head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs opal
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,222 GitHub stars, 4,037 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped today. opal has 4,926 stars, 336 forks, 152 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 960% (52,222 vs 4,926 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; opal is written in Ruby under MIT. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, opal 7%. 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 | opal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 4.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 336 |
| 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 opal if
- You want the opal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and opal 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 opal
Opal is an MIT licensed Ruby to JavaScript source to source compiler, distributed as a Ruby gem, that lets developers write Ruby and run the resulting JavaScript in the browser, Node.js, Deno, Bun, or QuickJS.
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or opal more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,222 GitHub stars and opal has 4,926. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and opal free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and opal under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and opal?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and opal in Ruby. 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 opal?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (52,222 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose opal if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.