head to head · open source
Browser Use vs Lightpanda
Browser Use has 114,959 GitHub stars, 12,651 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Lightpanda has 35,409 stars, 1,680 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Browser Use leads on adoption by 225% (114,959 vs 35,409 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; Lightpanda is written in Zig under AGPL-3.0. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Lightpanda 5%. Lightpanda was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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 | Lightpanda | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 115K | ★ 35K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Zig |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| 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 Lightpanda if
- You want the Lightpanda feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Zig
- You evaluated both and Lightpanda 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 Lightpanda
Lightpanda is a headless browser built from scratch in Zig, designed specifically for AI agents and automation tasks. It is not a fork of Chromium or WebKit but a new implementation targeting performance and efficiency in automated web interactions. It lives in the browser automation ecosystem, competing with tools like Puppeteer and Playwright that typically rely on Chromium based headless modes.
read the full Lightpanda overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or Lightpanda more popular?
Browser Use has 114,959 GitHub stars and Lightpanda has 35,409. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and Lightpanda free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and Lightpanda under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and Lightpanda?
Browser Use is written in Python and Lightpanda in Zig. 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 Lightpanda?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (114,959 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Lightpanda if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.