specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
provider: Browserless
providerId: browserless
publisherName: Browserless
serviceCategory: API
created: '2026-05-25'
modified: '2026-05-25'
tags:
  - Headless Browser
  - Browser Infrastructure
  - Web Automation
  - BrowserQL
  - Residential Proxy
  - CAPTCHA Solving
  - FinOps
  - Cost Management
  - FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps framework alignment for the Browserless cloud platform. Browserless
  charges in monthly subscription tiers with included units, per-unit overage,
  and ancillary unit surcharges for residential-proxy bandwidth and CAPTCHA
  solves. This FOCUS-shaped mapping enables cost allocation, per-team
  showback, and per-workflow unit economics for browser-automation, AI-agent,
  and scraping workloads.
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: >-
      Surface unit-consumption per token, per workflow, and per session so
      engineering, product, AI/agent, and finance teams can see browser
      automation cost in near real-time.
  - name: Allocation
    description: >-
      Tag every session and BQL query with the consuming team, environment,
      feature, agent run, and customer-account to allocate cost back to the
      workload that drove it.
  - name: Optimization
    description: >-
      Continuously evaluate session reuse, concurrency tuning, residential-
      proxy usage, CAPTCHA strategy, and tier selection (Prototyping vs.
      Starter vs. Scale vs. self-host) to lower cost per useful task.
  - name: Accountability
    description: >-
      Assign budget owners per token; route overage billing through
      chargeback/showback flows for each consuming team.

domains:
  - name: Session Consumption
    description: >-
      Wall-clock minutes (units) consumed by BaaS WebSocket sessions,
      BrowserQL queries, and REST endpoint invocations.
    costDrivers:
      - session_minutes
      - tier_selection
      - concurrent_browsers
      - region
    focusMapping:
      ChargeCategory: Usage
      ChargeClass: Consumption
      ServiceCategory: API
      ServiceSubcategory: Browser Automation
  - name: Residential Proxy Bandwidth
    description: >-
      Bandwidth consumed when sessions route through Browserless
      residential proxies, billed at 6 units per MB.
    costDrivers:
      - megabytes_transferred
      - country_routing
      - sticky_sessions
    focusMapping:
      ChargeCategory: Usage
      ChargeClass: Consumption
      ServiceCategory: API
      ServiceSubcategory: Proxy
  - name: CAPTCHA Solving
    description: >-
      Per-successful-solve surcharge for built-in CAPTCHA resolution
      (reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, DataDome, Lemin, MTCaptcha, slider).
    costDrivers:
      - successful_solves
      - captcha_type
    focusMapping:
      ChargeCategory: Usage
      ChargeClass: Consumption
      ServiceCategory: API
      ServiceSubcategory: Anti-Bot
  - name: Subscription
    description: >-
      Recurring monthly subscription fee for the chosen tier (Free,
      Prototyping, Starter, Scale, Enterprise).
    costDrivers:
      - tier
      - annual_vs_monthly_billing
    focusMapping:
      ChargeCategory: Purchase
      ChargeClass: Committed
      ServiceCategory: API
      ServiceSubcategory: Subscription

focusFields:
  required:
    - BillingPeriodStart
    - BillingPeriodEnd
    - ChargeCategory
    - ChargePeriodStart
    - ChargePeriodEnd
    - ProviderName
    - PublisherName
    - InvoiceIssuerName
    - ServiceName
    - ServiceCategory
    - BilledCost
    - EffectiveCost
    - ListCost
    - ContractedCost
    - PricingCategory
    - PricingUnit
    - PricingQuantity
  recommended:
    - SubAccountId
    - SubAccountName
    - ResourceId
    - ResourceName
    - ResourceType
    - Region
    - Tags

notes:
  - >-
    Browserless invoices in opaque "units"; map units to the FOCUS
    PricingUnit field and capture per-unit list / contracted / effective
    prices per tier.
  - >-
    Self-hosting the open-source browserless/browserless image trades
    cloud unit charges for self-managed infrastructure cost; that cost
    belongs in the customer's own FOCUS feed, not this file.
  - >-
    Reconcile against actual Browserless invoices and the published
    pricing page.