AI agents that can control a web browser and perform tasks, just like humans would, are no longer limited to concept. Tools like ChatGPT Operator are powerful but come at a price. Instead of paying up, I went looking for a free alternative—and I found one that works surprisingly well.

ChatGPT Operator can control a web browser and perform actions such as clicking and scrolling all by itself. You just have to tell ChatGPT what needs to be done, such as booking tickets or writing text in Google Docs, and it will do so. But to gain access, one has to pay a hefty price tag—$200 per month as part of ChatGPT's Pro tier. I couldn't afford to purchase this subscription, and went out looking for an alternative and found about Browser Use.

Browser Use is an open-source AI agent similar to ChatGPT Operator. It can interact with a web browser, navigate through websites, and perform actions. However, it costs only a fraction of ChatGPT's offering. Moreover, there are two options to choose from.

The first option is to pay a $30 subscription, which runs the AI agent on their cloud service. The other option is to set it up yourself locally, and it costs the least (you will only be charged for API usage). I went with the most affordable option.