Browser Use: Open-Source Browser AI Agent
Browser Use describes itself as "the way AI uses the web." The product gives agents at scale undetectable browsers and a clean API for driving any website. The core Browser Harness is open-source, described on the homepage as a "thin, self-healing harness." In a 2026 landscape full of browser-agent products, Browser Use is the developer's pick when you want full control and OSS underneath.
The 30-second version
- What: open-source browser harness for AI agents driving real Chrome sessions
- Who: developers building browser-aware AI agents
- Price: OSS harness free; paid hosted infrastructure for scale
- Best at: flexible browser automation that needs custom logic
- Verdict: pick Browser Use when you want OSS browser control and code-level flexibility
What Browser Use actually is
Browser Use is a browser harness. You hand it a goal, and it drives a real Chrome session to accomplish that goal: navigating, clicking, scrolling, reading content, filling forms. The combination of the open-source harness plus an API for hosted infrastructure means you can prototype locally and scale into a managed environment without rewriting your code.
The "undetectable browsers" framing means the browser sessions look like real Chrome to the target site, which matters for scraping use cases where bot-detection breaks naive Selenium or Playwright setups. The "self-healing" framing means the harness recovers from common failures (page reloads, DOM changes, timeouts) without you writing brittle retry code.
Browser Use is the open-source successor pattern to AutoGPT's "agent that uses the internet" pitch from 2023. The 2026 version is more focused: it does one thing (drive a browser well) instead of trying to be a general autonomous-task framework.
Key capabilities
- Open-source Browser Harness (GitHub: browser-use/browser-use)
- Self-healing automation that recovers from common failures
- Undetectable browsers via the paid hosted tier
- API for integrating into your application
- Works with any website (no per-site connectors)
- Pair with any LLM (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) for the reasoning layer
Pricing
The Browser Harness OSS is free on GitHub. Paid hosted tiers cover undetectable browsers at scale and managed infrastructure. Check browser-use.com for current rates.
Who Browser Use fits
- Developers building browser-aware AI agents
- Scraping use cases that hit bot detection with naive setups
- Teams that want OSS now, hosted later (no platform lock-in)
- Builders combining a custom LLM agent with a real browser tool
Who Browser Use does not fit
- Non-developers (the value is in the code-level control)
- Form-heavy workflows where Skyvern's specialization wins
- General computer-control use cases (Anthropic Computer Use is broader)
Browser Use vs Skyvern and Anthropic Computer Use
| Axis | Browser Use | Skyvern | Anthropic Computer Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes (harness) | Partial | No (Claude capability) |
| Scope | Browser only | Browser + form workflows | Full computer (screen + mouse + keyboard) |
| Deployment | Self-host or hosted | Hosted | Anthropic API, Bedrock, Vertex AI |
| Status | Active 2026 | Active 2026 | Public beta (Oct 22 2024 launch) |
| Best for | Flexible browser automation | Managed form-heavy workflows | General computer tasks via Claude |
Full breakdown: Browser Use vs Skyvern.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Open-source harness gives you full code-level control
- Self-healing automation reduces brittle retry code
- Undetectable browsers solve real scraping problems
Cons:
- Browser-only; not a general computer-control tool
- Form-heavy workflows feel rougher than Skyvern's specialized path
- Code-required setup; not for non-developers
How I'd use Browser Use on SellerShorts
For a SellerShorts tool builder shipping a competitor-research agent that reads Amazon listings, Browser Use is the open-source path. Combine the Browser Harness with a Claude or GPT agent that reasons about the scraped content. The OSS license means no platform lock-in if you decide to graduate to a different approach later. Before deploying anything that touches Amazon at scale, read the Amazon AI Agent Policy guide to confirm compliance.
Try Browser Use
Get started with Browser Use
Open-source harness on GitHub. Paid hosted tier for scale.
Selling on Amazon and want AI tools sized for your stack? See the Amazon AI hub.
Frequently asked questions
What is Browser Use?
Browser Use describes itself as 'The Way AI uses the web.' It provides agents at scale with undetectable browsers and an API for any website. The Browser Harness is an open-source, thin, self-healing harness that lets AI agents drive a real Chrome session, click buttons, fill forms, and read pages.
Is Browser Use free?
The open-source Browser Harness is free under the GitHub repo at browser-use/browser-use. Browser Use also offers paid hosted infrastructure (undetectable browsers at scale, managed API). For most prototypes the OSS harness is enough.
Browser Use vs Skyvern vs Anthropic Computer Use?
Browser Use is the OSS browser harness. Skyvern is managed and specialized for form-heavy workflows. Anthropic Computer Use is the Claude-side capability for general computer control (mouse, keyboard, screen). Pick Browser Use for open-source flexibility, Skyvern for managed forms, Computer Use when you want Claude to drive your desktop.
Can Browser Use scrape Amazon listings?
Technically yes; the browser harness can drive a Chrome session to fetch and read Amazon pages. Whether you should depends on Amazon's terms of service. Per the March 4 2026 Amazon BSA Agent Policy, agents acting on Amazon must self-identify and comply. Review the policy before deploying.