head to head · open source
Browser Use vs playwright_mcp
Browser Use has 120,967 GitHub stars, 13,529 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped today. playwright_mcp has 864 stars, 115 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Browser Use leads on adoption by 13,901% (120,967 vs 864 stars). Browser Use is written in Python under MIT; playwright_mcp is written in Python under MIT. Browser Use has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, playwright_mcp 13%. Browser Use was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (ai-tools, browser-agent, browser-automation, computer-use), 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 | playwright_mcp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 121K | ★ 864 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-14 | 2026-11-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 115 |
| 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 playwright_mcp if
- You want the playwright_mcp feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and playwright_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 playwright_mcp
Other AI browser agents get captchas. This one is invisible to anti bots. Two ways to use this browser agent 1. From your assistant, over MCP Windows, in PowerShell: Linux: Then install it in your assistant. Claude Code: Codex: Gemini CLI: 2. Standalone: the web UI We bring the interface, you bring an OpenRouter key. Chat on the left, the live browser on the right. Windows, in PowerShell: Linux: Then open and type the same thing. What to ask a web browsing agent Anything that needs real web automation: a browser rather than an API, and a person's judgement about what is on the page. Go to . One way, Milan to…
read the full playwright_mcp overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Browser Use or playwright_mcp more popular?
Browser Use has 120,967 GitHub stars and playwright_mcp has 864. Browser Use has the larger community by that measure.
Are Browser Use and playwright_mcp free?
Both are open source. Browser Use is licensed under MIT and playwright_mcp under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Browser Use and playwright_mcp?
Browser Use is written in Python and playwright_mcp in Python. 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 playwright_mcp?
Choose Browser Use if you want the larger community (120,967 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose playwright_mcp if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.