head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs nanobrowser
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars, 5,250 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nanobrowser has 14,222 stars, 1,521 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 284% (54,665 vs 14,222 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; nanobrowser is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, nanobrowser 11%. 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 | nanobrowser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 55K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 nanobrowser if
- You want the nanobrowser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nanobrowser 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 nanobrowser
🌐 Nanobrowser Nanobrowser is an open source AI web automation tool that runs in your browser. A free alternative to OpenAI Operator with flexible LLM options and multi agent system. ⬇️ Get Nanobrowser from Chrome Web Store for free 👏 Join the community in Discord X 🌟 Loving Nanobrowser? Give us a star and help spread the word! ❤️ Support the project by sponsoring us every contribution helps keep Nanobrowser free and open source! Nanobrowser's multi agent system analyzing HuggingFace in real time, with the Planner intelligently self correcting when encountering obstacles and dynamically instructing the…
read the full nanobrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or nanobrowser more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars and nanobrowser has 14,222. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and nanobrowser free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and nanobrowser under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and nanobrowser?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and nanobrowser 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 nanobrowser?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (54,665 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose nanobrowser if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.