# Anchor Browser

Cloud Chromium browser service for AI agents, controlled over CDP or REST, with proxies, captcha solving, recordings and managed logins.

- Provider: Anchor (https://anchorbrowser.io)
- Category: Drive a browser
- Type: Hosted browser
- Pricing model: Usage-based per browser creation, browser hour, proxy GB and AI step; monthly plans with credits [1]
- Free tier: $5 free credits a month, up to 5 concurrent browsers [1]
- Authentication: API key in the `anchor-api-key` header; OAuth sign-in for the MCP server [4]
- Connect via: REST API, CDP (Playwright, Puppeteer), hosted MCP servers, SDKs (npm, PyPI) [3]
- Read from the provider's pages on 2026-11-04
- Page: https://supermarket.dev/tools/drive-a-browser/anchor-browser

## Pricing

### Billing
- Pricing model: Pay per use for browser sessions you drive yourself (creation, browser hour, proxy GB, AI steps); flat credits per Automation Task run; monthly plans with overage at $1.00 per credit [1]
- Free tier: $5 free credits a month; up to 5 concurrent browsers; 5 session creations per minute [1]
- Card required for free tier: Not published
- Minimum spend: Free plan $0; Starter $50 a month; Growth $2000 a month; Enterprise custom [1]
- Billing period: Monthly [2]

### Prices
Per browser-hour: $0.05 browser usage only; proxy, creation ($0.01 per browser) and AI steps are billed separately. Automation Task runs are 0.1 credits ($0.10) per run instead.
- Browser usage ($ per browser-hour): $0.05 per browser-hour, billed to the nearest full minute [1]
- Browser creation: $0.01 per browser [1]
- Anchor Proxy: $8 per GB; $0.2 per GB egress with your own proxy or proxyless [1]
- AI steps: $0.01 (Light), $0.05 (Standard) or $0.10 (High Performance) per step by model tier; flat $0.01 per step with your own key [1]
- Browser usage (other page): $0.09 per hour in the pricing-page calculator [2]

### Plans
| Plan | Price | Concurrent browsers | Session creations per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $5 free credits/month | Up to 5 | 5 |
| Starter | $50/month, +$1.00/credit overage | Up to 25 | 25 |
| Team (marketing page only) | $500/mo, +$1.00/credit overage | Up to 50 | 50 |
| Growth | $2000/month, +$1.00/credit overage | Up to 200 | 100 |
| Enterprise | Custom | 500+ | 200+ |
Source [1]

### Other charges
- Automation Task run: 0.1 credits ($0.10) per run, or infrastructure cost if higher; failed runs pay no task fee [1]
- Agent Access key: About $1 of credit for an anonymous key; 5 credits with a verified email OIDC JWT [3]

## Tools

### MCP server
- Official MCP server: Yes, remote [4]
- Address or package: `https://api.anchorbrowser.io/v1/mcp` (also `/v1/mcp/browser`, `/v1/mcp/actions/{domain}`) [4]
- Tools listed in docs: About 25 tools on the main server (live `tools/list` returned 401 without credentials) [14]

### MCP tools
From the docs page; the server requires sign-in or an API key, so `tools/list` was not read.
| Tool | What it does | Read-only |
|---|---|---|
| `perform_web_task`, `get_web_task_status` | Run and poll a natural-language web task | Not stated |
| `search_action_index`, `get_action_index`, `execute_action_index` | Find and run cached site actions | Not stated |
| `list_tasks`, `get_task`, `run_task`, `get_execution` | Saved automations | Not stated |
| `create_identity`, `create_identity_link`, `create_reauth_link`, `reauthenticate_identity`, `get_identity` | Managed logins | Not stated |
| `create_session`, `get_session`, `end_session` | Browser sessions | Not stated |
| `search_docs`, `read_doc` | Search and read the docs | Not stated |
| `list_endpoints`, `get_endpoint`, `call_endpoint_read`, `call_endpoint_write` | Call any other API endpoint | Not stated |
Source [4]

### API
| Endpoint | What it does |
|---|---|
| `POST /v1/sessions` | Start a browser session; returns `id`, `cdp_url`, `live_view_url` |
| `POST /v1/sessions/async` | Start a session without blocking |
| `GET /v1/sessions/{session_id}/recordings` | List session recordings |
| `POST /v1/tools/perform-web-task` | Run a natural-language task in a browser |
| `POST /v1/volumes` | Create persistent storage for sessions |
| `GET /v1/agent-access/challenge` | Start keyless onboarding for an agent |
| `POST /v2/tasks/generate` | Generate an automation task from a prompt |
Source [3]

