructure vs requiring your own browser instances.

Developer experienceQuality of APIs, SDKs, and debugging tools for building browser automation.

Security modelSandboxing, credential handling, and data isolation between sessions.

About Stagehand

Stagehand is an open-source framework by Browserbase for building browser automation agents with natural language. Built on Playwright, it allows developers to write web automations using AI-powered actions like "click the login button" and "extract the price." Stagehand bridges the gap between traditional browser automation and AI agent capabilities.

View Stagehand profile →Visit website

About Steel

Steel is an open-source browser API and sandbox designed for AI agents. It provides managed browser sessions with authentication persistence, anti-detection, and debugging tools, handling the infrastructure complexity of running browsers at scale for autonomous AI workflows.

View Steel profile →Visit website

What is Browser Agents?

AI agents and infrastructure for autonomously navigating web browsers—clicking, typing, scraping, and completing multi-step web tasks for testing and automation.

Browse all Browser Agents tools →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a browser agent?▾

A browser agent is an AI that can autonomously control a web browser — navigating pages, clicking buttons, filling forms, and extracting information. Unlike traditional scrapers, browser agents can handle dynamic websites and make decisions.

How reliable are browser agents?▾

Reliability varies by task complexity. Simple, well-defined tasks are highly reliable. Complex multi-step tasks across unfamiliar websites still have meaningful failure rates. The technology is improving rapidly.