Quick answer
BrowserCat - BrowserCat wins for most builders who want a free tier with no card, huge concurrency, and a cleaner path for lightweight automation; Hyperbrowser wins only if you need more included credits, session retention, or want to start without entering a credit card.
How the free tiers compare
These two free tiers solve the same basic problem, but they emphasize different constraints. BrowserCat’s free plan is built around very high concurrency and a small included credit pool, so it fits bursty testing, scraping, and automation jobs where parallelism matters more than depth. Hyperbrowser gives you more included credits and a longer data retention window, but the free tier is much tighter on concurrency and scope, so it feels more like a small sandbox than a roomy starter plan. The paid paths also diverge: BrowserCat starts at a $0 hobby tier with per-credit overages and then moves to a $50 usage-based business tier, while Hyperbrowser starts at $30/month plus additional usage and then scales in larger tier jumps. If you care about not needing a card, Hyperbrowser has that advantage on the free tier. If you care about room to run many browser sessions, BrowserCat is the better free starting point.
BrowserCat vs Hyperbrowser free tier, side by side
| BrowserCatFTV 35 | HyperbrowserFTV 34 | |
|---|---|---|
| Included creditsBrowserCat is capped at 1,000 free credits; Hyperbrowser includes 5,000. | 1,000 credits/month | 5,000 credits |
| ConcurrencyBrowserCat is far more generous on parallelism. | Up to 1,000 concurrent requests | 1 concurrent browser session |
| Data retentionOnly Hyperbrowser lists retention on the free tier. | Not specified | 7 days |
| Credit card requiredBrowserCat requires a card; Hyperbrowser does not on the free tier. | false | true |
| Basic supportBrowserCat explicitly includes basic email support. | Basic email support included | Not specified |
After you outgrow the free tier
BrowserCat uses a usage-based model: the Hobby plan is $0/month with overage charges at $0.0025 per extra credit, then Business starts at $50/month with a lower extra-credit rate of $0.00175. Hyperbrowser uses tiered pricing: Startup is $30/month plus additional usage, Scale is $100/month plus additional usage, and Enterprise is custom. The cheapest entry is Hyperbrowser, but BrowserCat is cheaper if you only need the free tier or if your usage stays tiny. At higher usage, BrowserCat’s lower starting cost can still matter, but exact comparisons beyond the stated overage rates are not available for Hyperbrowser.
Cost at real usage
| Usage | BrowserCat | Hyperbrowser |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 credits/moHyperbrowser’s first paid tier starts at $30/month; free tier credits are included only on BrowserCat. | Free (within tier) | ~$30/mo |
| 10,000 credits/moBrowserCat estimate uses 9,000 extra credits at $0.0025 each. Hyperbrowser additional usage rate is not provided. | ~$22.50/mo est. | ~$30/mo plus additional usage |
| 30,000 credits/moBrowserCat estimate uses 29,000 extra credits at $0.0025 each. Hyperbrowser’s included credits cover 30,000 on Startup, but extra-usage pricing is not given. | ~$72.50/mo est. | $30/mo plus additional usage |
| 100,000 credits/moBrowserCat estimate uses 99,000 extra credits at $0.0025 each. Hyperbrowser’s Scale tier includes 100,000 credits, but overage rates are not provided. | ~$247.50/mo est. | $100/mo plus additional usage |
Estimates, not quotes. Usage-based rates change - verify with the vendor's pricing page before committing.
When to pick each one
Pick BrowserCat when…
- You need to run many parallel browser sessions for test bursts or scraping jobs.
- You want a free tier with 1,000 concurrent requests instead of a single browser session.
- You are mostly doing short automation runs and do not need much included credit volume.
- You want a simple free entry point for Playwright, Puppeteer, or CDP workflows.
- You expect to stay near the free tier and care more about concurrency than retention.
Pick Hyperbrowser when…
- You want 5,000 included credits instead of 1,000.
- You need to keep browser data for 7 days on the free tier.
- You want to try the product without a credit card requirement.
- You are exploring AI agent workflows alongside scraping and testing.
- You expect to move into a tier with more included credits and larger browser counts soon.
Bottom line
For the most common builder case, BrowserCat is the better free tier if you want to run real browser automation without a card and with high concurrency. Hyperbrowser is the better free tier if you value more included credits and 7-day retention, and you are fine with only one concurrent browser session. Once you outgrow free, BrowserCat’s usage-based overages are easier to reason about from the data provided, while Hyperbrowser’s tiered pricing leaves more cost unknowns.
Read the full listings: BrowserCat and Hyperbrowser. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.