Backend Roadmap
BrowserCat routes each session to the browser backend best suited for the job. This page tracks which backends are live, landing, or planned, and what each one brings to the table.
We don’t ship dates we can’t keep, so you won’t find any here, just an honest status for each backend. For how the router itself works, see How BrowserCat Works.
Status at a glance
| Backend | Status | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | ✅ Live | Fast headless Chromium on the global edge |
| Steel | 🟡 Landing | Bring-your-own proxy (stealth & CAPTCHA later) |
| Own fleet | ⏭ Planned | Firefox, WebKit, headed, custom flags |
| Lightpanda | ⏭ Planned | Ultra-fast cold-starts |
| Browserbase | ⏭ Planned | Premium & failover option |
Cloudflare — live ✅
Every /connect session runs here today on Cloudflare Browser Rendering.
- Engine: headless Chromium
- Reach: served from close to your request, low latency worldwide
- Spin-up: predictable, with no cold-start surprises
- Pricing: $0.09 per browser-hour, pay only for what you use
This is the default for the vast majority of jobs.
Steel — landing 🟡
Our second backend, for sessions that need something Cloudflare can’t do today.
- Landing now: bring-your-own proxy, route a session through your own proxy provider for geo-targeting, residential IPs, or bandwidth control
- Later: heavier anti-bot work such as stealth and CAPTCHA handling
The router sends a session to Steel when it requests a capability Steel provides.
Own fleet — planned ⏭
A fleet we run ourselves, for cases third parties don’t cover well yet.
- Planned: Firefox and WebKit engines
- Planned: headed browsers
- Planned: custom launch flags
When a job needs a specific engine or tweak, we want a backend we fully control to guarantee it.
Lightpanda — planned ⏭
A backend focused on raw speed.
- Planned: ultra-fast cold-starts, for when you want a browser almost instantly and don’t need a full Chromium for the task
Browserbase — planned ⏭
Another high-quality backend for the router to lean on.
- Planned: a premium and failover option, more room for the router to route around trouble or reach for extra muscle when it’s the right call
What stays true at every step
No matter how the backend list grows:
- One API key, one connection. You authenticate with BrowserCat, not with any single provider.
- No vendor lock-in. You’re never tied to one vendor’s roadmap or pricing page.
- Automatic failover. When a provider has a bad day, the router can route around it to a healthy backend.
Have a backend or capability you’d love to see? Let us know, we’re always listening.