head to head · open source
Browser Use vs httpcloak
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars, 12,695 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. httpcloak has 1,309 stars, 94 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. Browser Use leads on adoption by 8,714% (115,379 vs 1,309 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; httpcloak is written in Go under MIT. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, httpcloak 7%. Browser Use 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 | httpcloak | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 115K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 94 |
| 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 httpcloak if
- You want the httpcloak feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and httpcloak 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 httpcloak
httpcloak is an MIT licensed Go HTTP client that makes outgoing requests identical to Chrome, Firefox, or Safari at the TLS, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, and header layers, and it is aimed at Go, Python, Node.js, and C developers who scrape or integrate with sites that block clients on transport fingerprint rather than on User Agent.
read the full httpcloak overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or httpcloak more popular?
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars and httpcloak has 1,309. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and httpcloak free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and httpcloak under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and httpcloak?
Browser Use is written in Python and httpcloak in Go. 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 httpcloak?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (115,379 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose httpcloak if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.