Browserless alternatives

What Browserless does

Browserless provides a managed headless Chrome endpoint — a remote browser pool that your existing Puppeteer or Playwright scripts connect to via WebSocket instead of a locally running Chrome process:

// Puppeteer pointing at Browserless cloud
const browser = await puppeteer.connect({
  browserWSEndpoint: 'wss://chrome.browserless.io?token=YOUR_KEY',
});

It also exposes higher-level REST shortcuts (/screenshot, /pdf, /scrape). The core value proposition is offloading browser lifecycle management — crash recovery, memory limits, session queuing, concurrency scaling — to a dedicated service.

Plans start at $25/mo and scale to $350+/mo based on concurrent sessions and usage. Enterprise and private cloud deployments are available under custom pricing.

The license reality

Browserless v2 uses a dual license: SSPL-1.0 or Browserless Commercial License. The SSPL (Server Side Public License) is the same restrictive license used by MongoDB and Elasticsearch before their own re-licensing controversies. It is not a permissive open source license.

Under SSPL, if you use Browserless to run a service that you do not open-source in full, you must purchase a commercial license. This applies to:

• Closed-source commercial applications — SaaS products, apps, internal tools built on top of Browserless
• CI/CD pipelines — automated testing or screenshot generation in private repositories
• Self-hosted commercial deployments — running the Docker image on your own infrastructure for a commercial product

Many comparison sites — including AI-generated results — list Browserless as “Apache 2.0” or “open source.” This is incorrect for v2. If your project is proprietary, SSPL means Browserless is not free.

The self-hosting reality

The standard Browserless plans ($0–$350/mo) are cloud-hosted — you send requests to their servers, not your own. True self-hosting (running the Docker image on your own infrastructure) is permitted under SSPL only for non-commercial and open source projects. Commercial self-hosting requires the Enterprise license — custom pricing, not self-service.

Openkova has no such restriction. Deploy it on a $20/mo VPS, use it in a commercial product, keep all rendered images on your own servers — the MIT license imposes no conditions on commercial use.

When Browserless is the right choice

Browserless is genuinely well-suited for a specific use case: running existing Puppeteer or Playwright automation at high concurrency with managed browser lifecycle.

• You have existing Puppeteer/Playwright scripts — change the endpoint URL, your scripts work unchanged
• Hundreds of concurrent browser sessions — Browserless handles the pool management, recycling, and crash recovery
• SSPL is acceptable — open source projects or organisations with a commercial license budget

When Openkova is the right choice

• Screenshot or HTML-to-image via REST API — no Puppeteer scripting, just an HTTP POST
• MIT license required — genuinely free for commercial use, no SSPL obligation
• Private / internal URLs — self-hosted Openkova can reach localhost, staging, and VPN-only services; Browserless cloud cannot
• Data stays on your servers — rendered pages and images never leave your infrastructure
• MCP server for AI agents — @openkova/mcp gives any MCP-compatible AI client a screenshot tool with no external dependency

Comparison

Migration: Browserless screenshot → Openkova

If you are using Browserless primarily for screenshot or PDF generation — not for general browser automation — the migration to Openkova's REST API is straightforward:

// Before: Browserless via Puppeteer
const browser = await puppeteer.connect({
  browserWSEndpoint: 'wss://chrome.browserless.io?token=YOUR_KEY',
});
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
const screenshot = await page.screenshot({ type: 'jpeg' });
await browser.close();

// After: Openkova REST API — no Puppeteer dependency
const res = await fetch('https://your-openkova-instance/api/convert/url', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    url: 'https://example.com',
    format: 'jpeg',
    viewport: { width: 1280, height: 800 },
  }),
});
const screenshot = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer());

Frequently asked questions

Is Browserless open source?

Browserless v2 is licensed under SSPL-1.0, not a permissive open source license. Commercial use in a closed-source application or CI/CD pipeline requires a paid commercial license. It is freely usable only for non-commercial and SSPL-compatible open source projects.

Can I self-host Browserless for free?

For non-commercial and open source use, yes. For commercial applications — including internal tools and CI/CD pipelines — self-hosting requires a commercial license. The standard paid tiers ($25–$350/mo) are cloud-hosted, not self-hosted.

Is there a free alternative to Browserless?

Yes. Openkova is MIT-licensed and freely self-hostable for commercial use. It provides a REST API for URL screenshots and HTML-to-image conversion using headless Chromium — no SSPL restrictions, no cloud dependency, no per-request fees.

What is the difference between Browserless and Openkova?

Browserless is a managed remote browser endpoint — your Puppeteer/Playwright scripts connect to it via WebSocket. Openkova is a higher-level REST API: POST a URL or HTML snippet and get back a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF. No scripting required.

When should I use Browserless instead of Openkova?

Use Browserless when you have existing Puppeteer or Playwright scripts you need to run against a managed remote browser at high concurrency, and the SSPL license or cloud pricing is acceptable. Use Openkova when your use case is screenshot or PDF generation via a REST API — it is simpler, MIT-licensed, and free to self-host commercially.

Also compare: ScreenshotOne alternatives, Urlbox alternatives, and puppeteer-renderer alternatives.