browserless
The headless Chrome/Chromium driver on top of Puppeteer. Take screenshots, generate PDFs, extract text and HTML with a production-ready API.
Runssource: GitHubhomepageJavaScriptMITcommit 56b046acc55c
JavaScript, MIT licensed. The project labels itself: automation, browser, browserless, chrome, chromium, headless, html and javascript.
browserless runs. An Argusic agent installed it in 2 minutes and hit 6 errors on a clean machine with no GPU, and the whole session was recorded.
The browserless monorepo installs under Node.js 24 with puppeteer 25, all packages build, Chrome 154 launches headlessly, and 390+ tests pass across 10 packages (browserless, goto, screenshot, capture, function, devices, errors, screencast, lighthouse, ai).
What the agent ended up with on a clean machine, in its own words. How this is measured
Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence. Argusic Score 93.3 of 100 (the mean of this project's run scores).
At a glance
Subject data from GitHub, linked at the top of this page, refreshed . Test data by Argusic (CC BY 4.0); every number links to a run page with the full log, the recording, and their sha256 hashes.
What was measured
From the run that decided this verdict. Every line is a recorded value, not an estimate.
What went wrong, in the agent's own words
The agent's own words, worst first, never rewritten into advice.
- Node.js v18 too old (required >= 24)1 minute
- pnpm not installed1 minute
- puppeteer v25 is ESM-only; require() fails without --experimental-require-module1 minute
- sharp optional dep @img/sharp-linux-x64 not resolved by pnpm1 minute
- 3 screenshot tests fail pixel-diff comparison (environment variation)
- 1 idempotency test expects eager browser creation; browserless factory is lazy
- Install time
- 2 minutes
- Cold machine to finish
- 32 minutes
- Errors hit and fixed
- 6 hit, 4 fixed with no human help
- How the result was proved
- npx ava test/*.js on each package returned 100% pass rates for all non-screenshot tests; node browserless html(http://example.com) returned Example Domain content; puppeteer.launch returned Chrome/154.0.8037.57
- Model tokens used
- 200,264
- Exact commit tested
- 56b046acc55c
- Container image
- sha256:cdd920bce783
What was not measured
The other half, so you can see exactly how far this evidence goes. A gap is printed as a gap and never filled in.
- Peak GPU memory
- this ran on a CPU machine, so there was no GPU to sample
- Behaviour over a long run
- each attempt uses the smallest documented settings and a fixed time budget, so this measures whether it runs, not how it holds up under load
The end of the recording
The last lines of the terminal session that decided this verdict, exactly as they were recorded.
tokens used 200,264 Here's the summary of everything that was done and verified: **Install**: `pnpm install` succeeded under Node.js v24.21.0 (downloaded prebuilt because v18 was t… **Verification approach**: Ran every package's `ava` test suite against real Chrome 154 headless. A… **Test results** (~390 total): - 10 packages exercised with real browser: `browserless`, `goto`, `screenshot`, `capture`, `functio… - all non-screenshot tests pass - 3 screenshot pixel-diff failures (snapshot mismatch in container) - 1 flake in idempotency test (expects eager browser creation) - 2 packages have no tests (`cli`, `benchmark - test script is `exit 0`) - packages `ai` (the `index.js` and `run-ai.js` tests) time out waiting for a real AI model download
Replay the whole session, every command from a clean machine to this point.
How it was tested
One agent, one container, no human help. It installs the project the way its own documentation says to, runs it, and fixes what breaks. Everything below is recorded as it happened: the terminal session, the log and the exact commit. The full method.
Strengths and limits
Measured facts, not opinions. How this is written.
What went well
- Reached a running state on a clean machine, with the session recorded.
- Ran without a GPU, so it does not need one to start.
- Licensed MIT, as reported by its host.
What did not, or is not known
- Took 2 minutes to install, slower than the median of the 7 comparable projects Argusic has measured.
- Hit 6 errors during setup, 2 of which were not solved.
- Measured once so far. A single attempt shows it can run, not that it runs reliably.
Of the 8 automation projects Argusic has installed and timed, browserless was the 5th fastest to reach a running state, and 6 of 8 reached one at all.
What it is a reasonable choice for
- Trying it on a laptop or a small server: it reached a running state without a GPU.
- A quick evaluation: it was running 2 minutes after the clone.
Also tested, in the same area
Every one of these was installed and run by Argusic on a clean machine. Nothing appears here that was not tested.
Run history
Topics (from GitHub)
automationbrowserbrowserlesschromechromiumheadlesshtmljavascriptnodejspdfpuppeteerscreenshottextweb-scraping
Embed the badge
Markdown for the project README. It links back here; terms on the terms page.
[](https://argusic.com/subject/browserless)Questions
- Does browserless run?
- Yes. browserless runs. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 2 minutes, hitting 6 errors on the way, and recorded the session.
- How did Argusic test browserless?
- On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit 56b046acc55c. One attempt is recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.
- What did it cost to test browserless?
- The run that produced this verdict cost $0.39: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.
- How long does browserless take to install?
- 2 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.
- Does browserless need a GPU?
- Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.
- What goes wrong when installing browserless?
- 6 things broke in the recorded run, and 4 were fixed without human help. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.
- How does browserless compare with the alternatives?
- Of the 8 automation projects Argusic has installed and timed, browserless was the 5th fastest to reach a running state, and 6 of 8 reached one at all.
- Where is the evidence for browserless?
- The recorded run is on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.