> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.asteroid.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Browser use vs computer use

> When a workflow drives a website through the page, and when it drives a desktop through the screen.

A workflow acts on a target system in one of two ways.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Browser use" icon="globe">
    Reads and clicks through a website's page structure. Agents that interact with websites use browser use.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Computer use" icon="monitor">
    Reads a screenshot and moves the mouse and keyboard, the same way a person would. Use it for a program
    on a Windows or Linux desktop, where there is no page structure to read.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Rarely, a website is difficult enough that browser use cannot handle it reliably. In that case, computer use
can drive the site instead, reading it from screenshots. This is rare.

<Tip>
  Setting up computer use, or a difficult environment, is something we can help with. [Get in touch](https://asteroid.ai/demo).
</Tip>

See [Environments](/concepts/environments) for the sandbox each one runs in, and
[Live environments](/concepts/live-environments) for connecting to one directly.