AI agents often need to interact with software that cannot be fully accessed through APIs. This might involve signing into accounts, navigating dashboards, completing forms, downloading files, or operating desktop applications. Computer use allows agents to perform these tasks through graphical interfaces, using browser controls or simulated mouse and keyboard actions.
Computer use platforms provide the infrastructure and tools needed to make this possible. Their capabilities range from hosting remote browsers and virtual desktops to managing authentication, controlling interfaces, and monitoring execution.
As workflows become more complex, developers may need to run tasks concurrently, maintain sessions across multiple runs, recover from failures, or isolate execution environments. These requirements can introduce challenges that go beyond simply controlling a browser or desktop application.
The available solutions fall into several categories. For example, managed browser services provide remote execution environments, AI-powered automation tools help agents navigate interfaces, and desktop sandboxes enable interaction with applications beyond the browser.
In this guide, we cover nine platforms with different approaches to browser infrastructure for AI agents. By the end of this roundup, you'll have a better understanding of how they differ, where each product fits within an agent's browser architecture, and which service best fits your application.
What Is a Computer Use Platform for AI Agents?
A computer use platform provides the tools, infrastructure, or both that allow AI agents to interact with websites and desktop applications through their graphical interfaces.
A useful way to understand computer use is to separate an agent's decision-making from the software that executes its actions. The agent determines what needs to happen, while a browser or desktop environment carries out the requested interactions. For example, an agent might decide to retrieve a report from a dashboard, then use browser controls to navigate to the report and download it.
To perform these actions, the agent needs information about the application it is using. This might come from screenshots, webpage elements, or structured page data. Based on those details, it can select an action, execute it through the available tools, and use the results to decide what to do next.
The division of responsibilities depends on the implementation. Some systems expose basic controls for clicking, typing, and scrolling, with developers coordinating the workflow. Others provide higher-level functions that use AI to interpret instructions and carry out multiple steps. The execution environment may be hosted by a provider or managed by the application itself.
Computer use connects an agent's decisions to actions performed in external software. It gives developers a way to build workflows around existing graphical interfaces without requiring every interaction to have a dedicated API.
How to Evaluate Computer Use Platforms for AI Agents
Computer use platforms vary in how much control they give developers, what infrastructure they manage, and which capabilities they include. The right choice depends on the tasks your application needs to perform.
While requirements vary by use case, these five considerations provide a useful starting point for evaluating your options.
Interaction Methods
Start with how much control your application needs over individual actions.
Some tools support established automation frameworks such as Playwright, while others expose APIs for clicking, typing, scrolling, or capturing screenshots. Higher-level interfaces may accept natural-language instructions and use AI to determine the steps needed to complete a task.
For predictable workflows, direct commands can make execution easier to control and reproduce. When page layouts or task requirements vary, AI-assisted interaction may reduce the need to define every step manually.
Execution Environments
Consider where tasks run and how much responsibility your team has for managing the environment.
A managed service can handle provisioning and maintaining browsers or virtual machines. Other tools run within the infrastructure you provide, giving you more control over configuration and deployment.
Check operating system compatibility, resource limits, network access, and isolation between tasks. These details determine whether the environment can support your target applications and operational requirements.
Session Management
Workflows that span multiple runs need a way to retain relevant state.
Depending on the implementation, this might include authentication cookies, browser profiles, files, or an entire running environment. However, a persistent profile does not necessarily guarantee that an account will remain signed in, since websites can expire or revoke sessions.
Check how state is stored, restored, and deleted. For applications handling user accounts, also evaluate credential protection, access controls, and the ability to isolate one user's data from another's.
Workload and Scale
Production workloads can involve concurrent tasks, variable demand, and jobs that take longer than expected.
Compare limits on simultaneous sessions, execution duration, startup times, and available computing resources. Also check whether failed tasks can be retried and how the application can determine when execution has finished.
Review pricing alongside these constraints. Browser time, compute usage, and additional services may be billed separately.
Developer Tooling
When a task fails, developers need enough information to identify the cause.
