head to head · open source
chrome-devtools-mcp vs obscura
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,335 GitHub stars, 4,281 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped today. obscura has 27,406 stars, 2,011 forks, 134 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chrome-devtools-mcp leads on adoption by 91% (52,335 vs 27,406 stars). chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; obscura is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. chrome-devtools-mcp has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, obscura 7%. chrome-devtools-mcp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (browser, puppeteer), 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 | obscura | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 27K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.3K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| 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 obscura if
- You want the obscura feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and obscura 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 obscura
Obscura is an open source headless browser engine written in Rust, built for web scraping and AI agent automation. It runs real JavaScript through V8, speaks the Chrome DevTools Protocol, and presents itself as a drop in replacement for headless Chrome when driven by Puppeteer or Playwright. The project lives in the browser automation and headless browser corner of the Rust ecosystem, and it ships under the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full obscura overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chrome-devtools-mcp or obscura more popular?
chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,335 GitHub stars and obscura has 27,406. chrome-devtools-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are chrome-devtools-mcp and obscura free?
Both are open source. chrome-devtools-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and obscura under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chrome-devtools-mcp and obscura?
chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript and obscura in Rust. 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 obscura?
Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if you want the larger community (52,335 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose obscura if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.