head to head · open source
Browser Use vs mcp
Browser Use has 120,967 GitHub stars, 13,529 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped today. mcp has 7,355 stars, 606 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Browser Use leads on adoption by 1,545% (120,967 vs 7,355 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, mcp 8%. Browser Use 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, 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 | mcp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 121K | ★ 7.4K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-14 | 2026-11-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 606 |
| 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 mcp if
- You want the mcp 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 mcp 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 mcp
Browser MCP Browser MCP lets AI apps (Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex, Claude Desktop…) use your own Chrome: your signed in sites, your profile, in tabs of their own. Everything runs on your computer. Website and docs : browsermcp.io, docs Extension : Chrome Web Store, or build it yourself MCP server : @browsermcp/mcp on npm How it works Each AI app runs the MCP server ( npx @browsermcp/mcp@latest ), a small process that starts one daemon per user and forwards the app's browser tool calls to it. The daemon drives the browser's tabs with Playwright, through the extension: a thin chrome.debugger relay that…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or mcp more popular?
Browser Use has 120,967 GitHub stars and mcp has 7,355. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and mcp free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and mcp under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and mcp?
Browser Use is written in Python and mcp 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 mcp?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (120,967 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mcp if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.