head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs Recorder
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,222 GitHub stars, 4,037 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped today. Recorder has 5,633 stars, 1,096 forks, 136 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 827% (52,222 vs 5,633 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Recorder is written in JavaScript under MIT. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Recorder 19%. 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 | Recorder | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 5.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-07-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| 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 Recorder if
- You want the Recorder feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Recorder 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 Recorder
Recorder is an MIT licensed JavaScript library for HTML5 microphone recording that captures audio from any MediaStream and transcodes it into mp3, wav, ogg, webm, amr, g711a, or g711u, aimed at front end, hybrid app, and mini program developers who need recording, format conversion, or speech recognition inside a web page.
read the full Recorder overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or Recorder more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,222 GitHub stars and Recorder has 5,633. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and Recorder free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Recorder under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and Recorder?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and Recorder 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 Recorder?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (52,222 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Recorder if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.