Skyvern
Open-source autonomous browser agent that uses computer vision + LLMs to navigate websites. Workflow-based: agents follow recorded plans that adapt to layout changes. Skyvern Inc. raised $4.5M seed (Sep-2024, Felicis lead). Self-hostable; cloud version on skyvern.com.
At a glance
- Type
- OSS browser-automation agent (Python; LLM-driven)
- Tier
- T2
- Section
- Computer-use & desktop agents
- Created
- 2024-02 (GitHub first commit)
- Latest release
- v0.x ongoing; weekly releases on GitHub
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Pricing
- Cloud usage tiers + self-host (free OSS)
- Funding
- $4.5M seed Sep-2024 (Felicis lead)
Taxonomy
- storage
- file
- retrieval
- injection
- persistence
- cross-session
- update
- agent-controlled
- unit
- document
- governance
- inspectable
- conflict
- human-arbitrate
When to use
Optimised for: Repeatable browser workflows with brittle layouts (insurance, govt forms)
Anti-fit: Not for desktop apps (browser-only); SOC 2 / compliance docs limited at OSS tier
Pros & cons
Pros
OSS with permissive (AGPL) license; self-host option; YC + Felicis backing; mature workflow product.
Cons
AGPL excludes some commercial use; browser-only; limited public SOC 2 / compliance docs.
Claims & capabilities
Open-sourced 2024; 13k+ GH stars; YC W24; supports Anthropic/OpenAI/Azure/Gemini models.
Technical surface
- API surface
- REST API + Python SDK + cloud UI
- Backend storage
- PostgreSQL for workflow state
- Deployment
- Docker self-host + Skyvern Cloud
- Embedding model
- not applicable — not a memory product
- Multi-tenancy
- Cloud multi-tenant; self-host = single-tenant per deployment
- MCP
- searched not found
- A2A
- searched not found
- OpenTelemetry
- searched not found
Similar systems
Other computer-use & desktop agents in the catalog, ranked by inbound references.
- UI-TARS T2
ByteDance Seed's open-source GUI-agent foundation model — released Jan 2025; trained end-to-end on screenshot → action pairs. Comes with UI-TARS-Desktop (Electron app) that runs the model against the user's screen. SOTA on OSWorld at release; weights on HuggingFace.
- Browser Use T1
Python library that turns any LLM into a browser agent — extracts DOM into a structured representation the LLM can act on (rather than pure screenshot). Browser Use Inc. raised $17M seed Q1 2025 (Felicis); cloud product at cloud.browser-use.com. Project is one of the most-starred browser-agent OSS repos (~60k stars).
- Bytebot T3
Open-source desktop-agent runtime that runs an LLM-controlled Linux desktop inside Docker — uses xdotool / X11 capture for control. Pitched as the 'self-hosted Operator' alternative; agent sees a real desktop screen, not just a browser.
- Claude for Chrome T1
Anthropic's Chrome extension that lets Claude act inside the user's existing browser (rather than a sandboxed one). Research preview launched August 2025 — limited to Claude Max tier. Distinct from Anthropic Computer Use (which is the API substrate); this is the consumer surface that uses it inside Chrome.
- Highlight AI T2
Always-on desktop AI assistant that watches the user's screen (across all apps) and answers questions / takes actions based on what's currently visible. Mac + Windows. Founded by Mac Bishop (ex-Mixpanel); raised $13M Series A from Aspect / Lightspeed (Oct 2024). Distinguishes itself from Rewind by being action-oriented (not just recall).
- Hyperbrowser T2
Cloud-hosted headless browser API tuned for AI agents — captcha solving, stealth mode, session recordings. Y Combinator S24; pitched as a faster / cheaper Browserbase alternative. Used as substrate by agents that need browser execution but don't want to run their own Chromium fleet.
Related systems
References (3)
- Anthropic Claude (foundation models) depends on at runtime — adjacent-infrastructure cell: Playwright; Postgres; Anthropic/OpenAI/Gemini APIs
- Google Gemini 3 family depends on at runtime — adjacent-infrastructure cell: Playwright; Postgres; Anthropic/OpenAI/Gemini APIs
- OpenAI GPT family (GPT-5 / GPT-4o / o3 / o4) depends on at runtime — adjacent-infrastructure cell: Playwright; Postgres; Anthropic/OpenAI/Gemini APIs