Session recordings, screenshots, logs, and execution traces can help reveal which actions were attempted and how the application responded. Live views may also be useful when a workflow needs human intervention.
Look for ways to associate this information with a specific agent run, inspect intermediate results, and reproduce errors during testing.
The 9 Best Computer Use Platforms for AI Agents
1. Anchor Browser
Best for: Teams building browser-based AI agents that need managed execution, reusable authentication, and flexible automation controls.
Anchor Browser provides cloud-hosted browsers for AI agents and web automation. Developers can connect their own automation code to remote sessions or use Anchor's APIs to perform browser tasks without having to manage the underlying browser infrastructure.
The platform supports browser automation through the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP), including connections from tools such as Playwright. It also offers APIs for capturing screenshots, retrieving webpage content, and performing tasks through natural-language instructions. This allows developers to combine direct browser control with AI-assisted execution.
For workflows involving signed-in websites, Anchor provides browser profiles that save state for use in future sessions. Developers can create a profile, authenticate to a website, and reuse the saved context for subsequent tasks. Whether the account remains signed in depends on the website's authentication policies.
Anchor also provides live browser views and session recording options. Developers can inspect activity during execution or review recorded sessions to investigate unexpected behavior.
Why You Might Choose Anchor Browser
- Provides cloud-hosted browser sessions for AI agents and web automation.
- Supports CDP connections for browser automation with tools such as Playwright.
- Offers APIs for screenshots, webpage content retrieval, and AI-powered task execution.
- Provides reusable browser profiles for maintaining authentication state across sessions.
- Supports embeddable live views for observing and interacting with active browsers.
- Offers configurable proxy settings for controlling browser network routing.
Additional Highlights
Anchor's Tasks API lets developers create, version, and execute reusable TypeScript automations with configurable inputs. Tasks can also run asynchronously, allowing applications to start longer workflows and retrieve their results later.
2. Browserbase
Best for: Teams that want managed cloud browsers for AI agents while retaining control over their automation code and execution workflows.
Browserbase provides cloud browser infrastructure for AI agents and web automation. Developers can create remote sessions through its API and connect their own automation tools without having to provision or maintain the underlying browser servers.
Each session runs in a hosted environment that developers can control using tools such as Playwright and Puppeteer. Browserbase also integrates with Stagehand, an AI-powered browser automation SDK that supports natural-language actions and structured data extraction. Teams can use these capabilities alongside conventional browser automation while Browserbase handles execution.
For workflows involving authenticated websites, Browserbase offers Contexts that preserve browser data, including cookies and local storage, across sessions. Developers can reuse a Context when starting a new browser, allowing agents to access previously saved authentication state as long as the website's login remains valid.
Browserbase also provides live debugging views for inspecting browser activity during execution. Developers can observe interactions as they happen, investigate unexpected behavior, and monitor cloud-based tasks without accessing the underlying browser servers directly.
Why You Might Choose Browserbase
- Provides managed cloud browsers that developers can create and control through an API.
- Supports browser automation frameworks such as Playwright and Puppeteer.
- Integrates with Stagehand for AI-powered browser actions and structured data extraction.
- Offers reusable Contexts for preserving cookies and browser storage between sessions.
- Provides live debugging views for inspecting active browser sessions.
- Supports parallel browser execution.
Additional Highlights
Browserbase provides an official research-agent template that combines Stagehand with the Vercel AI SDK. The example demonstrates how to stream findings to an application through Server-Sent Events and adjust execution based on the project's concurrency allowance.
3. Browser Use
Best for: Teams that want AI-driven browser automation with the flexibility to run their own agents or delegate execution to a hosted service.
Browser Use provides open-source tools and cloud services for building AI agents that interact with websites. Developers can run agents through its Python library, connect existing coding agents to a browser using its CLI, or submit tasks to Browser Use Cloud for fully hosted execution.
With the Python framework, developers describe a task in natural language and select the language model that will guide execution. The agent examines webpage content, determines which actions to take, and uses the results to continue its work. This reduces the need to manually define every navigation step, particularly for workflows where the interface or sequence of actions may vary.
