head to head · open source
dots vs pinchtab
dots has 32,357 GitHub stars, 4,739 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. pinchtab has 10,539 stars, 789 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. dots leads on adoption by 207% (32,357 vs 10,539 stars). dots is written in TypeScript under MIT; pinchtab is written in Go under MIT. dots has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, pinchtab 7%. dots 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 | pinchtab | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 11K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.7K | ⑂ 789 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick dots if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pinchtab if
- You want the pinchtab feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and pinchtab 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 pinchtab
PinchTab Browser control for AI agents Small Go binary • HTTP API • Token efficient What is PinchTab? PinchTab is a standalone HTTP server that gives AI agents direct control over Chrome. For day to day local use, the server is typically installed as a user level daemon, allowing agent tools to reuse the same browser control plane running in the background. This installs the control plane server and starts a default headless Chrome instance, ready to accept requests from agents or manual API calls. PinchTab is designed first for local, single user control on a machine you manage. Remote and distributed layouts…
read the full pinchtab overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is dots or pinchtab more popular?
dots has 32,357 GitHub stars and pinchtab has 10,539. dots has the larger community by that measure.
Are dots and pinchtab free?
Both are open source. dots is licensed under MIT and pinchtab under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between dots and pinchtab?
dots is written in TypeScript and pinchtab in Go. 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 pinchtab?
Choose dots if you want the larger community (32,357 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose pinchtab if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.