Full definition
CAPTCHA solving services accept a CAPTCHA challenge image or token, return a solution within seconds, and charge per solve. Two flavors exist: AI-driven solvers (CapSolver, 2Captcha's "auto" tier) that use computer vision, and human-driven solvers (DeathByCaptcha, original 2Captcha) that route the challenge to a human worker who solves it manually.
Pricing is per 1,000 solves: image CAPTCHAs are ~$0.50/1k, reCAPTCHA v2 is ~$2/1k, reCAPTCHA v3 (token only) is ~$2.50/1k, hCaptcha is ~$2/1k, and Cloudflare Turnstile is the newest and most expensive at ~$3/1k. Solve times range from 5 seconds (AI) to 30+ seconds (human).
The proper architecture: use a high-trust residential or mobile proxy first to avoid getting CAPTCHAs at all. If you still get them, fall back to a CAPTCHA solver. Trying to bypass CAPTCHAs with datacenter proxies and an aggressive solver is brittle and expensive.