compare
Lightpanda vs Steel Browser
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | Lightpanda | Steel Browser |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Zig | TypeScript |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Stars | 42k | 7.9k |
| Latest | 1.0.3 | v0.5.5-beta |
| Last push | 2026-11-12 | 2026-11-09 |
| Release cadence | about 13 days between releases | about 92 days between releases |
| Active contributors | 18+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 9 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | Unusual star burst | none |
How they relate
Both replace Browserbase. Alternatives to Browserbase →
PartialLightpandaHeadless browser built for automation that speaks CDP to Puppeteer and Playwright; not a hosted session service.
Full replacementSteel BrowserA browser API for agents with sessions, proxies and Puppeteer or Playwright access, on your own server.
Lightpanda
- 1.0.4-rc12026-11-11pre-release
- 1.0.32026-11-05serve: the --http-max-concurrent default now follows --cdp-max-connections (8× it, between 40 and 256). With the defaul…
- 1.0.22026-10-23JS page errors now log under a new page_error scope at WARN (silence with --log-filter).
- 1.0.12026-10-15setImmediate and clearImmediate were removed (deprecated, not part of the web platform).
- 1.0.02026-10-02getComputedStyle results are now read-only.
Steel Browser
- v0.5.5-beta2026-10-31Release v0.5.5-beta
- v0.5.4-beta2026-08-25Release v0.5.4-beta
- v0.5.3-beta2026-04-24Release v0.5.3-beta
- v0.5.2-beta2026-03-15Release v0.5.2-beta
- v0.5.1-beta2025-11-19Release v0.5.1-beta
Lightpanda
✓ signed The latest release, 1.0.3, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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Steel Browser
✓ signed The latest release, v0.5.5-beta, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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