Pick Browserbase if
teams that need a fleet of headless browsers and will pay for concurrent sessions.
Read the Browserbase pageBrowserbase vs Kernel
Our take
Pick Browserbase if teams that need a fleet of headless browsers and will pay for concurrent sessions. Pick Kernel if agent platforms that need fast session create and will pay per second. Skip Browserbase if people who only want URL → markdown (Firecrawl) or a search-credit API (Tavily). Skip Kernel if people who want a no-code general agent (Manus) or a query-language scraper (AgentQL).
Kernel
cloud Chromium infrastructure for agents
Best for
Browserbase Spin a remote Playwright/Puppeteer session
Kernel Spin an isolated browser with profiles and live view
Free plan
Browserbase $0 · /mo. 3 concurrent browsers; 1 browser hour; 3 Agent runs; 1,000 Search; 1,000 Fetch; 15 minutes/session; $5 in model tokens
Kernel $0 · + usage. $5 included credits/month. 5 concurrent browsers
Lowest paid
Browserbase Developer $20/mo
Kernel Hobbyist $30/mo
Next step up
Browserbase Startup $99/mo
Kernel Start-Up $200/mo
Coding agent
Browserbase Identity
Kernel Four start paths
Runs where
Browserbase Hosted
Kernel
Watch out
Browserbase Free is 1 browser hour
Kernel Developer is 5 concurrent and $5 credits
Last checked
Browserbase 2026-10-21 · browserbase.com/pricing
Kernel 2026-10-22 · kernel.sh/docs/info/pricing
Which one, then?
Pick Kernel if
agent platforms that need fast session create and will pay per second.
Read the Kernel page