head to head · open source
puppeteer vs chrome-devtools-mcp
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars, 9,579 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped today. chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,335 stars, 4,281 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped today. puppeteer leads on adoption by 83% (95,591 vs 52,335 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; chrome-devtools-mcp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, chrome-devtools-mcp 8%. puppeteer was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (chrome), 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
| puppeteer | chrome-devtools-mcp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 52K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 4.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick puppeteer if
- You weight community size — 96K 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 chrome-devtools-mcp if
- You want the chrome-devtools-mcp 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 chrome-devtools-mcp fits your workflow better
About puppeteer
Puppeteer is an Apache 2.0 JavaScript and TypeScript library that provides a high level API for driving Chrome and Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi, written for developers who automate browsers from Node.js.
read the full puppeteer overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or chrome-devtools-mcp more popular?
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars and chrome-devtools-mcp has 52,335. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and chrome-devtools-mcp free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and chrome-devtools-mcp under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and chrome-devtools-mcp?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and chrome-devtools-mcp 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, puppeteer or chrome-devtools-mcp?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,591 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose chrome-devtools-mcp if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.