{"id":"web-agent","slug":"web-agent","name":"Autonomous web-acting agent","shortName":"Autonomous web-acting agent","problemStatement":"Agent logs in, clicks, fills forms, completes workflows in browsers.","whenNotTopPick":"Read-only extraction — Firecrawl. Pure search — Exa/Tavily.","categoryIds":["cat-sandboxes-browsers","cat-search-scrape"],"depotPickProviderId":"browserbase","depotPickRationale":"capability browser + dx agent SDKs.","runnersUpIds":["steel-dev","browserless","firecrawl"],"weights":{"capabilityFit":0.25,"pricePerformance":0.18,"latencyReliability":0.15,"developerDx":0.15,"privacyPosture":0.1,"lockInRisk":0.07,"maturity":0.1},"methodologyNotes":"capability browser + dx agent SDKs.","tags":["web"],"depth":{"whenNotToUse":{"text":"Read-only extraction — Firecrawl. Pure search — Exa/Tavily.","source":"editorial `whenNotTopPick` (data/jtbds.json)"},"whenNotToUseReason":null,"runnerUp":{"providerId":"steel-dev","name":"Steel.dev","overallForJob":8.27,"pickOverallForJob":8.3,"beatsPickOn":["pricePerformance","privacyPosture","lockInRisk"],"source":"first resolvable entry of the job's editorially ranked `runnersUpIds`; scores are stored job-weighted scores"},"runnerUpReason":null,"lockIn":{"pickLockInRisk":5,"runnerUpLockInRisk":2.5,"scale":"0–10 stored curated estimate; higher = more lock-in (worse)","pickExitSignals":[],"runnerUpExitSignals":["open source (provider tag `oss`)","self-hostable (provider tag `self-host`)"],"pickNotes":[{"text":"Playwright/Puppeteer compatible","field":"strengths"},{"text":"Less self-host than Steel","field":"weaknesses"}],"selfHostFallback":[{"id":"browser-use","name":"browser-use","license":"MIT","sourceUrl":"https://github.com/browser-use/browser-use/blob/main/LICENSE"},{"id":"webarena","name":"WebArena","license":"Apache-2.0","sourceUrl":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/web-arena-x/webarena/main/LICENSE"},{"id":"visualwebarena","name":"VisualWebArena","license":"MIT","sourceUrl":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/web-arena-x/visualwebarena/main/LICENSE"}],"migration":"Runner-up Steel.dev has lower stored lock-in risk (2.5 vs 5, 0–10, higher = more lock-in). Self-host fallback listed for this job: browser-use, WebArena, VisualWebArena.","migrationReason":null,"derivedFrom":"stored lockInRisk scores, provider tags (oss, self-host, openai-compat, open-models), free rows that list this job, and verbatim provider notes. No migration guide was invented."}},"freshness":{"pick":{"score":{"asOf":"2026-10-19","ageDays":8,"stale":false,"staleAfterDays":30,"reason":null},"lastReviewed":{"asOf":"2026-10-19","ageDays":8,"stale":false,"staleAfterDays":30,"reason":null},"sourceCheck":{"checkedAt":"2026-10-27","sourceUrls":2,"sourcesReachable":2,"pricingRows":9,"pricingRowsReconfirmed":3,"note":"A source re-check confirms the page is reachable and, for pricing rows, that the stored amount and SKU name appear on it. It does not re-derive or change the score.","reason":null}}},"depotPick":{"id":"browserbase","slug":"browserbase","name":"Browserbase","tagline":"Depot default for agents that need a real browser. Pair with Stagehand/Browser Use for the reasoning loop.","overall":8.3},"runnersUp":[{"id":"steel-dev","slug":"steel-dev","name":"Steel.dev","tagline":"Pick Steel when you need to self-host browsers or hate SaaS lock-in. Browserbase wins on polish.","overall":8.27},{"id":"browserless","slug":"browserless","name":"Browserless","tagline":"Veteran choice for headless fleets. Great if you already speak Playwright fleets, not just agents.","overall":8.25},{"id":"firecrawl","slug":"firecrawl","name":"Firecrawl","tagline":"Depot pick for turning the web into LLM context. Browserbase when you need to *act*, Firecrawl when you need…","overall":8.25}]}