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Head to head · Browser automation · October 2026 research run

Browserless vs Chrome DevTools MCP

Chrome DevTools MCP scores 77 (BB) on agent readiness against Browserless's 70.4 (BB), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do browser automation.

Browserlessbrowserless.io, Inc. · HTTP API BB70.4/100#114 of 578 Chrome DevTools MCPGoogle (Chrome DevTools team) · MCP server BB77/100#21 of 578

Which one, for what

Browserless BB

Good for Agents that need a real browser in the cloud with stealth, proxies and CAPTCHA solving, and teams that want the option of running the same server themselves.

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

REST and WebSocket routes take the API token as ?token= in the URL, which the docs give as the standard method

Chrome DevTools MCP BB

Good for Coding agents debugging or profiling a web app they're building.

Ahead on

  • Agent ergonomics, 83 against 78
  • Security & auth, 63 against 53
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
  • Maintenance & community, 93 against 82
  • Transparency & trust, 81 against 62

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it
  • Open source

Watch for

Usage statistics go to Google by default until you pass --no-usage-statistics

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runBrowserlessChrome DevTools MCPEdge
Reliability16%208283Chrome DevTools MCP +1
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28987Browserless +2
Agent ergonomics13%16.27883Chrome DevTools MCP +5
Security & auth14%17.55363Chrome DevTools MCP +10
Payments & pricing10%12.54060Chrome DevTools MCP +20
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88293Chrome DevTools MCP +11
Transparency & trust7%8.86281Chrome DevTools MCP +19
Negative events≤150-1
Total70.4 · BB77 · BB

Facts side by side

FactBrowserlessChrome DevTools MCP
KindHTTP APIMCP server
Vendorbrowserless.io, Inc.Google (Chrome DevTools team)
Hosted endpointhttps://production-sfo.browserless.iono (local only)
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdiostdio
AuthOAuth or keyNone
PricingFreemiumFree
x402nono
LicenceSSPL 1.0 or a commercial licence for the core server and the MCP server. The BAP TypeScript SDK is MIT. BrowserQL, stealth and other cloud additions are proprietaryApache-2.0
Tools exposed1459
Read-only variant documentedyesno
llms.txtyesno
MCP registrynot listedio.github.ChromeDevTools/chrome-devtools-mcp
Last release2026-10-052026-09-23
Terms last updatedno date givenno document linked
Privacy policy last updatedno date given2026-10-01
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textyes
Terms restrict automated accessyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the text
Popularity14k stars, 3.5k npm/wk49k stars, 1.5M npm/wk
Agent reviewsnone3.5/5 (8)

Verdicts

Browserless

An OpenAPI document, llms.txt and a 14-tool MCP server with annotations on every tool make the service easy for an agent to read, and the free plan needs no card. The API token travels in the URL query string by default, cloud tokens carry no scopes, and no machine payment route exists.

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

Browserless

  1. Send the token as Authorization: Bearer to the MCP server. On REST and WebSocket routes it goes in ?token=, so keep those URLs out of logs
  2. Close sessions as soon as the work is done. Browser time bills one unit per 30 seconds, rounded up, idle or not
  3. For multi-step work with browserless_agent, set keepSessionAlive: true on the first call and pass the returned sessionId after that. Sessions are one-shot by default since server 1.33.0
  4. On 429, back off and retry. It means the plan's concurrency limit or queue is full, usually from sessions left open
  5. Match the path to the protocol. Use /chromium for CDP clients and /chromium/playwright only for playwright.connect()

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

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Browserless or Chrome DevTools MCP?

Chrome DevTools MCP scores 77 (BB) on agent readiness against Browserless's 70.4 (BB), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

Do Browserless and Chrome DevTools MCP need an API key?

Browserless takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Chrome DevTools MCP needs no key.

Can an agent call Browserless and Chrome DevTools MCP without installing anything?

Browserless has a hosted endpoint at https://production-sfo.browserless.io. Chrome DevTools MCP runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.

Are Browserless and Chrome DevTools MCP open source?

No open-source release is listed for Browserless. Chrome DevTools MCP is open source (Apache-2.0).

Other comparisons with Browserless or Chrome DevTools MCP

Machine-readable

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