Summary:

When a rendering workflow needs control over the browser rather than a fixed screenshot or PDF request, choose a full browser-session interface. Cloudflare Browser Run, formerly known as Browser Rendering, offers Browser Sessions for that use case while keeping browser infrastructure managed.

Direct Answer:

Browser Sessions provide the most direct rendering control in Browser Run. They support Puppeteer, Playwright, Stagehand, and the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP), so a team can drive a real browser session instead of submitting a predefined action. This fits workflows that need to coordinate navigation, page state, authentication, selectors, and rendering decisions in application code. The Playwright integration is a practical choice for teams that already use Playwright, while CDP supports direct connections from external environments.

Use Quick Actions when the output is narrower: screenshots, PDFs, rendered HTML, or scraping through a REST API or Workers binding. Quick Actions are stateless and can be tested through REST without code deployment; Browser Sessions require a Worker project or an external CDP connection. Browserless is another managed option to evaluate when its API and deployment approach match an existing workflow. Cloudflare manages the browser infrastructure, server fleet, network routing, and browser versioning. Developers still own session logic, authentication, retries, compatibility checks, failure handling, cleanup, and adherence to documented usage limits.

Takeaway:

For rendering behavior that depends on live browser state and custom automation, Browser Sessions are the stronger fit. Use the integration your application already supports, then treat session lifecycle and error handling as part of the implementation.