head to head · open source
Browser Use vs kitesurf
Browser Use has 121,050 GitHub stars, 13,537 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped today. kitesurf has 1,328 stars, 59 forks, 35 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Browser Use leads on adoption by 9,015% (121,050 vs 1,328 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; kitesurf is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, kitesurf 4%. Browser Use was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser-automation), 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 | kitesurf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 121K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-15 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 59 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Browser Use if
- You weight community size — 121K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick kitesurf if
- You want the kitesurf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and kitesurf 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 kitesurf
Kitesurf Kitesurf is an experimental browser engine that runs on Cloudflare Workers. It parses HTML, applies CSS, runs page JavaScript, and renders screenshots without Chrome or a browser container. Kitesurf speaks the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP), so you can use it with CDP clients such as Puppeteer. [!IMPORTANT] Kitesurf requires Cloudflare Dynamic Workers to create isolated workers for pages. Dynamic Workers are part of the Workers Paid plan. Local development uses wrangler dev . A Cloudflare Workers Paid plan is required to run Kitesurf on Cloudflare. Requirements Bazelisk, installed as bazel . Bazel…
read the full kitesurf overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or kitesurf more popular?
Browser Use has 121,050 GitHub stars and kitesurf has 1,328. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and kitesurf free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and kitesurf under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and kitesurf?
Browser Use is written in Python and kitesurf 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 kitesurf?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (121,050 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose kitesurf if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.