head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs zip.js
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,222 GitHub stars, 4,037 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped yesterday. zip.js has 3,894 stars, 547 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 1,241% (52,222 vs 3,894 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; zip.js is written in JavaScript under BSD-3-Clause. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, zip.js 14%. 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 | zip.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 547 |
| 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 zip.js if
- You want the zip.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and zip.js 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 zip.js
zip.js is a BSD 3 Clause JavaScript library for compressing and decompressing zip files in browsers, Node.js, Deno and service workers, built for developers who need to read and write large archives in JavaScript without a native binary or a server round trip.
read the full zip.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or zip.js more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,222 GitHub stars and zip.js has 3,894. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and zip.js free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and zip.js under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and zip.js?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and zip.js 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 zip.js?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (52,222 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose zip.js if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.