head to head · open source
Browser Use vs crw
Browser Use has 119,977 GitHub stars, 13,371 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. crw has 1,221 stars, 97 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Browser Use leads on adoption by 9,726% (119,977 vs 1,221 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; crw is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, crw 8%. crw 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, llm, mcp), 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 | crw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 120K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 97 |
| 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 crw if
- You want the crw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and crw 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 crw
fastCRW Turn URLs into clean markdown or structured JSON with one engine for search, scrape, map, crawl, and extract. Run it locally as a small Rust binary or use the managed API. Get 1000 free credits → · Install · Docs No credit card. Continue with GitHub. One command install Runs local and free, no account needed. To use the Cloud, paste your key into the same command and it installs the binary, connects the key, and registers the MCP server with the AI coding tools you already have: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode and Windsurf are picked up automatically when they are already set up; nothing…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or crw more popular?
Browser Use has 119,977 GitHub stars and crw has 1,221. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and crw free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and crw under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and crw?
Browser Use is written in Python and crw in Rust. 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 crw?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (119,977 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose crw if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.