Kernel Technologies: Browser Infrastructure for AI Agents
Kernel provides “browsers-as-a-service” for AI agents and web automations, letting developers start headless or headful Chromium in the cloud by API. The platform emphasizes speed, reliability, and anti-bot resilience with persistent sessions, live debugging, and horizontal scale to hundreds or thousands of concurrent browsers.
Visit: [Kernel](https://www.onkernel.com) • [Docs & Quickstart](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/quickstart)Why Kernel
**Crazy fast spin‑up** and **session persistence** for agent workflows**Autoscaling** to many parallel browsers with **session reuse** across steps**Anti‑bot detection handling** and safe authentication for logged‑in flows**Deep observability**: live view, logs, and **session replays** for debugging and audits**Chromium on unikernels** for improved cold‑start and isolationLearn more: [Session Replays](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/introducing-browser-session-replays) • [Run Multiple Agents](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/run-multiple-browser-agents) • [Unikernels](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/info/unikernels)
What Kernel Does
Launches cloud Chromium (headless/headful) via API or standard browser automation toolsKeeps sessions warm so agents can maintain login state and cookies across workflowsScales horizontally with per-session isolation, fast cold starts, and replayable auditsWorks out‑of‑the‑box with popular frameworks and LLM “Computer Use” patternsDeveloper start points: [Playwright & Puppeteer Quickstart](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/quickstart)
Core Features
**Fast spin‑up & parallelism**: Boot many browsers concurrently for agents and RPA**Session reuse & persistence**: Carry auth and cookies across multi‑step flows**Observability**: Live view, streaming logs, and **replays** for root-cause analysis**Autoscaling**: Scale from single runs to fleets of agents on demand**Anti‑bot resilience**: Infrastructure tuned for detection handling at scale**Secure downloads**: Agent‑friendly file handling for portal scraping and exports**Unikernel runtime**: Chromium packaged on unikernels for performance and isolationDeep dives: [Session Replays](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/introducing-browser-session-replays) • [Parallel Agents Guide](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/run-multiple-browser-agents) • [Founder note on downloads](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/juecd_at-kernel-were-building-browsers-as-a-service-activity-7369010308708835328-M1A9)
Integrations & Developer Tooling
**Automation frameworks**: [Playwright & Puppeteer](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/quickstart), Selenium examples in the [parallel agents guide](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/run-multiple-browser-agents)**Agent frameworks**: [Stagehand](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/integrations/stagehand), [Notte](https://onkernel.com/docs/integrations/notte)**Ecosystem**: [Val Town integration](https://onkernel.com/blog/introducing-kernel-x-val-town), [MCP server](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/introducing-kernel-mcp-server) for deploying from any MCP client**LLM Computer Use**: Quickstart patterns in the [docs](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/quickstart)Common Use Cases
**Lead prospecting and enrichment** with logged‑in browsing at scale: [Prospecting with browser agents](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/browser-agents-for-prospecting)**Logged‑in workflows with MFA**, persistent sessions, and safe credential handling**Price and availability monitoring** with **live view** and replay for audits: [Session Replays](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/introducing-browser-session-replays)**Document downloads and portal scraping** with agent‑friendly downloads: [Founder note](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/juecd_at-kernel-were-building-browsers-as-a-service-activity-7369010308708835328-M1A9)**High‑volume parallel agents** for data collection and form filling: [Run Multiple Agents](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/run-multiple-browser-agents)Pricing & Free Tier
**Free developer tier** with monthly credits and limited concurrency**Startup** plan starting at $200/month plus usage**Enterprise** with custom terms; per‑GB‑second pricing is published**SOC 2** is included for paid tiersDetails: [Pricing](https://onkernel.com/docs/info/pricing)
Trust, Security, and Compliance
**SOC 2** for paid plansUnikernel‑based isolation to limit blast radius across browser sessionsSession replays and logs to support auditabilityLearn more: [Unikernels](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/info/unikernels) • [Session Replays](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/introducing-browser-session-replays)
Company, Team, and Funding
**Backed by Y Combinator and Accel**; reported **$22M** raise (Oct 2025)YC profile: [Kernel on YC](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/kernel)Funding coverage: [SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2025/10/09/kernel-raises-22m-power-browser-infrastructure-ai-agents/)Investor note: [Accel’s investment thesis](https://www.accel.com/noteworthies/our-investment-in-kernel-the-best-browser-infrastructure-for-agents)**Founders**: Rafael Garcia and Catherine JueYC founders listing: [YC Company Page](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/kernel)Founder link: [Catherine Jue](https://www.catherinejue.com/kernel)**Location**: San Francisco, CA (per YC)**Team size**: ~8 employees (per [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/onkernel))Positioning: “The best place in the world to deploy and scale AI web agents.”Who It’s For
Teams building AI web agents that need **persistent, scalable cloud browsers**Growth, operations, and RPA teams replacing brittle in‑house Selenium gridsAgent framework authors seeking a single API for browsers and session stateGetting Started
Read the [Quickstart](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/quickstart) for Playwright, Puppeteer, and LLM Computer Use patternsExplore integrations: [Stagehand](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/integrations/stagehand), [Notte](https://onkernel.com/docs/integrations/notte), [Val Town](https://onkernel.com/blog/introducing-kernel-x-val-town), [MCP server](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/introducing-kernel-mcp-server)Review [Pricing](https://onkernel.com/docs/info/pricing) and activate the free developer tierSee how to **run many agents in parallel**: [Guide](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/run-multiple-browser-agents)Market Context & Comparables
Industry perspective on agent browser infrastructure and peers (e.g., Anchor, Browserbase, Steel, Hyperbrowser): [a16z on “Computer Use” and agentic coworkers](https://a16z.com/the-rise-of-computer-use-and-agentic-coworkers/)Investor framing of Kernel as “the API that lets agents use the internet like people do”: [Accel note](https://www.accel.com/noteworthies/our-investment-in-kernel-the-best-browser-infrastructure-for-agents)Community & Hiring
Careers: [Kernel Careers](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/careers/intro)Social & community links available via [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/onkernel)User Sentiment
As of now, no third‑party reviews available. See Kernel’s G2 page (0 reviews): [G2 listing](https://www.g2.com/sellers/kernel-ai)Known Gaps to Evaluate
No verified public customer list in the provided sourcesNo third‑party reviews yet on Reddit, G2, or CapterraSLA specifics not published in the linked materialsPrimary Sources
Product, docs, pricing, unikernels, and blogs: [Website](https://www.onkernel.com) • [Pricing](https://onkernel.com/docs/info/pricing) • [Quickstart](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/quickstart) • [Unikernels](https://www.onkernel.com/docs/info/unikernels) • [Session Replays](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/introducing-browser-session-replays) • [Parallel Agents](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/run-multiple-browser-agents) • [Val Town](https://onkernel.com/blog/introducing-kernel-x-val-town) • [MCP Server](https://www.onkernel.com/blog/introducing-kernel-mcp-server)Company & funding: [YC](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/kernel) • [Accel](https://www.accel.com/noteworthies/our-investment-in-kernel-the-best-browser-infrastructure-for-agents) • [SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2025/10/09/kernel-raises-22m-power-browser-infrastructure-ai-agents/)Social: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/onkernel)
