head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs search-by-image
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,197 GitHub stars, 3,990 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped yesterday. search-by-image has 3,749 stars, 318 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 1,292% (52,197 vs 3,749 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; search-by-image is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, search-by-image 8%. chrome-devtools-mcp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | search-by-image | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 318 |
| 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 search-by-image if
- You want the search-by-image feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and search-by-image 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 search-by-image
Search by Image is an open source JavaScript browser extension released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. It lives in the productivity and browser extension ecosystem, where it provides reverse image search from Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox according to the project metadata. The extension addresses a concrete verification problem: users need to determine where an image came from, whether it is duplicated, or whether it is used misleadingly on social media. Instead of copying image URLs or downloading files, users can search with the image directly from the browser.
read the full search-by-image overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or search-by-image more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,197 GitHub stars and search-by-image has 3,749. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and search-by-image free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and search-by-image under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and search-by-image?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and search-by-image 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 search-by-image?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (52,197 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose search-by-image if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.