head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs ego-lite
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,197 GitHub stars, 3,990 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ego-lite has 16,117 stars, 844 forks, 169 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 224% (52,197 vs 16,117 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; ego-lite is written in JavaScript under MIT. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, ego-lite 5%. chrome-devtools-mcp 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 | ego-lite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 16K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 844 |
| 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 ego-lite if
- You want the ego-lite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and ego-lite 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 ego-lite
ego lite is an MIT licensed browser from citrolabs that lets a person and their AI agents drive the same browser in parallel, aimed at developers who want Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or a custom agent CLI to automate real, logged in web pages without surrendering the tabs they are using.
read the full ego-lite overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or ego-lite more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,197 GitHub stars and ego-lite has 16,117. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and ego-lite free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ego-lite under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and ego-lite?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and ego-lite in JavaScript. 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 ego-lite?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (52,197 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ego-lite if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.