How much does Kernel cost?

Developer free plus usage ($5 monthly credits); Hobbyist $30 a month and Start-Up $200 a month, each plus per second usage; Enterprise custom.

What are the best alternatives to Kernel?

Based on documented capability coverage across the Agentic Index 14 point taxonomy, the closest alternatives to Kernel among agent infrastructure platforms are Browserless, Steel, Anchor Browser, Lakera. Each is graded on the same public evidence, and no vendor pays for placement.

Does Kernel support MCP and tool calling?

Full under the Agentic Index verification standard. Kernel publishes public evidence of Model Context Protocol (MCP) support, tool calling, and API or SDK extensibility for connecting agents to external tools. Evidence basis: Outside code calls Kernel through an API described by an OpenAPI 3.1 specification at kernel.sh/openapi.json, with an API reference at api.onkernel.com. There are official TypeScript, Python and Go SDKs, a CLI, and a hosted MCP server at mc. Graded from public evidence only against the Agentic Index 14 point capability taxonomy. No vendor pays for placement.

Does Kernel have SOC 2, SSO and role based access control?

Full under the Agentic Index verification standard. Kernel publishes public evidence of enterprise security and identity controls, covering a compliance posture such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001, single sign on (SSO or SAML), and role based access control (RBAC). Evidence basis: Projects isolate browsers, profiles, credentials and deployments, API keys are scoped to the org or project with expiry and rotation, and Enterprise adds single sign on. Kernel holds SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS and ISO 27001 attestations,. Graded from public evidence only against the Agentic Index 14 point capability taxonomy. No vendor pays for placement.

Can Kernel be self hosted or run in a private VPC?

Full under the Agentic Index verification standard. Kernel publishes public evidence of self hosted or private VPC deployment, along with data residency options for controlling where agent data is processed and stored. Evidence basis: A region is chosen per browser or browser pool from us-east, eu-west and ap-southeast on Start-Up and Enterprise plans, with us-east the default. Kernel frames the choice as one of latency, and regional support for apps and invocations is n. Graded from public evidence only against the Agentic Index 14 point capability taxonomy. No vendor pays for placement.

Back to vendors

Kernel

Q: Who is Kernel for?

AI agent developers, startups, Series B+ enterprises building automation

Also known as: kernel.sh, onkernel

Visit site

Agent infrastructureindependentVerified 2026-09-27

Entry priceDeveloper free plus usage ($5 credits a month); Hobbyist $30 a month plus usage; Start-Up $200 plus usage; Enterprise customFull pricing detail

Cloud browsers for AI agents: isolated Chromium sessions agents drive by computer controls, Playwright or CDP, with managed auth, vaults and agent payments, live view, replays and telemetry, regional browsers, an OpenAPI API, SDKs, CLI and hosted MCP server.

Kernel runs isolated cloud Chromium browsers that an agent can drive when a website has no API: navigating, signing in, filling forms and moving files, through a computer controls API, Playwright execution, CDP or WebDriver BiDi, in headless, headful or GPU modes.

Browser profiles, standby mode and browser pools keep sessions ready; stealth mode, proxies and CAPTCHA handling help permitted automation through bot detection; Managed Auth logs agents in with user approved profiles, vaults fill credentials without exposing them, and wallet integrations let agents pay with an approval step before a purchase executes. Customers can also deploy their own code as Kernel apps invoked through the API.

For operations, Kernel offers a read and write live view, session replays, browser telemetry exportable to OTLP, and organization audit logs kept for a year. Projects and scoped API keys separate environments, browsers can run in us-east, eu-west or ap-southeast on higher plans, and Kernel lists SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS and ISO 27001 attestations. It offers an OpenAPI 3.1 specification, TypeScript, Python and Go SDKs, a CLI and a hosted MCP server, with integrations for Browser Use, Stagehand, Claude, the Vercel AI SDK and computer use models.

Vendor details

Canonical URL

https://www.kernel.sh

Funding status

Not stated on the pages read; kernel.sh says it is used by more than 11,000 teams building agents

Company status

independent

Use cases & customers

Primary use cases

cloud browsers for computer-use agentspersistent authenticated sessions across workflowsagent hosting as HTTPS endpointsstealth web automation with proxies and CAPTCHA solvingagent run debugging via live views and replays

Target customers

AI agent developersstartupsSeries B+ enterprises building automation

Deployment options

cloud browsers in us-east, eu-west or ap-southeasthosted apps runtimezero data retention on Enterprise

Integrations

Integration guides for Browser Use, Stagehand, the Claude Agent SDK, Claude Code and Desktop, the Vercel AI SDK, Replit, Hermes Agent, Laminar, Terraform, 1Password and computer use models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini and others; wallet integrations with Stripe Link and Agentcard; OpenAPI API, SDKs, CLI and hosted MCP server.

