Drive a browser
Steel
Open-source cloud browser API that runs remote Chrome sessions for agents, with proxies, CAPTCHA solving, profiles and scraping endpoints.
At a glance
- Provider
- Nen Labs, Inc.
- Category
- Drive a browser
- Type
- Hosted browser
- Pricing model
- Usage-based; free Launch plan, $250 a month Scale plan plus usage1
- Free tier
- $30 one-time credit, valid for 90 days1
- Authentication
- API key in the
steel-api-keyheader; x402 pay-per-call without a key2 - Connect via
- REST API, CDP over WebSocket (Playwright, Puppeteer, Selenium), Node and Python SDKs, CLI, local MCP server13
- Read from the provider's pages
- 2026-11-04
Pricing
- Pricing model: Pay as you go on metered usage; Launch $0 a month, Scale $250 a month, Enterprise custom
- Free tier: Launch: $30 in one-time usage credits, valid for 90 days
- Card required for free tier: Not published
- Official MCP server: Yes, local
- Address or package:
npx -y github:steel-dev/steel-mcp-server(not on npm;mcp.steel.devis not live)
- Who creates the account: A person signs in at the dashboard to create a key; x402 needs no account; a key can also be provisioned from the Stripe CLI
- Where to get a key: Dashboard: Settings, API Keys, Create API Key; shown once
- Other requirements: Launch accounts need a $10 paid deposit for managed proxies and CAPTCHA solving
- REST API:
https://api.steel.dev - MCP server: Local only:
npx -y github:steel-dev/steel-mcp-server;mcp.steel.devis not live - OpenAPI spec: Not published
- Session length and concurrency: See Features; Launch 15 minutes and 10 sessions
- Default session timeout: 5 minutes (advertised Launch maximum is 15 minutes)
- Profile size: 300 MB
- Data location: Browsers run in
us-east - Retention: Launch 7 days, Scale 14 days, Enterprise custom
- Used for training: Not published
Read from Nen Labs, Inc.’s own pages on 2026-11-04. Every number links to the page a value came from. For agents, the same facts as markdown: /tools/drive-a-browser/steel.md