Spicrawl vs Browserbase: scrape API or cloud browser?

Choose Spicrawl to turn known URLs into clean content in one call. Choose Browserbase when an agent must drive a real browser, with long sessions and recordings.

Spicrawl and Browserbase solve different problems. Spicrawl is a web scraping API: you send a URL and get Markdown, HTML or JSON back. Browserbase runs real browsers in the cloud that your code or agent drives with Playwright, Puppeteer, Selenium or Stagehand, with a lighter Fetch API on the side. If your agent only needs to read pages, a scrape API is simpler. If it must act on websites for minutes at a time, a cloud browser is the better tool. Here is a fair side-by-side.

What you get

SpicrawlURL in, content out

BrowserbaseA cloud browser

JavaScript pages via API

SpicrawlYes, one call

BrowserbaseFetch: no JS

Drive a live browser

SpicrawlComing soon

BrowserbaseYes, up to 6 hours

Get free beta access Open docs

Facts about Browserbase were checked against its own website and docs on 1 October 2026. See sources.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Spicrawl if you

need clean Markdown from URLs you already have
want JavaScript pages rendered in one API call
want a free beta, no credit card

Choose Browserbase if you

need full browser control from Playwright or Puppeteer
run long, multi-step tasks such as forms and checkouts
want live view and session recordings for debugging
need managed proxies and CAPTCHA solving today

Spicrawl vs Browserbase at a glance

marks the stronger option for that row. No mark means it is even, or it depends on your needs.

Feature	Spicrawl	Browserbase
Price today	SpicrawlFree during betaFree while in beta, with no credit card. Prices after the beta have not been announced.	BrowserbaseFree tier, from $20/moFree plan with 1 browser hour a month and 3 concurrent browsers. Developer is $20 a month for 100 browser hours, Startup $99 for 500, and Scale is custom.
How usage is billed	Spicrawl1, 3 or 8 creditsPer successful request, by the engine that ran: 1 credit for a plain request, 3 for browser rendering, 8 for full Chromium.	BrowserbasePer browser minuteBrowser time by the minute, with a one-minute minimum per session, and proxy traffic by the MB. Over the allowance, an hour costs $0.12 or $0.10. Fetch and Search are billed per call.
Blocked and failed requests	SpicrawlFree, incl. 403sErrors, bot challenges and timeouts cost 0. A page that answers with a status such as 403 also costs 0.	BrowserbaseNot describedNot described for Fetch. Browser sessions are billed for the time they run.
Cached results	SpicrawlFreeFree. The cache is on by default and keeps results for up to 48 hours.	BrowserbaseNot describedNo result cache is described. Contexts do not keep the browser’s HTTP cache, so each session fetches page assets fresh.
Clean content from a URL	SpicrawlStronger option: Yes, JS renderedYes. One request returns Markdown, HTML, text, PDF or JSON, and mode=auto uses a browser only when the page needs one.	BrowserbaseFetch, no JS, 5 MBThe Fetch API returns raw HTML, Markdown or JSON, but does not run JavaScript, is limited to 5 MB and cannot convert PDFs. For anything else you open a browser session and process the page yourself.
Browser control	SpicrawlActions, up to 50Click, type, select, scroll, wait and run JavaScript, up to 50 steps per request, before the page is captured.	BrowserbaseStronger option: Full, with your own codeFull control of a cloud browser from Playwright, Puppeteer, Selenium or Stagehand, step by step, for as long as the session runs.
Remote browser and long sessions	SpicrawlComing soonConnecting Playwright or Puppeteer to a browser hosted by Spicrawl is coming soon.	BrowserbaseStronger option: Yes, up to 6 hoursYes. Sessions run for up to 6 hours on paid plans (15 minutes on the free plan), and keep alive lets you disconnect and reconnect to the same browser.
Staying logged in	SpicrawlSessionsSessions keep cookies, browser storage and the same exit IP between requests.	BrowserbaseContextsContexts keep cookies, local storage, IndexedDB and other browser data across sessions, encrypted at rest. A 1Password integration supplies credentials.
Structured data	SpicrawlSelectors + schema freePage metadata, CSS selector maps and JSON Schema at no extra cost. Extraction with a model prompt is coming soon.	BrowserbaseStronger option: Schema or LLM extractFetch returns JSON that matches a schema, priced as Extract. In a browser, Stagehand’s extract pulls structured data with a plain-language instruction and the LLM of your choice.
Proxies	SpicrawlBYO, no surchargeBring your own proxy with no surcharge. Managed proxies are coming soon.	BrowserbaseStronger option: Managed + BYOManaged residential proxies in 200+ countries on paid plans, billed per GB after the allowance, plus your own proxies and per-domain routing rules in browser sessions.
CAPTCHAs and bot checks	SpicrawlBlocks cost nothingA bot challenge comes back as an error, is logged as blocked and costs 0. There is no CAPTCHA solving today, and stealth mode is coming soon.	BrowserbaseStronger option: CAPTCHA solving, paidAutomatic CAPTCHA solving on paid plans, and Verified browsers with real fingerprints on the Scale plan.
Debugging	SpicrawlRequest logsRequest logs and usage from the API and the CLI, including why a page was blocked, plus response headers that show the engine, credits charged and cache state.	BrowserbaseStronger option: Live view + recordingsA live view of each running session, video replays you can download as MP4, and console and network logs.
Many URLs	SpicrawlUp to 10,000 URLsBatch API: up to 10,000 URLs per call, run in parallel, with results as JSON Lines kept for 72 hours.	BrowserbaseUp to 100 browsersNo batch endpoint is described. You run many sessions at once: 25 concurrent browsers on Developer, 100 on Startup and 250+ on Scale.
Web search	SpicrawlNoNo.	BrowserbaseStronger option: YesYes, with the Search API (1,000 calls a month included, then $7 per 1,000).
AI agents	SpicrawlMCP, 25 tools + skillHosted MCP server with 25 tools, an agent skill, and one-command setup for Claude Code, Cursor and Codex.	BrowserbaseMCP + Browse CLIHosted MCP server built on Stagehand that controls a browser with plain-language commands, and the Browse CLI with skills for coding agents.
SDKs and CLI	SpicrawlJS/TS SDK + CLIJavaScript and TypeScript SDK, a CLI, and HTTP examples in cURL, Python and TypeScript.	BrowserbaseStronger option: Node + Python SDKs, CLINode.js and Python SDKs and the Browse CLI. Browsers also work with Playwright, Puppeteer and Selenium in their own languages.
Open source	SpicrawlNoNo. Spicrawl is a hosted service.	BrowserbaseStronger option: Stagehand (MIT)Its Stagehand framework is open source under MIT and runs locally or on Browserbase. The browser platform itself is a hosted service.

