head to head · open source
firecrawl vs Browser Use
firecrawl has 181,744 GitHub stars, 9,838 forks, 621 open issues and last shipped today. Browser Use has 115,022 stars, 12,661 forks, 421 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. firecrawl leads on adoption by 58% (181,744 vs 115,022 stars). firecrawl is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Browser Use is written in Python under MIT. firecrawl has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Browser Use 11%. firecrawl was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai-agents, llm), 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
| firecrawl | Browser Use | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 182K | ★ 115K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.8K | ⑂ 13K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick firecrawl if
- You weight community size — 182K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Browser Use if
- You want the Browser Use feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Browser Use fits your workflow better
About firecrawl
Firecrawl is an open source web context API that enables AI agents to search, scrape, and interact with websites at scale. It lives in the AI and data extraction ecosystem, providing structured, LLM ready outputs from unstructured web content. Built in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0, it supports both self hosting and a hosted service via firecrawl.dev.
read the full firecrawl overview →
About Browser Use
Browser Use is an open source Python library and hosted platform that enables AI agents to control web browsers programmatically. It lives in the AI agent and browser automation ecosystem, built on Playwright and designed to let LLMs interact with websites as a human would—clicking, filling forms, solving CAPTCHAs, and navigating dynamic interfaces. The project provides three deployment paths: a fully hosted cloud service, a command line interface for existing agents, and a local Python library for custom integrations.
read the full Browser Use overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is firecrawl or Browser Use more popular?
firecrawl has 181,744 GitHub stars and Browser Use has 115,022. firecrawl has the larger community by that measure.
Are firecrawl and Browser Use free?
Both are open source. firecrawl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Browser Use under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between firecrawl and Browser Use?
firecrawl is written in TypeScript and Browser Use in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, firecrawl or Browser Use?
Choose firecrawl if you want the larger community (181,744 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Browser Use if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.