BrowsaHow does a cloud browser work?
- Your code asks for a browser. One API call starts a fresh Chromium on the provider's servers. On Browsa that is
POST /v1/agents, and the browser is ready in seconds. - You get an address back. The response holds a Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) address. Playwright, Puppeteer and other automation libraries connect to it the same way they connect to a local browser.
- Your agent drives it. Every click, keystroke and page read travels over that connection. A live view link lets a person watch the screen, and step in if a page needs it.
- It shuts down. The browser ends when you close it or when its time limit (TTL) runs out, and you pay for the time it ran.
Why do AI agents need a browser?
A lot of useful work only exists behind a web page: supplier portals, booking forms, dashboards, search results and product pages that render with JavaScript. A language model can decide what to do on those pages, but something has to load them, run their scripts, keep the cookies and press the buttons. That is the browser's job. Giving the agent a cloud browser keeps that work off your servers and makes it easy to run many browsers at once.
Cloud browser vs local headless Chromium
| Topic | Headless Chromium on your server | Cloud browser (Browsa) |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Install and update Chromium and its system libraries in every image | One API call; nothing to install. Your code only needs Python or Node |
| Crashes and memory | Stray browser processes run on your machines | Each browser runs in its own cloud session and ends at its TTL, at most 1 hour |
| Browser name a page reads | HeadlessChrome in the user agent | Chrome, from Browsa's own Chromium build |
| Automation flag | navigator.webdriver often true under automation | false, as in regular Chrome |
| Graphics card a page reads | SwiftShader (software) | A GPU name in Chrome's format for the chosen OS; drawing still runs in software, a known gap |
| IP address | Your server's | Browsa's data center, or your own proxy. Browsa does not supply proxies |
| Watching a run | Screenshots or traces you add yourself | A live view link for every browser and task |
| Cost | Your servers' CPU and memory | 1 credit per started 12 minutes, 5 for a full hour |
Headless Chromium values are the defaults of a standard headless container. Browsa values were measured on a default Browsa browser on 14 November 2026; every value, gaps included, is on the Phantom page.
What are the ways to use a cloud browser?
Run your own Playwright or Puppeteer code
A browser over CDP
POST /v1/agents, then connect to cdp_http. Guide
Describe a job in plain language and get data back
A hosted agent task
POST /v1/tasks with your Anthropic, OpenAI or Google key, or "llm": "browsa" for Browsa's model. Use case
Read one page as Markdown, text, JSON or a screenshot
A one-call scrape
POST /v1/quick/scrape, /extract or /screenshot, 1 credit a page. Docs
Run the same job every hour or day
Schedules and webhooks
Any interval from 1 hour to 30 days, results on an HMAC-signed webhook. Use case
What should I check before picking a cloud browser API?
- Pricing model. A monthly plan with included hours, or pay as you go. Steady, high volume usually favors a plan; uneven volume favors credits that do not expire.
- Session length and concurrency. How long one browser may run, and how many may run at once on your plan.
- Proxies. Whether the provider includes proxy bandwidth, sells it, or expects you to bring your own.
- CAPTCHA handling. Whether challenges are solved for you, or your code sees them and decides.
- Evidence about detection. Look for dated, reproducible results, including where the browser fails, rather than a single pass rate.
- Saved logins. Whether cookies and local storage survive between runs, and what that costs.
- Agents and model keys. Whether the provider runs the agent for you, and whether you can use your own model key.
- Integrations. SDKs for your language, an MCP server, an OpenAPI spec.
- Compliance and hosting. SOC 2 or HIPAA if your review needs them, or an open-source option you can host yourself.
We compare Browsa with Browserbase, Steel and Browser Use Cloud on these points, with a source for every competitor figure, on the Browserbase alternatives page.
Browsa at a glance
- What it is
- Cloud Chromium browsers for AI agents, driven over CDP or through hosted agent tasks
- Browser engine
- Browsa's own Chromium build, on every plan
- Price of a browser
- 1 credit per started 12 minutes, 5 credits for a full hour
- Price of a credit
- $0.10 (Starter, $20), $0.083 (Growth, $100), $0.067 (Pro, $500)
- Free credits
- 100 after email verification, no card. Credits never expire
- Longest session
- 1 hour
- Browsers at once
- 6 browser slots per workspace; more on request
- Proxies
- Not supplied. Bring any HTTP, HTTPS or SOCKS5 proxy per browser
- CAPTCHA solving
- Not offered
- SDKs
pip install browsa,npm i browsa, MCP server@browsa/mcp
Questions
Is a cloud browser the same as a headless browser?
Not quite. Headless describes a browser that runs without a visible window. A cloud browser describes where it runs: on a provider's servers, started and stopped through an API. Many cloud browsers run headless Chromium; Browsa runs its own Chromium build that reports what regular Chrome reports for the chosen operating system, and every browser has a live view you can watch.
Can websites still block a cloud browser?
Yes. No browser passes every bot check, and a data-center IP address is a signal on its own. A good provider tells you where its browser passes and where it does not. Browsa publishes dated results, misses included, on its benchmarks page, and you can bring your own residential or mobile proxy for sites that are strict about data-center traffic.
Do I need my own proxy?
For most public pages, no. Without a proxy a Browsa browser uses the IP address of Browsa's data center. Browsa does not supply proxies; for sites that treat data-center addresses with suspicion, pass your own HTTP, HTTPS or SOCKS5 proxy per browser.
Can an AI agent stay logged in between runs?
Yes, with a persistent identity. On Browsa it keeps cookies, local storage and the fingerprint between sessions. It costs 50 credits every 30 days, and each session opened on it costs 1 credit.
How much does a cloud browser cost on Browsa?
1 credit per started 12 minutes of browser time, so 5 credits for a full hour. One credit is $0.10 on the $20 Starter pack and $0.067 on the $500 Pro pack. New accounts get 100 free credits after email verification, with no card, and credits never expire.