head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs terminal-browser
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars, 5,250 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped yesterday. terminal-browser has 4,389 stars, 216 forks, 64 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 1,146% (54,665 vs 4,389 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; terminal-browser is written in TypeScript under MIT. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, terminal-browser 5%. terminal-browser 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| chrome-devtools-mcp | terminal-browser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 55K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 216 |
| 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 terminal-browser if
- You want the terminal-browser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and terminal-browser 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 terminal-browser
terminal browser A real browser that runs inside your terminal Installation curl (macOS & Linux): Note: Run terminal browser upgrade to upgrade versions Homebrew Claude code plugin Install instructions here Usage Use cases: You can have a coding agent and website scoped to the same terminal tab Your agent has full access to interact with open terminal browsers, which gives your agent the capability to use the web You can ask an agent to make HTML plans and then open them inside terminal browser, which will automatically open in a split pane next to your agent terminal browser works over SSH, which allows you to…
read the full terminal-browser overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Browsers & Extensions projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Browsers & Extensions field.
Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or terminal-browser more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 54,665 GitHub stars and terminal-browser has 4,389. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and terminal-browser free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and terminal-browser under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and terminal-browser?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and terminal-browser 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 terminal-browser?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (54,665 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose terminal-browser if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.