In practice

Your agent has to sign in to a supplier portal that has no API and download invoices every week. Your scheduler calls a Kernel browser, Managed Auth signs the agent in through a page where you approve the login, and a saved browser profile keeps the session for the next run.

A shopping agent should never complete a purchase on its own. With the Agentcard wallet integration, Kernel holds each recognized checkout request until a person approves it, and the live view lets you take over the browser if something looks wrong.

A computer use agent built on Anthropic or OpenAI models keeps failing on certain sites. You run it in Kernel's cloud browsers with stealth mode and proxies, then watch the session replay and browser telemetry to see what it saw and did.

Sources & related URLs

Research sources

https://www.kernel.sh https://www.kernel.sh/llms.txt https://www.kernel.sh/docs/llms.txt https://www.kernel.sh/pricing https://www.kernel.sh/security

Agentic Index coverage score

8.5 / 14 capabilities · 61%

Integrations & Tool Calling	Full
A named integration catalog puts a Kernel browser inside Browser Use, Stagehand, the Claude Agent SDK and Claude Code, the Vercel AI SDK, Replit, Hermes Agent and computer use models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Gemini. Agents can also act with authentication. Managed Auth logs agents in to outside sites with profiles the user approves, vaults fill stored credentials without exposing them, and wallet integrations with Stripe Link and Agentcard let agents pay. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/integrations/overviewread 2026-09-27
Workflow Orchestration	Partial
Customer code runs on Kernel as apps with named actions, invoked synchronously or asynchronously with status streaming, and browser pools keep browsers ready for repeated work. The workflow logic itself lives in the customer's agent, and there is no workflow model for multi step or multi agent work. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/apps/invokeread 2026-09-27
Knowledge Grounding & RAG	Not documented
There is no knowledge grounding or retrieval layer. Kernel supplies browsers and their runtime, and the pages the agent reads are web work done at run time. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/llms.txtread 2026-09-27
Human Oversight & Guardrails	Full
Purchases wait for approval. Wallet integrations supply hosted purchase approval, and for Agentcard, Kernel holds a recognized checkout request for approval before it executes. Managed Auth sends logins through a hosted page where the user approves and enters credentials or MFA, and a live view with read and write access lets a person take over a running browser. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/browsers/paymentsread 2026-09-27
Security, Identity & Governance	Full
Projects isolate browsers, profiles, credentials and deployments, API keys are scoped to the org or project with expiry and rotation, and Enterprise adds single sign on. Kernel holds SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS and ISO 27001 attestations, with reports on request through trust.kernel.sh, and GDPR is in progress. Sourcekernel.sh/securityread 2026-09-27
Observability & Auditability	Full
A live view, session replays with retention by plan, browser telemetry that can be read or streamed and exported to OTLP destinations, and app logs show what ran. Organization audit logs record every authenticated API request and are kept for one year, with search, download and continuous S3 export on higher plans. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/info/audit-logsread 2026-09-27
Memory & State Persistence	Not documented
Browser profiles save cookies and logins for reuse, Managed Auth keeps sessions signed in, and standby mode keeps a browser ready to resume. Each is browser state loaded or kept for the next session, not a memory the agent reads to decide. There is no memory with a stated scope and lifetime. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/browsers/profilesread 2026-09-27
Deployment & Data Residency	Full
A region is chosen per browser or browser pool from us-east, eu-west and ap-southeast on Start-Up and Enterprise plans, with us-east the default. Kernel frames the choice as one of latency, and regional support for apps and invocations is not yet available. Enterprise adds zero data retention, and private networking routes browser traffic to private services, which is connectivity, not deployment. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/browsers/regionsread 2026-09-27
Prebuilt Agents, Templates & Packs	Partial
Kernel ships agent skills, including Bot Detection, Browser Profiles, Kernel Auth and Create Site Skills, with a fuller list on skills.sh. They teach the customer's own agent to use Kernel and to turn a verified workflow into a site skill. These are starting points a developer builds from, not a catalog of agents a customer adopts. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/skills/overviewread 2026-09-27
Triggers & Channel Coverage	Not documented
Work starts when a caller creates a browser or invokes a deployed app through the API, SDKs or CLI, synchronously or asynchronously. No schedule, event or inbound webhook of Kernel's own starts agent work. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/apps/invokeread 2026-09-27
Model Flexibility & Routing	Not documented
The model lives in the customer's agent, not in Kernel. The computer use guides for Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, OpenAGI, Tzafon and Yutori show those agents calling a Kernel browser. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/integrations/computer-use/overviewread 2026-09-27
APIs, SDKs & MCP Extensibility	Full
Outside code calls Kernel through an API described by an OpenAPI 3.1 specification at kernel.sh/openapi.json, with an API reference at api.onkernel.com. There are official TypeScript, Python and Go SDKs, a CLI, and a hosted MCP server at mcp.onkernel.com over streamable HTTP with OAuth metadata. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/reference/mcp-serverread 2026-09-27
Testing, Debugging & Optimization	Partial
Replays, telemetry, a browser REPL and debugging skills let developers inspect what an agent saw and did after a run. That is debugging, and there is no evaluation harness, scored test cases or quality gate. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/browsers/replaysread 2026-09-27
Browser & Computer Use	Full
Kernel runs isolated cloud Chromium browsers that agents drive through a computer controls API (click, drag, type, scroll, screenshots), Playwright execution, CDP or WebDriver BiDi, in headless, headful or GPU modes, with stealth, proxies and CAPTCHA handling. Sourcekernel.sh/docs/browsers/computer-controlsread 2026-09-27

