head to head · open source
Browser Use vs browsertrix-crawler
Browser Use has 119,977 GitHub stars, 13,371 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. browsertrix-crawler has 1,186 stars, 154 forks, 145 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Browser Use leads on adoption by 10,016% (119,977 vs 1,186 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; browsertrix-crawler is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, browsertrix-crawler 13%. browsertrix-crawler was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | browsertrix-crawler | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 120K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 154 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Browser Use if
- You weight community size — 120K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick browsertrix-crawler if
- You want the browsertrix-crawler feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and browsertrix-crawler fits your workflow better
About Browser Use
Navigate the web like a human does. Find an available slot, pick a date and time, handle the CAPTCHA, and book a driving test. Explore more demos and prompts ↗ Which Browser Use do I need? Path 1: Fully Hosted Cloud: Scale up with a fully hosted agent and browser. Path 2: CLI: Automate your own browser tasks. Path 3: Python Library: Run the open source Browser Use agent locally from your own code. Quickstart Path 1: Fully Hosted Cloud Scale browser automation with our hosted agent, stealth browsers, and infrastructure for profiles, recordings, and data policies. Get started with the API ↗ New Google, GitHub, or…
read the full Browser Use overview →
About browsertrix-crawler
Browsertrix Crawler 1.x Browsertrix Crawler is a standalone browser based high fidelity crawling system, designed to run a complex, customizable browser based crawl in a single Docker container. Browsertrix Crawler uses Puppeteer to control one or more Brave Browser browser windows in parallel. Data is captured through the Chrome Devtools Protocol (CDP) in the browser. For information on how to use and develop Browsertrix Crawler, see the hosted Browsertrix Crawler documentation. For information on how to build the docs locally, see the docs page. Support Initial support for 0.x version of Browsertrix Crawler…
read the full browsertrix-crawler overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or browsertrix-crawler more popular?
Browser Use has 119,977 GitHub stars and browsertrix-crawler has 1,186. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and browsertrix-crawler free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and browsertrix-crawler under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and browsertrix-crawler?
Browser Use is written in Python and browsertrix-crawler in TypeScript. 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 browsertrix-crawler?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (119,977 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose browsertrix-crawler if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.