head to head · open source
ponytail vs invisible_playwright_mcp
ponytail has 185,937 GitHub stars, 10,290 forks, 270 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. invisible_playwright_mcp has 872 stars, 117 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. ponytail leads on adoption by 21,223% (185,937 vs 872 stars). ponytail is written in JavaScript under MIT; invisible_playwright_mcp is written in Python under MIT. ponytail has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, invisible_playwright_mcp 13%. ponytail was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (claude-code-plugin), 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
| ponytail | invisible_playwright_mcp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 186K | ★ 872 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 117 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ponytail if
- You weight community size — 186K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick invisible_playwright_mcp if
- You want the invisible_playwright_mcp feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and invisible_playwright_mcp fits your workflow better
About ponytail
Ponytail He says nothing. He writes one line. It works. 54% less code (up to 94%) · 20% cheaper · 27% faster · 100% safe Measured on real Claude Code sessions editing a real open source repo (FastAPI + React), against the same agent with no skill. 54% is the mean across 12 feature tasks (Haiku 4.5, n=4); it reaches 94% where an agent over builds (a date picker) and is near zero where the code is already minimal. ponytail keeps every safety guard while a bare "write one liners" prompt drops one. (The earlier single shot benchmark reported 80 94% as a flat figure; against a fair agentic…
read the full ponytail overview →
About invisible_playwright_mcp
An anti detect browser and web browsing agent, open source, with an MCP server for coding agents: undetected, no captchas, no blocks. Tell it what you want in plain language. Two ways to use this browser agent 1. From your assistant, over MCP Windows, in PowerShell: Linux: Then install it in your assistant. Claude Code: Codex: Gemini CLI: 2. Standalone: the web UI We bring the interface, you bring an OpenRouter key. Chat on the left, the live browser on the right. Windows, in PowerShell: Linux: Then open and type the same thing. What to ask a web browsing agent Anything that needs real web automation: a browser…
read the full invisible_playwright_mcp overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ponytail or invisible_playwright_mcp more popular?
ponytail has 185,937 GitHub stars and invisible_playwright_mcp has 872. ponytail has the larger community by that measure.
Are ponytail and invisible_playwright_mcp free?
Both are open source. ponytail is licensed under MIT and invisible_playwright_mcp under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ponytail and invisible_playwright_mcp?
ponytail is written in JavaScript and invisible_playwright_mcp 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, ponytail or invisible_playwright_mcp?
Choose ponytail if you want the larger community (185,937 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose invisible_playwright_mcp if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.