head to head · open source
Browser Use vs CloakBrowser
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars, 12,695 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. CloakBrowser has 31,578 stars, 2,615 forks, 227 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Browser Use leads on adoption by 265% (115,379 vs 31,578 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; CloakBrowser is written in Python under MIT. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, CloakBrowser 8%. Browser Use was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai-agents, browser-automation, playwright), 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 | CloakBrowser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 115K | ★ 32K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 2.6K |
| 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 CloakBrowser if
- You want the CloakBrowser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and CloakBrowser 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 CloakBrowser
CloakBrowser is a stealth Chromium build for Python and JavaScript teams that need browser automation to survive bot detection systems, aimed at scraping and AI agent engineers who want to replace Playwright or Puppeteer without rewriting their code.
read the full CloakBrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or CloakBrowser more popular?
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars and CloakBrowser has 31,578. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and CloakBrowser free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and CloakBrowser under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and CloakBrowser?
Browser Use is written in Python and CloakBrowser in Python. 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 CloakBrowser?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (115,379 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose CloakBrowser if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.