head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs chromium
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars, 5,250 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chromium has 25,223 stars, 9,398 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 117% (54,665 vs 25,223 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; chromium is written in various languages under BSD-3-Clause. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, chromium 37%. chromium was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), 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
| chrome-devtools-mcp | chromium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 55K | ★ 25K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | TypeScript | — |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 9.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick chrome-devtools-mcp if
- You weight community size — 55K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chromium if
- You want the chromium feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- You evaluated both and chromium fits your workflow better
About chrome-devtools-mcp
Chrome DevTools for agents Chrome DevTools for agents ( chrome devtools mcp ) lets your coding agent (such as Antigravity, Claude, Cursor or Copilot) control and inspect a live Chrome browser. It acts as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, giving your AI coding assistant access to the full power of Chrome DevTools for reliable automation, in depth debugging, and performance analysis. A [CLI][cli] is also provided for use without MCP. [Tool reference][tool reference] [Changelog][changelog] [Contributing][contributing] [Troubleshooting][troubleshooting] [Design Principles][design principles] Key features Get…
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About chromium
Chromium Chromium is an open source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all users to experience the web. The project's web site is To check out the source code locally, don't use git clone ! Instead, follow the instructions on how to get the code. Documentation in the source is rooted in docs/README.md. Learn how to Get Around the Chromium Source Code Directory Structure. For historical reasons, there are some small top level directories. Now the guidance is that new top level directories are for product (e.g. Chrome, Android WebView, Ash). Even if these products have…
read the full chromium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or chromium more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars and chromium has 25,223. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and chromium free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and chromium under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and chromium?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and chromium in various languages. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, chrome-devtools-mcp or chromium?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (54,665 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose chromium if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.