# Browser automation for agents: which vendors AI models recommend (September 2026)

Source: Memetik Index, https://www.memetik.ai/index/browser-agents
Field: AI infra. Edition: 2026-09. Run: 2026-09-02.
Method: 5 fixed buyer prompts sent once each to 10 current models (GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Fable 5, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Sonar Pro, Sonar Reasoning Pro) via their APIs with web search enabled. 50 answers. Answer share = fraction of answers naming the vendor. Named first = fraction where it was the first tracked vendor named.

**Playwright leads** with 96% answer share (named in 48 of 50 answers) and was named first in 42%. Stagehand follows at 82%. 15 vendors were named at least once.

## Answer share

| # | Vendor | Answer share | Named first | Mentions | Models |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Playwright | 96% | 42% | 48/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 2 | Stagehand | 82% | 14% | 41/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 3 | Browserbase | 82% | 2% | 41/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 4 | Browser Use | 80% | 30% | 40/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 5 | Skyvern | 54% | 0% | 27/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 6 | Selenium | 48% | 2% | 24/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 7 | Puppeteer | 48% | 0% | 24/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 8 | Bright Data | 42% | 4% | 21/50 | Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 9 | Steel | 34% | 0% | 17/50 | Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 10 | Firecrawl | 28% | 2% | 14/50 | Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 11 | Cypress | 18% | 0% | 9/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 12 | BrowserAct | 16% | 4% | 8/50 | Claude Opus 5, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 13 | Kernel | 12% | 0% | 6/50 | Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 14 | Hyperbrowser | 8% | 0% | 4/50 | Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini 3.5 Flash |
| 15 | Anchor | 6% | 0% | 3/50 | Claude, Claude Fable 5 |

## By model

- **GPT-5.6 Sol** (OpenAI, gpt-5.6-sol, 5 answers): Playwright 100%, Stagehand 80%, Browserbase 80%, Browser Use 60%, Skyvern 60%
- **GPT-5.6 Terra** (OpenAI, gpt-5.6-terra, 5 answers): Playwright 100%, Stagehand 80%, Browserbase 40%, Browser Use 40%, Selenium 40%
- **GPT-5.6 Luna** (OpenAI, gpt-5.6-luna, 5 answers): Playwright 100%, Stagehand 80%, Browserbase 80%, Selenium 80%, Puppeteer 80%
- **Claude Opus 5** (Anthropic, claude-opus-5, 5 answers): Playwright 100%, Stagehand 100%, Browserbase 100%, Browser Use 100%, Bright Data 80%
- **Claude Sonnet 5** (Anthropic, claude-sonnet-5, 5 answers): Playwright 100%, Stagehand 100%, Browserbase 100%, Browser Use 100%, Bright Data 100%
- **Claude Fable 5** (Anthropic, claude-fable-5, 5 answers): Stagehand 100%, Browserbase 100%, Browser Use 100%, Playwright 80%, Skyvern 80%
- **Gemini 3.6 Flash** (Google, gemini-3.6-flash, 5 answers): Playwright 100%, Stagehand 100%, Browserbase 80%, Skyvern 60%, Puppeteer 60%
- **Gemini 3.5 Flash** (Google, gemini-3.5-flash, 5 answers): Playwright 100%, Browser Use 100%, Browserbase 80%, Selenium 80%, Puppeteer 80%
- **Sonar Pro** (Perplexity, sonar-pro, 5 answers): Playwright 100%, Browser Use 100%, Firecrawl 100%, Browserbase 80%, Stagehand 60%
- **Sonar Reasoning Pro** (Perplexity, sonar-reasoning-pro, 5 answers): Browser Use 100%, Playwright 80%, Stagehand 80%, Browserbase 80%, Skyvern 80%

## Sources the models cited

- scrapfly.io: 125
- firecrawl.dev: 87
- brightdata.com: 83
- youtube.com: 80
- mastra.ai: 60
- unbrowse.ai: 58
- github.com: 42
- reddit.com: 32
- usecarly.com: 26
- skyvern.com: 24
- nodemaven.com: 24
- browseract.com: 20
- browserless.io: 20
- browserbase.com: 19
- stagehand.dev: 18

## Prompts

1. What is the best browser automation tool for AI agents? Name specific products.
2. Which browser automation tool would you recommend to AI agents in 2026?
3. Compare the top browser automation tool options right now.
4. I'm AI agents and I need a browser automation tool. What should I use and why?
5. Best browser automation tool for AI agents to let an agent use websites?

## Tracked but never named

Apify, Notte

Raw answers: https://www.memetik.ai/index/browser-agents (every answer published in full). Chart image: https://www.memetik.ai/charts/browser-agents.png. Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit "Memetik Index".