Kitesurf
Cloudflare · Agent-Native Browser Runtime Without Chromium
Kitesurf is Cloudflare's browser built specifically for AI agents: a stateless runtime on Cloudflare Workers that drops Chromium entirely and uses 3–3.8x less CPU and 4.7–7x less memory than Chromium for agentic tasks like HTML extraction and screenshots. Best for developers running browsing agents at scale who care about cost and concurrency.
Best for
Developers and platform teams running web-browsing AI agents at scale on Cloudflare who want cheaper, higher-concurrency sessions
Not ideal for
Workflows needing logged-in sessions, video, WebGL, or pixel-perfect rendering, and teams not using Cloudflare's platform
Who it's for
Engineers building browsing, scraping, or research agents who need many cheap concurrent browser sessions
Capabilities
- Runs entirely in V8 isolates on Cloudflare Workers — no Chromium engine
- 3.1–3.8x less CPU and 4.7–7x less memory than a warm Chromium pool for screenshots and HTML extraction (Cloudflare's benchmark)
- Stateless design suited to many concurrent sessions and bursty agent workloads
- Opt-in via a browser=kitesurf parameter on existing Browser Run CDP and Quick Action endpoints, or from MCP clients
- Written in Rust compiled to WebAssembly (Blitz + Stylo)
- Renders many modern sites correctly (TodoMVC, Wikipedia, Hacker News)
- Public playground at kitesurf.cloudflare.app, including a CDP endpoint that needs no API token (each navigation capped at 20s CPU / 60s wall time)
Limitations
- Beta product behind per-account limits — capabilities and pricing may change
- No video playback, WebGL rendering, persistent authenticated sessions, or bot-challenge handshakes that need real browser TLS fingerprints
- Roughly 1.7–1.8x slower wall-clock time than Chromium on common tasks, and rendering is not pixel-perfect
- Site compatibility varies — Cloudflare recommends testing each target site before relying on it
- Tied to Cloudflare's Browser Run platform — no self-hosted option is documented
Use cases
- Extracting structured HTML or Markdown from pages inside an agent loop
- Taking screenshots of pages at high concurrency without Chromium overhead
- Cutting compute costs for web-browsing agents that never need pixels
- Handling bursty scraping workloads where Chromium sessions are too heavy
- Prototyping agent browsing flows in the public playground before wiring up the API
Our take
Kitesurf is worth testing if your agents mostly read pages — extracting HTML or Markdown, or taking screenshots — and browser compute is a real cost at your volume. Cloudflare's own benchmark shows 3–7x lower CPU and memory than Chromium, paid for with about 1.7–1.8x slower wall time and rendering that is not pixel-perfect. Because opting in is one parameter on existing Browser Run endpoints, the low-risk path is to run your real target URLs through both engines and keep Chromium for the sites that break. It is a beta tied to Cloudflare's platform, with no announced post-beta price and no self-hosted option yet.
Who should use it
Teams on Cloudflare Browser Run whose agents do high-volume, stateless page reads — content extraction, Markdown conversion, screenshots — and can accept slower wall time in exchange for lower compute.
Who should skip it
Agents that log in and keep sessions, play video, render WebGL, or must pass bot challenges — Cloudflare points those to Browser Run's Chromium browser. Also skip it if you need self-hosting or a committed price today.
Kitesurf pricing
Beta
Free
- Free during beta behind per-account limits
- Opt-in on Browser Run endpoints with browser=kitesurf
Note: Kitesurf itself is free while in beta. It runs within Cloudflare Browser Run, which is available on free and paid plans priced on browser time used; Kitesurf-specific pricing after beta has not been announced.
Technical specs
Modalities
HTML extraction, Markdown, Screenshots
Frequently asked questions
What is Kitesurf?
Kitesurf is a browser built by Cloudflare specifically for AI agents. It runs in V8 isolates on Cloudflare Workers instead of shipping a Chromium engine, prioritizing token efficiency, scalability, and cost over rendering pixels.
How much does Kitesurf cost?
Kitesurf is free while in beta, behind per-account limits. It runs inside Cloudflare's Browser Run service, which offers free and paid plans billed on browser time used.
Does Kitesurf work with Puppeteer and Playwright?
Yes. Kitesurf is used through Browser Run's existing CDP and Quick Action endpoints via a browser=kitesurf parameter, and works with Puppeteer, Playwright, and chrome-remote-interface, as well as MCP clients such as chrome-devtools-mcp.
Is Kitesurf open source?
Not yet. Cloudflare has said it plans to open source Kitesurf, but as of August 2026 it is closed-source and available only through Cloudflare's Browser Run platform.
What can't Kitesurf do?
It does not support video playback, WebGL rendering, or persistent authenticated sessions, and common tasks run about 1.7–1.8x slower in wall time than Chromium — the tradeoff for using 3–3.8x less CPU and up to 7x less memory.
Should I use Kitesurf or Browser Run's Chromium browser?
Use Kitesurf for one-shot or bursty agent tasks — content extraction, screenshots, PDFs — on sites it renders correctly. Use Browser Run's default Chromium browser for video, WebGL, bot-challenge handshakes, long-running logged-in sessions, or pixel-accurate rendering. Both run on the same Browser Run endpoints, so you can switch per request with the browser=kitesurf parameter.
Integrations & fit
About Kitesurf
Most browsing agents drive a full Chromium instance that renders pixels no model ever sees. Kitesurf rebuilds the browser for that reality: it runs entirely in V8 isolates on Cloudflare Workers, optimizing for token efficiency, context windows, scalability, and cost instead of visual fidelity. It is written in Rust compiled to WebAssembly, using the Blitz rendering engine and Stylo CSS engine. Developers opt in with a browser=kitesurf parameter on Browser Run's CDP and Quick Action endpoints, or through MCP clients such as chrome-devtools-mcp, so existing automation workflows carry over, and a public playground (kitesurf.cloudflare.app) lets you test it without deploying code. The efficiency comes with tradeoffs: common agentic tasks run 1.7–1.8x slower in wall time than Chromium, and video playback, WebGL, and persistent authenticated sessions are not supported. It renders many modern sites correctly, but teams needing full browser fidelity should stick with Browser Run's Chromium sessions.
Updates from Kitesurf
Cloudflare released Kitesurf, an agent-first browser running on Workers V8 isolates instead of Chromium, free during beta behind per-account limits.
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