Decide whether this move earns its cost
A controller loses its connection midway through a safe task and attempts to continue. Starting a fresh browser is not always equivalent to reconnecting to a live page.
Steel's managed and self-hosted choices make infrastructure ownership a concrete deciding factor. Keep that option on the shortlist when operating the browser is intentional; evaluate Notte when owning fewer execution and authentication components is the actual goal.
Evaluate Notte when browser ownership can be tracked independently of a transient controller socket. Confirm the supported reconnection path and distinguish it from loading a saved profile.
A provider's documented reconnect product can be decisive for a workflow that depends on a live page. Do not replace it with profile persistence without changing the task's continuation design.
Keep the result contract stable
A page with unsaved in-memory state, a stored provider session reference and a controlled controller interruption.
The application determines whether the original browser is still alive and either resumes the expected state or explicitly restarts the task.
Preserve the evidence contract across the move: Original session reference, page-state marker, connection interruption and resume-or-restart decision.
Map the workflow's resources
| Requirement | Steel | Notte |
|---|---|---|
| Browser control | Documented | Documented |
| Saved browser state | Documented | Documented |
| Live view | Documented | Documented |
| Deployment choice | Documented | Enterprise options |
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗docs.steel.dev [2] ↗docs.steel.dev [3] ↗docs.steel.dev [4] ↗docs.notte.cc [5] ↗docs.notte.cc [6] ↗docs.notte.cc [7] ↗docs.notte.cc [8] ↗
What survives a session
Steel: The Profiles API documents reusable browser context, cookies, extensions, credentials and browser settings. Steel also documents lighter auth-context reuse, which should not be confused with a complete profile.
Notte: Profiles save cookies, local storage and session storage. Sessions start with fresh state by default. Persisting a profile writes state back when the session ends; a running session can also save its state explicitly.
Website login
Steel: Steel's Credentials API stores credentials for users or agents. Its cookbook demonstrates using stored credentials with Playwright, while profiles and auth contexts preserve signed-in browser state.
Notte: Vaults substitute credential placeholders in supported browser actions outside the model context. Managed Auth checks requested saved connections before automation. Personas supply an inbox and optional phone number for verification workflows.
Deployment ownership
Steel: Compare managed Steel with the documented self-hosted path explicitly. Self-hosting gives the team infrastructure responsibility that a hosted browser subscription would otherwise cover.
Notte: Use a remote browser from your existing process or deploy the browser automation as a Notte Function. These choices put lifecycle, scheduling and monitoring responsibilities in different places.
Pricing model
Steel: Hosted browser plans and a self-hosted browser have different cost structures. For self-hosting, include the worker, compute, networking, storage and operations rather than assigning the open-source code a zero operating cost.
Notte: The public usage rates are $0.01 per browser-hour, $0.05 per Function-hour and $10 per GB of managed proxy traffic. Paid plans return their price as usage credits. Price the relevant meters and plan eligibility for the workload.
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗notte.cc [2] ↗
Cut over one responsibility at a time
For this Steel-to-Notte migration, keep the business assertion outside provider resource management. Source profile, connection, file and execution IDs are not valid target IDs; use a documented transfer path or establish the corresponding resource in Notte.
Retain source job history and a rollback route until the target pilot passes. A migration checklist is not evidence that saved state or runtime behavior is automatically portable.
- Inventory which steps depend on unsaved page state.
- Test the target session's documented connection path before moving continuation logic.
- Retain a restart path for ended sessions and verify that cleanup still occurs.
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗docs.notte.cc [2] ↗docs.notte.cc [3] ↗
A proposed acceptance case
This is an evaluation design, not a claim that this workflow has been executed successfully on every provider.
| Part of the test | Required observation |
|---|---|
| Controlled input | A page with unsaved in-memory state, a stored provider session reference and a controlled controller interruption. |
| Pass condition | The application determines whether the original browser is still alive and either resumes the expected state or explicitly restarts the task. |
| Negative case | Repeat the reconnect after the browser has ended. The application must not treat a new session or restored profile as the original live page. |
| Evidence to retain | Original session reference, page-state marker, connection interruption and resume-or-restart decision. |
A reason to delay or keep the source
Repeat the reconnect after the browser has ended. The application must not treat a new session or restored profile as the original live page.
Steel: Hosted and self-hosted Steel are different operating choices. A cloud feature's documentation does not establish identical packaging, retention or operational support in a self-hosted installation.
Delay cutover when the target's selected plan, required artifact path or supported website-account flow is not established. Resolve that gap before moving real jobs, even if the rate comparison favors the target.
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗notte.cc [2] ↗