head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs happy-dom
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars, 5,250 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped yesterday. happy-dom has 4,732 stars, 373 forks, 444 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 1,055% (54,665 vs 4,732 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; happy-dom is written in TypeScript under MIT. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, happy-dom 8%. happy-dom 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 | happy-dom | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 55K | ★ 4.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 373 |
| 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 happy-dom if
- You want the happy-dom feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and happy-dom 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…
read the full chrome-devtools-mcp overview →
About happy-dom
A JavaScript implementation of a web browser without its graphical user interface. Documentation Getting started Setup as Test Environment DOM Features Custom Elements (Web Components) Declarative Shadow DOM Mutation Observer Tree Walker Fetch API And much more.. Works With Vitest Bun Jest Testing Library Google LitElement Vue React Svelte Angular Sponsors Sponsors Contributing See Contributing Guide. License MIT License © 2019 Present David Ortner
read the full happy-dom overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or happy-dom more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars and happy-dom has 4,732. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and happy-dom free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and happy-dom under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and happy-dom?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and happy-dom in TypeScript. 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 happy-dom?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (54,665 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose happy-dom if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.