Compare Gaffa vs. Steel.dev

Gaffa is a REST API built for web scraping and browser automation, allowing developers to run real, full browsers at scale with a single API call. It removes the difficulty of managing headless browser frameworks, rotating proxies, CAPTCHA solving, and scaling infrastructure, all of which are handled automatically. JavaScript-heavy and dynamic websites render exactly as they would for a human visitor by default. Beyond standard scraping, Gaffa supports AI-driven structured data extraction (extract data into a defined schema without writing CSS selectors), screenshot and PDF capture, infinite-scroll and form-filling automation, and clean Markdown conversion for feeding webpages directly into LLM and RAG pipelines. A rotating residential proxy network keeps access reliable across regions, and a credit-based pricing model means teams pay only for the browser time and bandwidth they actually use. Gaffa is designed for AI engineers, data teams, and developers who want production-grade web data extraction without having to build and maintain their own infrastructure.

Steel is a versatile open-source browser API that enables the management of numerous cloud-based browsers. It simplifies browser automation for tasks ranging from extensive scraping operations to completely autonomous web agents, allowing users to initiate browser sessions on demand through straightforward API requests. With integrated CAPTCHA solving capabilities, Steel ensures uninterrupted automation processes. Its user-friendly controls help minimize the risk of being flagged as a bot. Typically, a session can commence in under one second if the client is located in the same region. Each session has the flexibility to run for as little as one minute or extend up to 24 hours. Users can easily save and inject cookies and local storage to seamlessly continue from where they left off. Additionally, Steel supports running Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium in the cloud with ease. The Session Viewer feature provides the ability to observe and troubleshoot both live and recorded sessions, enhancing the overall user experience. This comprehensive toolset makes it a valuable resource for developers looking to harness the power of browser automation in a cloud environment.