### Features
- Where the browser runs: Cloud VM per session, default AWS `us-east-2` (Ohio); EU `eu-central-1` on Growth [5]
- Browsers: Chromium [3]
- Max session length: Default 180 minutes; configurable, no upper limit; 60 minutes on Agent Access keys [7]
- Concurrent sessions: Free up to 5, Starter 25, Growth 200, Enterprise 500+ [1]
- Proxies: Anchor residential and mobile proxies by country; bring your own proxy on Growth and above [4]
- CAPTCHA solving: Yes, vision-based; needs an active proxy or a profile; Starter plan and above [10]
- Session recording: Yes, MP4, on by default [9]
- Persistent logins: Yes: browser profiles and managed identities [11]

## Authentication

### Methods
| Method | Used for | How |
|---|---|---|
| API key | REST API, SDKs and MCP | Send the `anchor-api-key` header |
| OAuth sign-in | Hosted MCP server | Client opens Anchor sign-in on first use |
| Agent Access challenge | Getting a key without a dashboard account | `GET /v1/agent-access/challenge`, then `POST /v1/agent-access` |
Source [4]

### Getting access
- Who creates the account: A person can sign up in the dashboard; an agent can get a key through Agent Access without a dashboard account [3]
- Where to get a key: `https://app.anchorbrowser.io/api-keys` [12]
- Other requirements: Agent Access keys: about $1 credit, sessions capped at 60 minutes; production use needs an account [3]

## Setup

### Addresses
- REST API: `https://api.anchorbrowser.io` [3]
- MCP server: `https://api.anchorbrowser.io/v1/mcp` [4]
- OpenAPI spec: Not published
- Docs for agents: `https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/llms.txt` [12]
- Status page: `https://anchorbrowser.betteruptime.com/` [5]

### Install
| What | Command |
|---|---|
| MCP for Claude Code | `claude mcp add --transport http anchor https://api.anchorbrowser.io/v1/mcp` |
| MCP browser control for Claude Code | `claude mcp add --transport http anchor-browser https://api.anchorbrowser.io/v1/mcp/browser` |
| Node SDK | `npm install anchorbrowser` |
| Python SDK | `pip install anchorbrowser` |
Source [13]

## Limits

### Rate limits
- Session creation: Per minute: Free 5, Starter 25, Team 50, Growth 100, Enterprise 200+; `429` with `Retry-After` when exceeded [8]
- Recordings list: US 200 per API key per minute; EU 50 [8]

### Other limits
- Concurrent browsers: Free 5, Starter 25, Growth 200, Enterprise 500+; `429` without `Retry-After` is a concurrency cap [8]
- Batch sessions: Up to 5,000 sessions in one call [8]
- AI tokens and steps per task: 10M tokens and 120 steps on Free and Starter [1]
- Idle timeout: 5 minutes by default [7]

## Privacy

### Your data
- Data location: AWS `us-east-2` (Ohio) by default; AWS `eu-central-1` (Frankfurt) on Growth [5]
- Retention: Each browser runs in an ephemeral VM destroyed at session end; plan data retention is 7 days on Free and Starter [1]
- Used for training: Not published
- Zero data retention: Yes, on request: disables video and log recordings for the account; enabled by the Anchor team [6]

### Compliance
- Certifications: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR [5]
- HIPAA: Stated as HIPAA compliant; BAA listed on the Enterprise plan [5]

## Sources

1. Pricing (docs): https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/pricing.md
2. Pricing (website): https://anchorbrowser.io/pricing
3. For agents: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/for-agents.md
4. MCP hosted version: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/advanced/mcp.md
5. Trust and security: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/security.md
6. Zero Data Retention mode: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/security/zdr-mode.md
7. Session timeout: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/advanced/session-timeout.md
8. Browser sessions: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/quickstart/browser-sessions.md
9. Session recording: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/essentials/recording.md
10. Captcha solving: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/advanced/captcha-solving.md
11. Managed authentication: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/essentials/managed-authentication.md
12. llms.txt: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/llms.txt
13. SDK quick start: https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/quickstart/use-via-sdk.md
14. Checked by supermarket.dev