# Browserbase vs Chrome DevTools MCP

> Chrome DevTools MCP has a score of 77.1 (BB) against Browserbase's 76.6 (BB). Both do browser automation. The largest gap is payments & pricing, 30 points. Browserbase accepts x402. Chrome DevTools MCP doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- 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: 2026-10-05

Chrome DevTools MCP has a score of 77.1 (BB) against Browserbase's 76.6 (BB). Both do browser automation. The largest gap is payments & pricing, 30 points. Browserbase accepts x402. Chrome DevTools MCP doesn't.

- Browserbase: grade BB, 76.6/100, rank #25 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/browserbase.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/browserbase.json
- Chrome DevTools MCP: grade BB, 77.1/100, rank #22 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chrome-devtools-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/chrome-devtools-mcp.json

## Which one, for what

Pick Browserbase for reliability (+7), payments & pricing (+30).

Pick Chrome DevTools MCP for schema & documentation (+7), agent ergonomics (+8), security & auth (+20), transparency & trust (+7).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Browserbase | Chrome DevTools MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 90 | 83 | Browserbase +7 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 87 | Chrome DevTools MCP +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 83 | Chrome DevTools MCP +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 63 | Chrome DevTools MCP +20 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 90 | 60 | Browserbase +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 92 | 93 | Chrome DevTools MCP +1 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 82 | Chrome DevTools MCP +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -1 | |
| **Total** | | **76.6 · BB** | **77.1 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Browserbase | Chrome DevTools MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Browserbase | Google (Chrome DevTools team) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.browserbase.com/v1` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | stdio |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | yes | no |
| Licence | MIT (Stagehand) | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | none | 59 |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.ChromeDevTools/chrome-devtools-mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-23 |
| Popularity | 25k stars | 49k stars, 1.5M npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.4/5 (8) | 3.5/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**Browserbase.** x402 sessions at x402.browserbase.com with no account, $0.12 an hour, unused minutes refunded. The hosted MCP setup page passes the API key as `?browserbaseApiKey=` in the URL.

**Chrome DevTools MCP.** Performance traces, network inspection, heap snapshots and Lighthouse audits in one server. Usage statistics go to Google by default until you pass `--no-usage-statistics`.

## Before you call either

### Browserbase

1. Use x402.browserbase.com when you have a wallet and no key. Terminate the session to get unused minutes refunded
2. Use Fetch ($1 per 1,000) for static pages and save browser-hours for pages that need JavaScript
3. Close sessions explicitly. Each session bills at least one minute, and idle ones keep billing
4. Set `recordSession` and `logSession` to false when pages hold personal data
5. On 429, wait `retry-after` seconds before creating another session

### Chrome DevTools MCP

1. Pass `pageId` on every page tool. Call `list_pages` first to get it
2. Start with `--slim` for plain browsing, or turn off categories you don't need
3. Run with `--isolated` for untrusted sites. The default profile persists between runs
4. Use `filePath` on large outputs such as traces and snapshots to keep them out of context
5. Add `--no-usage-statistics` if the operator hasn't agreed to Google telemetry

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