The Agentic Index coverage score grades every vendor Full, Partial or Not documented against the same 14 buyer facing capabilities, from public evidence only. Each capability links to how all vendors in the index score on it. How this evidence is graded

Product updates

October 7, 2026·Browser/computer usePartially Verified

Config Registry, a new Kernel API, tells an agent which browser and proxy settings get through to a target website, with evidence on success rate, number of trials and when each setting was last tested. In Kernel's pre launch testing, the recommended settings reached 96.1% of sites where customer agents in production had been blocked.

Bears on: Agent capability

View source

October 2, 2026·Pricing / packagingPartially Verified

Agents can now buy a Kernel browser session on their own through the Machine Payments Protocol. The agent requests a browser, gets a payment offer back, pays with a Stripe token approved through Link and receives connection details, with no Kernel account or API key, at $0.50 for a 30 minute session.

Bears on: Browser/computer use

View source

View all 2 Kernel updates →Tracked since Oct 2026 · Verified from public vendor sources

Pricing

Developer free plus usage ($5 credits a month); Hobbyist $30 a month plus usage; Start-Up $200 plus usage; Enterprise custom

monthly plan plus per second browser usage

Free tierTrial available

What is public

kernel.sh/pricing and the docs Pricing & Limits page publish every self serve plan, included credits, per second usage rates, feature limits and concurrency; Enterprise is quoted.

Variable cost rationale

Usage based resource billing scales with browser hours and sessions; the vendor emphasizes predictability but costs track agent volume.

Overage / add-ons

Usage beyond the plan's included monthly credits is billed per second at the published rates.

Sales call required

No, self serve available

Free / trial

Developer plan free with $5 of usage credits a month, no card required; Start-Up has a free trial

Lowest paid plan

Hobbyist, $30 a month plus usage, with $10 of usage credits and 10 concurrent browsers

Agentic Index verified 2026-09-27

Official pricing page

Related vendors

Alternatives to Kernel

The closest documented capability profiles to Kernel among agent infrastructure platforms tracked by Agentic Index, ordered by similarity on the same 14 point evidence the rankings use. No vendor pays for placement.

Browserless8.5 / 14Fuller documented coverage on Prebuilt Agents, Templates & Packs
Steel7.0 / 14A lighter documented profile than Kernel
Anchor Browser11.0 / 14Adds documented Triggers & Channel Coverage and Model Flexibility & RoutingKernel vs Anchor Browser →
Lakera7.0 / 14Fuller documented coverage on Testing, Debugging & Optimization
OpenBox AI6.0 / 14A lighter documented profile than Kernel
Bird7.5 / 14Adds documented Triggers & Channel Coverage

Similarity is computed from each vendor's Agentic Index coverage score evidence, axis by axis, not from the totals. How this evidence is graded

Compare Kernel with other vendors →Compare all agent infrastructure platforms →See where Kernel ranks →

Data confidence: high

Head to head

Kernel vs AirtopKernel vs BrowserbaseKernel vs Anchor Browser