Switching from Browserbase

Browserbase’s Fetch API is the closest match to a Spicrawl scrape: one POST with a URL and a format. Browserbase returns JSON with the page under content, while Spicrawl returns the Markdown itself as the response body. Fetch does not run JavaScript; Spicrawl’s mode=auto can render a page in a browser when it needs one. If you drive Browserbase sessions with Playwright instead, there is no direct swap yet: Spicrawl’s remote browser is coming soon.

browserbase.sh

curl -X POST https://api.browserbase.com/v1/fetch \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -H "X-BB-API-Key: $BROWSERBASE_API_KEY" \  -d '{    "url": "https://example.com/blog/post",    "format": "markdown"  }'# Response: JSON, with the page under content

spicrawl.sh

curl -X POST https://api.spicrawl.com/v1/scrape \  -H "Authorization: Bearer spicrawl_live_…" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{    "url": "https://example.com/blog/post",    "response_format": "markdown"  }'# Response: the Markdown itself

Spicrawl vs Browserbase: common questions

Is Spicrawl a good Browserbase alternative?

It is if your agent mainly reads pages: you send a URL and get clean Markdown or JSON back, with JavaScript rendered when needed. If your agent must drive a browser step by step for minutes at a time, with live view and recordings, Browserbase is the better fit.

Is Spicrawl cheaper than Browserbase?

Spicrawl is free while it is in beta, and its prices after the beta have not been announced, so a fair price comparison is not possible yet. The two also bill different things: Spicrawl charges per successful request, while Browserbase charges for browser time by the minute and for Fetch and Search per call.

Can I connect Playwright or Puppeteer to Spicrawl?

Not yet. A remote browser you can connect to is coming soon. Today you send browser actions, up to 50 steps per request, and Spicrawl runs them before it captures the page. Browserbase lets you drive its cloud browsers from Playwright, Puppeteer or Selenium now.

Does Browserbase’s Fetch API render JavaScript?

No. Its documentation says Fetch does not execute JavaScript and is limited to 5 MB, and points you to a browser session for anything else. A Spicrawl scrape with mode=auto renders the page in a browser when it needs one.

Do both have an MCP server?

Yes. Browserbase hosts an MCP server, built on Stagehand, that controls a browser with plain-language commands. Spicrawl hosts one at https://mcp.spicrawl.com/mcp with 25 tools to scrape pages, run batches, manage sessions and check usage.

Sources

Browserbase details come from these pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, email support@spicrawl.com and we will correct it.

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