head to head · open source
Skyvern vs Steel
Skyvern has 23,020 GitHub stars, 2,165 forks, 234 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Steel has 7,655 stars, 979 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Skyvern leads on adoption by 201% (23,020 vs 7,655 stars). Skyvern is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; Steel is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Skyvern has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Steel 13%. Skyvern was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai, browser-automation, llm), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Skyvern | Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 7.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 979 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Skyvern if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Steel if
- You want the Steel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Steel fits your workflow better
About Skyvern
Skyvern is an open source Python project for automating browser based workflows with LLMs and computer vision. It lives in the browser automation and AI agent ecosystem, and it provides a Playwright compatible SDK that adds AI functionality on top of Playwright. The project also includes a no code workflow builder, so technical users can work through code while non technical users can define tasks through the interface.
read the full Skyvern overview →
About Steel
Steel is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed browser API written in TypeScript that gives AI agents and applications cloud browser sessions, so teams can automate the web without building browser infrastructure from scratch.
read the full Steel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Skyvern or Steel more popular?
Skyvern has 23,020 GitHub stars and Steel has 7,655. Skyvern has the larger community by that measure.
Are Skyvern and Steel free?
Both are open source. Skyvern is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Steel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Skyvern and Steel?
Skyvern is written in Python and Steel in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Skyvern or Steel?
Choose Skyvern if you want the larger community (23,020 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Steel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.