Browser Use Cloud offers two execution options. Teams can connect their own automation code to managed browsers through the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP), or use the hosted agent API to have Browser Use manage both the browser and the agent. The latter accepts task instructions and returns results that applications can incorporate into larger workflows.
For applications that already have an agent responsible for planning and reasoning, Browser Use also supports individual browser tools. These expose operations such as navigation, clicking, typing, screenshots, and content extraction, allowing developers to add web interaction capabilities without handing over control of the entire task.
Why You Might Choose Browser Use
- Provides an open-source Python framework for building AI browser agents.
- Lets developers choose the language model used for agent execution.
- Offers managed cloud browsers that support CDP connections.
- Provides a fully hosted API for delegating browser tasks.
- Includes a CLI for connecting existing coding agents to browser sessions.
- Supports individual browser actions through tool integrations and MCP.
Additional Highlights
Browser Use provides a separate BrowserCode project that lets coding agents generate JavaScript to control Chrome through CDP. It can save browser scripts for reuse in subsequent tasks.
4. Skyvern
Best for: Teams automating multistep web workflows that need AI-driven navigation, reusable task sequences, and credential management.
Skyvern is an AI-powered browser automation platform for completing tasks across websites and web applications. Developers can run individual tasks or build multistep workflows using a visual editor, Python and TypeScript SDKs, or a REST API.
Skyvern uses screenshots and webpage information to determine which actions to take. Its agent examines the current page, selects an interaction, and repeats the process as the task progresses. This allows it to navigate unfamiliar websites without requiring developers to define fixed selectors for every element.
For longer processes, Skyvern provides a visual workflow builder with blocks for navigation, data extraction, validation, and file handling. Teams can connect these operations, pass information between steps, and use loops or conditional logic to automate more complex procedures.
Skyvern also supports authenticated workflows through stored credentials, reusable browser profiles, and persistent sessions. Teams can use its managed cloud service or deploy the software on their own infrastructure using Docker or Kubernetes.
Why You Might Choose Skyvern
- Uses AI to interpret webpages and perform actions without relying entirely on predefined selectors.
- Provides a visual editor for building workflows with multiple steps.
- Offers Python and TypeScript SDKs alongside a REST API.
- Supports stored credentials, including TOTP-based authentication.
- Provides browser profiles and sessions for retaining state during authenticated tasks.
- Supports self-hosted deployment through Docker or Kubernetes.
Additional Highlights
Skyvern can generate reusable code from successful automation runs, allowing subsequent executions to replay recorded actions without repeating every AI inference step. If the cached code encounters an unexpected page change, Skyvern can fall back to its agent and update the cache.
5. Kernel
Best for: Teams that need isolated cloud browsers with support for traditional automation frameworks, visual computer controls, and in-browser code execution.
Kernel provides cloud-hosted Chromium browsers for AI agents and web automation. Each session runs in a dedicated virtual machine, allowing developers to execute browser tasks without managing the underlying computing infrastructure.
Developers can connect to these browsers through the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) or WebDriver BiDi, using automation tools such as Playwright. Kernel also lets applications execute Playwright code inside the browser's virtual machine, reducing the need to send every automation command from an external process.
For agents that rely on visual interaction, Kernel provides computer controls for taking screenshots and performing mouse and keyboard actions. These tools let developers build workflows around what an agent sees on the screen, rather than depending entirely on webpage selectors or structured browser data.
Kernel also supports authenticated workflows through reusable browser profiles and Managed Auth. Profiles retain browser state between sessions, while Managed Auth handles supported login procedures and can refresh expired authentication when the necessary credentials are available and no additional human verification is required.
Why You Might Choose Kernel
- Provides isolated Chromium browsers running in dedicated cloud virtual machines.
- Supports CDP and WebDriver BiDi connections for browser automation.
- Allows Playwright code to execute directly within the browser environment.
- Offers screenshot-based controls for mouse and keyboard interactions.
- Provides reusable profiles and Managed Auth for supported authentication workflows.
- Includes live browser views, session recordings, and telemetry for debugging.
