# Anchor Browser vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)

> Anchor Browser scores 67.3 (B) on agent readiness against Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)'s 30.6 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) leads on transparency & trust. Both do browser automation. Category scores, facts…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md (~2,750 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.min.md (~830 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Anchor Browser scores 67.3 (B) on agent readiness against Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)'s 30.6 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) leads on transparency & trust. Both do browser automation.

- Anchor Browser: grade B, 67.3/100, rank #211 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anchor-browser.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anchor-browser.json
- Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server): grade F, 30.6/100, rank #712 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/puppeteer-reference-server-archived.json

## Which one, for what

### Anchor Browser (B)

Good for: Agents that must work inside signed-in accounts, with managed identities, MFA handling and a human sign-in link, and agents that need to start with no human signup.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 80 against 12
- Schema & documentation, 80 against 41
- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 47
- Security & auth, 54 against 22
- Maintenance & community, 57 against 0

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card
- No incidents deducted, where Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) loses 4 points for them

Watch for: No service agreement or API terms found. anchorbrowser.io/terms is a website terms of use dated 16 March 2025

### Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) (F)

Good for: Nothing new.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 75 against 51

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source

Watch for: Archived on 29 May 2025 with no security guarantees, and deprecated on npm


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Anchor Browser | Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 12 | Anchor Browser +68 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 41 | Anchor Browser +39 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 47 | Anchor Browser +26 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 54 | 22 | Anchor Browser +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 0 | Anchor Browser +57 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 75 | Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) +24 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **67.3 · B** | **30.6 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Anchor Browser | Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Anchor Forge Inc. | Model Context Protocol (archived) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.anchorbrowser.io` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary cloud service. No service agreement was found, only a website terms of use. The TypeScript and Python SDKs and the self-hosted MCP server are Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 7 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-07-28 | 2025-05-12 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2021-09-08 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-02-24 | 2023-03-15 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 43k npm/wk, 10k PyPI/wk | 294 stars, 25k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 1/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Anchor Browser.** The API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 document, per-unit prices and Agent Access, an unauthenticated flow that issues a trial API key without a dashboard account. No service agreement is published, only a website terms of use, and the documented CDP connection puts the API key in the URL.

**Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server).** Seven tools in about 700 tokens, every input with a `required` list. Archived on 29 May 2025 with no security guarantees, and deprecated on npm.

## Before you call either

### Anchor Browser

1. Send the key in the `anchor-api-key` header. For CDP, build `wss://connect.anchorbrowser.io?apiKey=<key>&sessionId=<id>` and keep that URL out of logs
2. Set `session.timeout.idle_timeout` and `max_duration` and end sessions with DELETE. The default maximum is 180 minutes, and browser time bills by the minute
3. Session creation is capped at 5 a minute on Free, 25 on Starter and 100 on Growth. On 429, wait for the `Retry-After` seconds
4. Connect the `Anchor` MCP server or `Anchor (all)`, not both, because the docs say the pair duplicates tool names
5. Authenticated browsers, CAPTCHA solving and proxies by country need the Starter plan or higher. The Free plan and Agent Access keys run plain sessions and web tasks

### Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)

1. Don't install it for new work. playwright-mcp covers the same tasks with snapshots and annotations
2. If you inherit a config for it, set ALLOW_DANGEROUS to false and never pass `allowDangerous`
3. Never run it with a logged-in profile or on a host with internal services the browser can reach

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Anchor Browser or Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)?

Anchor Browser scores 67.3 (B) on agent readiness against Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)'s 30.6 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) leads on transparency & trust.

### Do Anchor Browser and Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) need an API key?

Anchor Browser takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) needs no key.

### Can an agent call Anchor Browser and Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) without installing anything?

Anchor Browser has a hosted endpoint at https://api.anchorbrowser.io. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.

### Are Anchor Browser and Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) open source?

No open-source release is listed for Anchor Browser. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "anchor-browser", "b": "puppeteer-reference-server-archived"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare anchor-browser puppeteer-reference-server-archived`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anchor-browser.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/puppeteer-reference-server-archived.json

## Other comparisons with Anchor Browser or Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)

- [Airtop vs Anchor Browser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-anchor-browser.md)
- [Airtop vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtop-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Browser Use](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browser-use.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Browserbase](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserbase.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Browserless](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-browserless.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-chrome-devtools-mcp.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Hyperbrowser](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-hyperbrowser.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Notte](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-notte.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Playwright MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-playwright-mcp.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-skyvern.md)
- [Anchor Browser vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anchor-browser-vs-steel.md)
- [Browser Use vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Browserbase vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserbase-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Browserless vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browserless-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Chrome DevTools MCP vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chrome-devtools-mcp-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Hyperbrowser vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperbrowser-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Notte vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/notte-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Playwright MCP vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playwright-mcp-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
- [Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) vs Skyvern](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/puppeteer-reference-server-archived-vs-skyvern.md)
- [Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) vs Steel](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/puppeteer-reference-server-archived-vs-steel.md)

## Disclosure

- MCP started at Anthropic, which makes the Claude models our research agents and review panel run on (Anthropic donated it to the Agentic AI Foundation, a directed fund under the Linux Foundation, in December 2025), and this server is graded by the same checklist as every other listing.