head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs cli
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,222 GitHub stars, 4,037 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped today. cli has 31,040 stars, 1,840 forks, 131 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 68% (52,222 vs 31,040 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; cli is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, cli 6%. chrome-devtools-mcp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | cli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 31K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick chrome-devtools-mcp if
- You weight community size — 52K 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 cli if
- You want the cli feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and cli fits your workflow better
About chrome-devtools-mcp
chrome devtools mcp is an Apache 2.0 TypeScript Model Context Protocol server, distributed on npm, that gives coding agents such as Claude, Cursor, Copilot and Antigravity control over and visibility into a live Chrome browser through the full Chrome DevTools toolset.
read the full chrome-devtools-mcp overview →
About cli
gws is a command line tool for Google Workspace, written in Rust and released under the Apache 2.0 license. It provides a single interface for Drive, Gmail, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, Chat, Admin, and the wider set of Workspace APIs. Rather than shipping a fixed list of commands, it reads Google's own Discovery Service at runtime and builds its entire command surface dynamically, so new API endpoints and methods appear without a CLI release. The project lives in the Google Workspace ecosystem and is explicitly not an officially supported Google product.
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or cli more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,222 GitHub stars and cli has 31,040. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and cli free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cli under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and cli?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and cli in Rust. 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 cli?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (52,222 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cli if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.