Additional Highlights
Kernel offers browser pools that keep configured environments ready for repeated tasks, reducing the need to create a new browser for every job. It also supports regional browser deployment, allowing teams to run sessions closer to their applications or target websites.
6. Steel
Best for: Teams that want configurable cloud browsers with support for established automation frameworks, persistent authentication, and flexible network settings.
Steel provides cloud browser infrastructure for AI agents and web automation. Developers can create remote sessions through its API and connect their own automation code without managing the underlying browser servers.
Applications can control these sessions through the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP), using frameworks such as Playwright and Puppeteer. Steel also supports Selenium through a separate WebDriver connection that requires a compatible session configuration. This allows teams to run existing browser automation code in the cloud without adopting a new interaction framework.
For authenticated workflows, Steel offers browser profiles that preserve cookies, credentials, and other settings across sessions. Developers can load a saved profile when starting a browser and enable persistence when they want changes retained for future runs. Steel also provides a Credentials API for securely storing login details and supplying them to supported authentication forms.
Steel supports several network configurations, including residential proxies with geographic targeting, dedicated IPs, and connections to external proxy providers. It also offers optional CAPTCHA handling and settings for controlling how browser resources are loaded.
Why You Might Choose Steel
- Provides managed cloud browsers through a Sessions API.
- Supports Playwright and Puppeteer through CDP, plus Selenium through WebDriver.
- Offers reusable profiles for preserving browser state across separate tasks.
- Provides a Credentials API for storing and supplying login information.
- Supports residential proxies, dedicated IPs, and custom proxy configurations.
- Offers CAPTCHA handling and live browser views with optional human interaction.
Additional Highlights
Steel supports Chrome extensions that developers can upload and attach to browser sessions. It also provides bandwidth optimization settings for selectively blocking images, media, stylesheets, or other resources that a task does not require.
7. Stagehand
Best for: Developers who want to combine AI-powered browser interactions with precise, code-driven automation in the same workflow.
Stagehand is an open-source browser automation SDK developed by Browserbase. It allows developers to build agents that navigate websites, perform actions, and extract information using a combination of natural-language instructions and programmatic controls. Stagehand can operate with local browsers or connect to Browserbase for managed cloud execution.
Its AI capabilities center on three methods: act, extract, and observe. Developers can use act to perform an interaction described in natural language, extract to retrieve structured information, and observe to identify possible actions without executing them. These methods can be combined with familiar browser commands for tasks where developers want more direct control.
Stagehand also provides an Agent interface for carrying out multistep instructions. This allows applications to delegate a broader task to an AI agent while retaining the option to specify individual operations when the required steps are known.
In its latest architecture, Stagehand runs an extension alongside the browser to handle interactions closer to the page. It also provides Playwright-style navigation, locator, and screenshot methods, allowing developers to use conventional automation controls within the same SDK.
Why You Might Choose Stagehand
- Provides an open-source SDK for AI-powered browser automation.
- Supports natural-language actions through its act method.
- Extracts webpage information into structured outputs.
- Uses observe to identify possible interactions before execution.
- Offers an Agent interface for carrying out multistep browser tasks.
- Supports local browser execution and managed sessions through Browserbase.
Additional Highlights
Stagehand supports complex webpage structures, including nested iframes and closed Shadow DOMs, through its browser interaction tools. It also provides SDKs for TypeScript, Python, and Go, allowing developers to work with the same core browser capabilities across these languages.
8. E2B
Best for: Teams building computer-use agents that need isolated virtual desktops with graphical controls, code execution, and filesystem access.
E2B provides cloud-based computing environments for AI agents. Its Desktop Sandbox gives developers a Linux desktop where agents can interact with graphical applications, including browsers, using mouse and keyboard controls.
Each sandbox runs in an isolated microVM with its own operating system environment. Through E2B's Python and JavaScript SDKs, developers can create sandboxes, launch applications, capture screenshots, and perform desktop interactions. The application supplies the AI model or agent logic that determines which actions to take.
