head to head · open source
Browser Use vs patchright-nodejs
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars, 12,695 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. patchright-nodejs has 786 stars, 50 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Browser Use leads on adoption by 14,579% (115,379 vs 786 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; patchright-nodejs is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, patchright-nodejs 6%. 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 (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 | patchright-nodejs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 115K | ★ 786 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 50 |
| 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 patchright-nodejs if
- You want the patchright-nodejs 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 patchright-nodejs 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 patchright-nodejs
Patchright for Node.js is a patched, undetected drop in replacement for the Playwright browser automation framework, built in TypeScript for Node.js developers whose scraping, testing, and automation jobs get blocked by bot detection.
read the full patchright-nodejs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or patchright-nodejs more popular?
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars and patchright-nodejs has 786. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and patchright-nodejs free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and patchright-nodejs under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and patchright-nodejs?
Browser Use is written in Python and patchright-nodejs 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 patchright-nodejs?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (115,379 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose patchright-nodejs if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.