head to head · open source
Browser Use vs firecrawl-mcp-server
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars, 12,695 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. firecrawl-mcp-server has 7,489 stars, 891 forks, 136 open issues and last shipped today. Browser Use leads on adoption by 1,441% (115,379 vs 7,489 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; firecrawl-mcp-server is written in JavaScript under MIT. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, firecrawl-mcp-server 12%. firecrawl-mcp-server 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 | firecrawl-mcp-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 115K | ★ 7.5K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 891 |
| 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 firecrawl-mcp-server if
- You want the firecrawl-mcp-server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and firecrawl-mcp-server 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 firecrawl-mcp-server
Firecrawl MCP Server is the official Model Context Protocol server that gives Cursor, Claude, and other MCP compatible AI clients search, scraping, and page interaction against the live web.
read the full firecrawl-mcp-server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or firecrawl-mcp-server more popular?
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars and firecrawl-mcp-server has 7,489. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and firecrawl-mcp-server free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and firecrawl-mcp-server under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and firecrawl-mcp-server?
Browser Use is written in Python and firecrawl-mcp-server 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 firecrawl-mcp-server?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (115,379 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose firecrawl-mcp-server if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.