Can the provider start and run the fleet you need?
Concurrent sessions, session creation rate and HTTP request rate are different limits. A plan that allows a hundred open browsers may still need time to start them. Polling or retrying without a budget can exhaust API capacity before the browser cap is reached.
If a thousand jobs arrive together but only fifty browser slots are available, queue jobs before allocating browsers. Starting all jobs immediately can turn ordinary capacity management into timeouts, retries and idle browser charges.
Compare operational limits
Steel: Steel's pricing and limits page describes hosted account entitlements. For a self-hosted deployment, capacity depends on the resources and orchestration you operate as well as the browser process.
Tilion: Arena's observed test concurrency is a test configuration, not an account entitlement. Obtain the production concurrency and session creation limits for your access tier before sizing a fleet.
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗tilion.com [2] ↗
Compare the browser lifecycle
Steel: Steel sessions expose browser connection details for existing automation code. Create and release the owned session through Steel's lifecycle API; a browser library is the controller, not the infrastructure scheduler.
Tilion: BrowserArena includes a Tilion session integration. The reviewed public Tilion homepage does not publish the full session API contract; obtain the supported connection and lifecycle instructions through its access flow.
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗tilion.com [2] ↗
Compare the billing contract
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.
Tilion: Arena provides an estimated usage rate for its test. The reviewed public homepage does not establish a self-serve production plan, allowances or overage terms. Obtain those terms before quoting a monthly bill.
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗tilion.com [2] ↗
How to evaluate this choice
A quota table establishes what an account may request. A measured concurrency curve establishes how the tested workload behaved. Keep both in the decision and avoid extrapolating a single-session result to a large fleet.
- Specify the number of simultaneously open browsers and the burst arrival rate.
- Measure time until every requested browser is ready for work.
- Record rate limits and honor the returned retry delay.
- Cap worker concurrency and keep queued tasks outside browser sessions.
- Include failed starts and cleanup in the load test's result.
Requirements side by side
| Requirement | Steel | Tilion |
|---|---|---|
| Browser control | Documented | Arena integration |
| Saved browser state | Documented | Not established |
| Code execution | External worker | Not established |
| Deployment choice | Documented | Not established |
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗docs.steel.dev [2] ↗docs.steel.dev [3] ↗docs.steel.dev [4] ↗docs.steel.dev [5] ↗docs.steel.dev [6] ↗tilion.com [7] ↗
Which approach fits?
Choose Steel when you want browser infrastructure that can fit a self-hosted deployment, with profiles and credentials available through browser-focused APIs.
Steel tradeoff: 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.
Choose Tilion when you can obtain access and test the product directly, with its current API and commercial terms in hand.
Tilion tradeoff: Arena measurements do not establish public availability or feature completeness. Confirm access, API details and plan terms before planning a production migration.
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗tilion.com [2] ↗
A useful acceptance check
Write a pass/fail result for the real task before running the evaluation. Record the account, configuration and code version next to that result. Repeat failures need an explanation, not an automatically different browser configuration.
When Notte belongs on this shortlist
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.
The reviewed Tilion homepage offers a waitlist and contact route. Arena's tested integration is useful evidence about a run, but a purchasing or migration decision still needs a documented access, state and execution contract; those unknowns must remain visible beside Notte's public docs.
Notte: Create an owned browser session, connect Playwright or Puppeteer over CDP, and stop the session when the work finishes. Browser lifecycle management remains necessary even when the control socket disconnects.
Consider this third option when its documented mechanism addresses a requirement left open by the two providers above. A working configuration on either original provider can still be the better choice; compare the task and ownership cost before switching.
Sources: docs.steel.dev [1] ↗tilion.com [2] ↗docs.notte.cc [3] ↗