head to head · open source
CloakBrowser vs kitesurf
CloakBrowser has 32,892 GitHub stars, 2,730 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. kitesurf has 1,328 stars, 59 forks, 35 open issues and last shipped yesterday. CloakBrowser leads on adoption by 2,377% (32,892 vs 1,328 stars). CloakBrowser is written in Python under MIT; kitesurf is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. CloakBrowser has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, kitesurf 4%. kitesurf was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser-automation), 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
| CloakBrowser | kitesurf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-12 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 59 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick CloakBrowser if
- You weight community size — 33K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick kitesurf if
- You want the kitesurf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and kitesurf fits your workflow better
About CloakBrowser
Stealth Chromium that passes every bot detection test. Not a patched config. Not a JS injection. A real Chromium binary with fingerprints modified at the C++ source level. Antibot systems score it as a normal browser — because it is a normal browser. Cloudflare Turnstile — 3 live tests passing (headed mode, macOS) Drop in Playwright/Puppeteer replacement for Python and JavaScript. Same API, same code — just swap the import. 3 lines of code, 30 seconds to unblock. 87 source level C++ patches — canvas, WebGL, audio, fonts, GPU, screen, WebRTC, network timing, automation signals, CDP input behavior humanize=True —…
read the full CloakBrowser overview →
About kitesurf
Kitesurf Kitesurf is an experimental browser engine that runs on Cloudflare Workers. It parses HTML, applies CSS, runs page JavaScript, and renders screenshots without Chrome or a browser container. Kitesurf speaks the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP), so you can use it with CDP clients such as Puppeteer. [!IMPORTANT] Kitesurf requires Cloudflare Dynamic Workers to create isolated workers for pages. Dynamic Workers are part of the Workers Paid plan. Local development uses wrangler dev . A Cloudflare Workers Paid plan is required to run Kitesurf on Cloudflare. Requirements Bazelisk, installed as bazel . Bazel…
read the full kitesurf overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CloakBrowser or kitesurf more popular?
CloakBrowser has 32,892 GitHub stars and kitesurf has 1,328. CloakBrowser has the larger community by that measure.
Are CloakBrowser and kitesurf free?
Both are open source. CloakBrowser is licensed under MIT and kitesurf under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CloakBrowser and kitesurf?
CloakBrowser is written in Python and kitesurf 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, CloakBrowser or kitesurf?
Choose CloakBrowser if you want the larger community (32,892 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose kitesurf if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.