Beyond graphical automation, E2B supports shell commands and filesystem operations within the same environment. This allows developers to combine interface interactions with programmatic tasks, such as downloading a document, processing its contents, and opening the result in another application.
E2B also supports custom sandbox templates for preparing environments with required software and dependencies. Sandboxes can be paused and resumed with their state preserved. This makes it possible to continue supported workflows without rebuilding the entire environment.
Why You Might Choose E2B
- Provides Linux desktop environments for interacting with graphical applications.
- Runs sandboxes in isolated microVMs with separate operating system kernels.
- Offers screenshot, mouse, and keyboard controls through its Desktop SDK.
- Supports Python and JavaScript SDKs for creating and managing sandboxes.
- Combines desktop interaction with shell commands and filesystem operations.
- Allows developers to create custom templates with preinstalled software.
Additional Highlights
E2B supports live desktop streaming, allowing developers to observe running applications through a remote view. It also offers managed cloud hosting and deployment options in customer-controlled infrastructure, including BYOC arrangements for eligible enterprise customers.
9. Daytona
Best for: Teams building computer-use agents that need isolated computing environments with desktop automation, code execution, and support for Linux or Windows applications.
Daytona provides cloud-based sandboxes for running AI agents and their workloads. Its Computer Use API allows developers to automate graphical applications through mouse and keyboard controls, making it possible to perform desktop tasks alongside code execution and file operations.
Developers can capture screenshots, move the mouse, type text, and retrieve information about the desktop display. Daytona also exposes accessibility information that agents can use to identify interface elements. These capabilities are available through its SDKs and APIs, allowing teams to connect their own AI models and agent logic.
Daytona uses Linux containers by default and also offers dedicated Linux and Windows virtual machines. Windows environments can run native applications and support automation through the same Computer Use interface. Developers can also execute commands and manage files within their sandboxes.
For recurring workloads, Daytona supports snapshots that let developers prepare environments with the required software and configuration. Sandbox lifecycle controls allow environments to be stopped and restarted, while supported virtual machines can also be paused and resumed with their memory state preserved. These options help teams manage resources without rebuilding environments for every task.
Why You Might Choose Daytona
- Provides isolated sandboxes for AI agents and desktop automation.
- Offers Computer Use APIs for screenshots, mouse actions, and keyboard input.
- Supports Linux containers and dedicated Linux or Windows virtual machines.
- Provides SDKs for Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, and Ruby.
- Combines graphical automation with command execution and filesystem operations.
- Supports reusable snapshots for preparing environments with required software.
Additional Highlights
Daytona provides browser-based VNC access, allowing developers to observe and manually interact with graphical applications running inside a sandbox. Its Computer Use API also supports screen recording, giving teams a way to capture desktop activity for debugging and reviewing automated tasks.
Which Computer Use Platform for AI Agents Should You Choose?
Choose Anchor Browser if...
You want managed cloud browsers with persistent authentication, configurable sessions, and tools for turning browser workflows into reusable automation.
Choose Browserbase if...
You want managed cloud browsers with session debugging, reusable browser contexts, and support for established automation frameworks and AI agent tooling.
Choose Browser Use if...
You want a browser agent framework that can carry out tasks using AI, with the option to run agents locally or through a managed cloud service.
Choose Skyvern if...
You want AI-powered browser automation for multistep workflows, with a visual workflow builder, authentication handling, and self-hosting options.
Choose Kernel if...
You want isolated cloud browsers with access to the underlying virtual machine, support for standard automation protocols, and browser pools for larger workloads.
Choose Steel if...
You want configurable cloud browsers with persistent profiles, flexible proxy settings, and support for Playwright, Puppeteer, and Selenium.
Choose Stagehand if...
You want an open-source SDK that combines natural-language browser actions, structured data extraction, and direct browser controls, without requiring a managed browser service.
Choose E2B if...
You want isolated Linux desktops where agents can interact with graphical applications, execute commands, and manage files in the same environment.
Choose Daytona if...
You want configurable sandboxes for desktop automation, with Linux environments, access-controlled Windows options, and reusable snapshots for recurring workloads.
