Herd vs Puppeteer: A Better Alternative for Browser Automation

In the world of browser automation and web scraping, Puppeteer has long been a popular choice for developers. However, Herd provides a compelling alternative that addresses many of Puppeteer’s limitations while offering unique advantages for modern development workflows.

Quick Comparison

Key Differences in Depth

Infrastructure Requirements

Puppeteer:

• Requires installing and managing separate Chromium instances
• Needs dedicated resources for each browser instance
• Increases infrastructure costs in cloud environments
• Requires managing updates to the Chromium engine

Herd:

• Uses your existing browser installation
• No additional browser instances to manage
• Significantly lower resource utilization
• Leverages native browser capabilities

Setup and Installation Process

# Install the Herd SDK
npm install @monitoro/herd

# Then install the browser extension and connect your browser
# That's it! No browser installation or management needed

Browser Support

Puppeteer:

• Primarily designed for Chrome/Chromium browsers
• Limited experimental support for Firefox
• No support for Safari or Edge

Herd:

• Works with Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera
• Consistent experience across all supported Chromium-based browsers

Authentication and Session Handling

Puppeteer:

• Sessions must be recreated for each new Puppeteer instance
• Requires manually handling cookies and authentication flows
• Accessing logged-in state requires additional code
• Difficult to use existing authenticated sessions

Herd:

• Uses your existing browser’s authenticated sessions
• No need to handle authentication separately
• Persistent cookies and storage between sessions
• Access to browser extensions that manage authentication

Use Case Comparisons

Data Extraction

// Initialize the client and connect to your browser
const client = new HerdClient('your-token');
await client.initialize();
const devices = await client.listDevices();
const device = devices[0];

// Extract data using simple selectors
const page = await device.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
const data = await page.extract({
  title: 'h1',
  description: 'p',
  links: {
    _$r: 'a',  // Extract all links
    href: { attribute: 'href' },
    text: ':root'
  }
});

console.log(data);

Web Automation

// Initialize and connect to your browser
const client = new HerdClient('your-token');
await client.initialize();
const devices = await client.listDevices();
const device = devices[0];

// Use the existing browser with current sessions
const page = await device.newPage();
await page.goto('https://myapp.com/dashboard'); // Already logged in

// Interact with the page
await page.click('.new-item-button');
await page.type('#item-name', 'New Task');
await page.click('.save-button');

// Process results
const notification = await page.waitForSelector('.success-message');
console.log(notification.textContent);

Migration Guide: From Puppeteer to Herd

Transitioning from Puppeteer to Herd is straightforward. Here’s a simple migration guide:

1. Installation

1. Install the Herd SDK:

   npm install @monitoro/herd
   

2. Install the Herd browser extension in your preferred browser

3. Register your browser as a device in the Herd dashboard

2. Code Migration

Why Choose Herd Over Puppeteer?

1. No Infrastructure Management

Herd eliminates the need to maintain separate browser instances, significantly reducing:

• Memory and CPU usage
• Infrastructure costs for cloud deployments
• Maintenance overhead for browser updates

2. Use Existing Authentication

With Herd, you can automate tasks in your already authenticated browser:

• No need to handle authentication flows in code
• Access to sites that require complex authentication
• Use existing cookies, local storage, and sessions

3. Cross-Browser Compatibility

While Puppeteer is primarily focused on Chromium:

• Herd works across Chrome, Edge, and Brave
• Same code works on any supported browser
• Test on multiple browsers with minimal configuration changes

4. Simpler Development Experience

Herd provides:

• More intuitive APIs for common tasks
• Better debugging experience (view automation in real browser)
• Easier integration with existing workflows

Customer Testimonials

“We reduced our AWS costs by 65% after switching from Puppeteer to Herd. No more managing fleets of headless browsers – we just use our existing Chrome instances.” – Sarah T., Engineering Lead

“Puppeteer was great, but Herd’s ability to use our logged-in sessions was a game-changer for our workflow automation. It cut our development time in half.” – Mark L., Automation Engineer

Get Started with Herd Today

Ready to try a better alternative to Puppeteer? Get started with Herd:

1. Create a Herd account
2. Install the browser extension
3. Connect your browser
4. Run your first automation

Discover how Herd can simplify your browser automation workflows while reducing infrastructure costs and complexity.