Head to head · Browser automation · October 2026 research run
Chrome DevTools MCP vs Playwright MCP
Chrome DevTools MCP has a score of 77.1 (BB) against Playwright MCP's 67.6 (B). Both do browser automation. The largest gap is reliability, 26 points.
Chrome DevTools MCPGoogle (Chrome DevTools team) · MCP server
BB77.1/100#22 of 452
Playwright MCPMicrosoft · MCP server
B67.6/100#138 of 452
Which one, for what
Pick Chrome DevTools MCP for
- reliability (+26)
- schema & documentation (+17)
- security & auth (+6)
- maintenance & community (+9)
- transparency & trust (+10)
Pick Playwright MCP for
No category where it leads by five points or more.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Chrome DevTools MCP | Playwright MCP | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 83 | 57 | Chrome DevTools MCP +26 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 87 | 70 | Chrome DevTools MCP +17 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 83 | 84 | Playwright MCP +1 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 63 | 57 | Chrome DevTools MCP +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 93 | 84 | Chrome DevTools MCP +9 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 82 | 72 | Chrome DevTools MCP +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -1 | 0 | |
| Total | 77.1 · BB | 67.6 · B |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Chrome DevTools MCP | Playwright MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | Google (Chrome DevTools team) | Microsoft |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | stdio | stdio, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy) |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 59 | 72 |
| 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 | no | no |
| MCP registry | io.github.ChromeDevTools/chrome-devtools-mcp | io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp |
| Last release | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-28 |
| Popularity | 49k stars, 1.5M npm/wk | 37k stars, 5.3M npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (8) | 3/5 (2) |
Verdicts
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.
Playwright MCP
Accessibility snapshots with depth limits and browser_find, so the agent reads less of the page. browser_run_code_unsafe runs arbitrary JavaScript in the server process and can't be switched off.
Before you call either
Chrome DevTools MCP
- Pass
pageIdon every page tool. Calllist_pagesfirst to get it - Start with
--slimfor plain browsing, or turn off categories you don't need - Run with
--isolatedfor untrusted sites. The default profile persists between runs - Use
filePathon large outputs such as traces and snapshots to keep them out of context - Add
--no-usage-statisticsif the operator hasn't agreed to Google telemetry
Playwright MCP
- Call
browser_findbeforebrowser_snapshotwhen you only need one element's ref - Pass
depthor atargettobrowser_snapshoton large pages - Run with
--isolatedfor untrusted sites. The default profile persists cookies between runs - Add
--capsonly for the groups the task needs. Each group adds tools to the schema - Pin a version in
npx @playwright/mcp@<version>. 0.0.x releases can rename tools