Agent browser infrastructure
BrowserOS neovs agent-browser
Both are local, open source, speak MCP, and can reuse your Chrome logins. One is an application; one is a runtime.
agent-browser is a native Rust CLI with a background daemon from Vercel Labs. It drives Chrome over the DevTools Protocol using accessibility snapshots and element refs, ships an MCP server, and runs headless by default.
BrowserOS neo is a browser application. You install it, import your Chrome logins in one click, and your agent opens visible tabs while you watch from a dashboard. Of the six tools here, agent-browser is the closest to it — so the differences are narrower and more specific than usual.
The short version
Choose BrowserOS neo when
- You want an application to open, not a runtime to wire up.
- You want visible tabs and a recorded replay of every run, without enabling anything.
- You want your everyday logins there by default, not behind a flag.
- You are not a command-line person, or do not want to be for this.
Choose agent-browser when
- You want a CLI you can pipe, script, and drop into CI or a Makefile.
- You need React introspection, Core Web Vitals, accessibility audits or HAR capture.
- The work runs headless, on a server, with no desktop involved.
- You need Apache-2.0 rather than AGPL-3.0 to embed it in your product.
Side by side
| Dimension | BrowserOS neo | agent-browser |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | BrowserOS neoA browser application you install and sign into. | agent-browserA native CLI, a background daemon and an embeddable runtime. No window unless you ask. |
| Where it runs | BrowserOS neoLocally, on macOS or Windows. That is the whole list. | agent-browserLocally by default, plus CI, serverless, Vercel Sandbox, remote CDP and cloud browser providers. |
| Default mode | BrowserOS neoVisible. Watching the work is the point. | agent-browserHeadless. Pass --headed for a window; a local dashboard exists either way. |
| Your logins | BrowserOS neoOne-click Chrome import at setup, then signed in by default. | agent-browserSupported several ways — reuse a named Chrome profile, persist its own, load a state file, or use its local encrypted vault. |
| Several at once | BrowserOS neoSeveral agents share one browser, each with its own visible tabs. | agent-browserIsolated instances behind a --session flag, each with its own cookies and history. |
| Watching and reviewing | BrowserOS neoLive tabs and a dashboard, with every session saved as replayable video by default. | agent-browserA local dashboard, plus screenshots, WebM recording, traces, HAR and activity logs — on request rather than automatically. |
| Developer tooling | BrowserOS neoNone. It is a browser, not a debugger. | agent-browserReact component tree and render profiling, Core Web Vitals, accessibility audits, network interception, HAR. |
| Price and licence | BrowserOS neoFree, AGPL-3.0. | agent-browserFree, Apache-2.0 — more permissive than ours if you are embedding it in commercial software. |
Almost every row above is a difference of default rather than capability. agent-browser can reuse your Chrome logins, show a window, run a dashboard and record WebM — it is not the blind, logged-out sandbox this category usually is, and we are not going to imply otherwise.
What differs is what happens when you do nothing. With neo, the browser is visible, signed in and recording because that is what an application does. With agent-browser, each of those is a flag you chose — which is exactly right when the browser is a dependency inside something you are building.
Where agent-browser is better.
It composes and it deploys. A CLI pipes, scripts and installs into a project; it runs headless on a server, in a serverless function, in Vercel Sandbox, or attached to a remote browser over CDP. BrowserOS neo needs a machine with a screen, and that is the end of its list.
Its developer tooling is genuinely deeper than ours: React component trees and render profiling, Core Web Vitals, accessibility audits, network interception, HAR capture, tracing. If your agent is debugging a web app rather than using one, that is the tool you want.
And Apache-2.0 is materially easier than our AGPL-3.0 for a team embedding this in commercial software, which for some readers settles it on its own. The two sit together comfortably: agent-browser inside what you ship, neo on your own desk.
Common questions
What is agent-browser?
An open-source browser-automation CLI from Vercel Labs, written in Rust with a background daemon. It drives Chrome over the DevTools Protocol using accessibility snapshots and element refs, and ships an MCP server so AI agents can call it directly.
Can agent-browser use my existing Chrome logins?
Yes. Its documentation lists reusing a named Chrome profile, keeping its own persistent profile, saving and reloading a state file, auto-connecting to a running Chrome, and a local encrypted auth vault. The difference from neo is the default, not the capability.
Does agent-browser run locally or in the cloud?
Locally by default, headless unless you pass --headed. It can also run in CI, in a serverless function, in Vercel Sandbox, or attach to a remote browser over CDP.
Which should I use with Claude Code or Codex?
Both work and both are free. Pick agent-browser for a command-line tool with deep front-end debugging; pick BrowserOS neo for a browser window you can watch, everyday logins by default, and an automatic replay. An agent can have both connected.
Check it yourself
Every claim about agent-browser here was read off these pages on 4 August 2026. If something has gone stale, tell us.
What we could not confirm
- We could not confirm that agent-browser saves every run as a durable, scrubbable replay the way neo does. It documents a dashboard, WebM recording, screenshots, traces and HAR; we treat replay parity as unconfirmed.
- Its login reuse is limited here to what its docs list. We did not test passkeys or hardware keys.
- We ran no benchmark, and make no speed or token claim in either direction.
Give your agent a browser it can sign into.
Free, open source, and it sits beside the browser you already use.