# Browser Use vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)

> Browser Use scores 77.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)'s 30.6 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) leads on transparency & trust. Both do browser automation. Browser Use accepts x402.…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md (~2,800 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.min.md (~880 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/browser-use-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

Browser Use scores 77.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)'s 30.6 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) leads on transparency & trust. Both do browser automation. Browser Use accepts x402. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) doesn't.

- Browser Use: grade BB, 77.9/100, rank #16 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browser-use.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browser-use.json
- Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server): grade F, 30.6/100, rank #619 of 629. 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

### Browser Use (BB)

Good for: An agent that wants to hand a whole browser task to a hosted agent and get a result back, or that needs a low-cost cloud browser over CDP, and for unattended agents that can pay by x402.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 87 against 12
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 41
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 47
- Security & auth, 59 against 22
- Payments & pricing, 90 against 60
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 0

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
- 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: The privacy policy says inputs are used to train Browser Use's AI models, with no opt-out described outside Enterprise zero data retention

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

Good for: Nothing new.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 75 against 65

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

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


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Browser Use | Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 87 | 12 | Browser Use +75 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 41 | Browser Use +44 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 47 | Browser Use +31 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 59 | 22 | Browser Use +37 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 90 | 60 | Browser Use +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 0 | Browser Use +77 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 75 | Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **77.9 · BB** | **30.6 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Browser Use | Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Browser Use | Model Context Protocol (archived) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.browser-use.com/api/v4` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | stdio |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Free |
| x402 | yes | no |
| Licence | MIT for the open-source library and the SDK. Browser Use Cloud is a proprietary service under Browser Use's terms of service | MIT |
| Tools exposed | 7 | 7 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | `com.browser-use/browser-use` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2025-05-12 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-07-15 | 2021-09-08 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2023-03-15 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 117k stars, 107k npm/wk, 2.1M PyPI/wk | 294 stars, 25k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 1/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Browser Use.** The hosted cloud accepts x402 top-ups in USDC on Base with no account or API key, and publishes prices, rate limits and three OpenAPI documents. The privacy policy says inputs are used to train Browser Use's models, API keys have no documented scopes, and no prompt-injection guidance was found in the docs.

**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

### Browser Use

1. Send the key as `X-Browser-Use-API-Key` with no Bearer prefix. A Bearer header returns 401
2. Stop browsers with `PATCH /api/v4/browsers/{id}` and `{"action":"stop"}`. Closing CDP or the SDK client leaves the browser billing
3. Poll `GET /runs/{id}/status`, not the full run, and wait for the returned Retry-After on 429, which can be 300 seconds at the edge
4. Before resubmitting after a timeout, read the existing run's status. The server keeps running and may already have submitted a form
5. With a wallet and no key, call x402.api.browser-use.com on `/api/v2` or `/api/v3` routes. A task stops with INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS if credit runs out mid-run

### 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, Browser Use or Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)?

Browser Use scores 77.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)'s 30.6 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) leads on transparency & trust.

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

Browser Use needs an API key. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) needs no key. An agent can also pay Browser Use per call over x402, with no account.

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

Browser Use has a hosted endpoint at https://api.browser-use.com/api/v4. Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.

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

Yes. Browser Use is open source (MIT for the open-source library and the SDK. Browser Use Cloud is a proprietary service under Browser Use's terms of service). Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server) is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

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

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- [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.