head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs markdown-viewer
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars, 5,250 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped yesterday. markdown-viewer has 1,723 stars, 234 forks, 99 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 3,073% (54,665 vs 1,723 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; markdown-viewer is written in JavaScript under MIT. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, markdown-viewer 14%. 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 (chrome), 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 | markdown-viewer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 55K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2025-12-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 234 |
| 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 markdown-viewer if
- You want the markdown-viewer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and markdown-viewer 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 markdown-viewer
Markdown Viewer / Browser Extension Install: [Chrome] / [Firefox] / [Edge] / [Opera] / [Brave] / [Chromium] / [Vivaldi] Features Secure by design Render local and remote file URLs Granular access to remote origins Multiple markdown parsers Full control over the compiler options ([markdown it], [marked], [remark]) 30+ Themes ([cleanrmd], [GitHub][github theme]) Custom theme support GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) Auto reload on file change Syntax highlighted code blocks ([prism][prism]) Table of Contents (ToC) MathJax formulas ([mathjax]) Mermaid diagrams ([mermaid]) Convert emoji shortnames (icons provided free…
read the full markdown-viewer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or markdown-viewer more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars and markdown-viewer has 1,723. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and markdown-viewer free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and markdown-viewer under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and markdown-viewer?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and markdown-viewer 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 markdown-viewer?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (54,665 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose markdown-viewer if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.