head to head · open source
Browser Use vs browser-search
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars, 12,695 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. browser-search has 525 stars, 39 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. Browser Use leads on adoption by 21,877% (115,379 vs 525 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; browser-search is written in JavaScript under MIT. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, browser-search 7%. Browser Use was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai-tools, browser-automation), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Browser Use | browser-search | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 115K | ★ 525 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 39 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Browser Use if
- You weight community size — 115K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick browser-search if
- You want the browser-search feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and browser-search fits your workflow better
About Browser Use
Browser Use is an open source Python library and hosted platform that enables AI agents to control web browsers programmatically. It lives in the AI agent and browser automation ecosystem, built on Playwright and designed to let LLMs interact with websites as a human would—clicking, filling forms, solving CAPTCHAs, and navigating dynamic interfaces. The project provides three deployment paths: a fully hosted cloud service, a command line interface for existing agents, and a local Python library for custom integrations.
read the full Browser Use overview →
About browser-search
browser search is an MIT licensed JavaScript skill for AI agents — OpenCode, Claude Code, Cursor, OpenClaw and others — that gives an agent a self hosted search, browse and anti bot bypass pipeline built on SearXNG, Camofox and CloakBrowser, aimed at developers who want live web answers without buying API keys or paying per query.
read the full browser-search overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or browser-search more popular?
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars and browser-search has 525. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and browser-search free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and browser-search under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and browser-search?
Browser Use is written in Python and browser-search in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Browser Use or browser-search?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (115,379 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose browser-search if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.