head to head · open source
dots vs kitesurf
dots has 32,530 GitHub stars, 4,757 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. kitesurf has 1,328 stars, 59 forks, 35 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dots leads on adoption by 2,350% (32,530 vs 1,328 stars). dots is written in Python under MIT; kitesurf is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. dots has attracted 15% 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
| dots | kitesurf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-13 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 59 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick dots 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 dots
dots Every AI agent is a model and a browser. You can swap the model with one flag. The browser is what the website sees. Windows, in PowerShell: Linux: Then open The conversation on the left, the browser on the right, live. It all comes down to the browser When a web agent fails, the model is rarely why. The page never loaded, a challenge appeared, the login expired, the click did not land. All of that happens in the browser, before the model gets to think. So dots is built around one: A real Firefox engine, patched in C++. The fingerprint is decided inside the engine, not painted over with JavaScript that a…
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 dots or kitesurf more popular?
dots has 32,530 GitHub stars and kitesurf has 1,328. dots has the larger community by that measure.
Are dots and kitesurf free?
Both are open source. dots is licensed under MIT and kitesurf under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between dots and kitesurf?
dots 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, dots or kitesurf?
Choose dots if you want the larger community (32,530 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose kitesurf if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.