head to head · open source
Browser Use vs pinchtab
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars, 12,695 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pinchtab has 10,274 stars, 774 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Browser Use leads on adoption by 1,023% (115,379 vs 10,274 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; pinchtab is written in Go under MIT. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, pinchtab 8%. 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 | pinchtab | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 115K | ★ 10K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 774 |
| 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 pinchtab if
- You want the pinchtab feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and pinchtab 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 pinchtab
PinchTab is a standalone HTTP server written in Go that gives AI agents direct control over Chrome, aimed at developers and operators who run browser automation on a machine they manage themselves.
read the full pinchtab overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or pinchtab more popular?
Browser Use has 115,379 GitHub stars and pinchtab has 10,274. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and pinchtab free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and pinchtab under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and pinchtab?
Browser Use is written in Python and pinchtab 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 pinchtab?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (115,379 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose pinchtab if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.