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Head to head · Browser automation · October 2026 research run

Playwright MCP vs Skyvern

Playwright MCP scores 67.6 (B) on agent readiness against Skyvern's 63.1 (B), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Skyvern leads on schema & documentation. Both do browser automation.

Playwright MCPMicrosoft · MCP server B67.6/100#169 of 578 SkyvernIkonomos Inc. (Skyvern) · HTTP API B63.1/100#258 of 578

Which one, for what

Playwright MCP B

Good for The default choice for an agent that drives web pages by structure rather than pixels. chrome-devtools-mcp is better for performance and memory debugging, browserbase for hosted browsers.

Ahead on

  • Agent ergonomics, 84 against 76
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 32

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it
  • No incidents deducted, where Skyvern loses 3 points for them

Watch for

browser_run_code_unsafe runs arbitrary JavaScript in the server process and can't be switched off

Skyvern B

Good for Agents that must finish a multi-step job on sites with logins, 2FA and forms, where stored credentials, saved workflows and cached scripts matter more than raw browser time.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 88 against 70

Also in its favour

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

Watch for

Every API key and OAuth token has full organisation authority. The docs state there are no read-only, per-endpoint or per-resource keys

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runPlaywright MCPSkyvernEdge
Reliability16%205757even
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27088Skyvern +18
Agent ergonomics13%16.28476Playwright MCP +8
Security & auth14%17.55759Skyvern +2
Payments & pricing10%12.56032Playwright MCP +28
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88485Skyvern +1
Transparency & trust7%8.87272even
Negative events≤150-3
Total67.6 · B63.1 · B

Facts side by side

FactPlaywright MCPSkyvern
KindMCP serverHTTP API
VendorMicrosoftIkonomos Inc. (Skyvern)
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.skyvern.com/v1
Transportsstdio, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy)HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio
AuthNoneOAuth or key
PricingFreeFreemium
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0AGPL-3.0 for the open-source server, SDKs and MCP server. Skyvern Cloud is a proprietary service under Skyvern's terms, and its anti-bot measures aren't in the repository
Tools exposed72114
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registryio.github.microsoft/playwright-mcpio.github.Skyvern-AI/skyvern
Last release2026-09-282026-10-01
Terms last updatedno document linked2026-02-27
Privacy policy last updatedno document linked2026-10-01
Customer content may train modelsyes, with an opt-out
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waiveryes
Popularity37k stars, 5.3M npm/wk23k stars, 3.2k npm/wk, 1.6k PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (2)none

Verdicts

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.

Skyvern

The hosted MCP server annotates every tool as read-only or destructive and can advertise a 29 or 32-tool subset in place of 114, and the API has a written six-month deprecation policy. Every key and OAuth token carries full organisation authority, with no read-only or scoped credential, and no request rate limits are documented.

Before you call either

Playwright MCP

  1. Call browser_find before browser_snapshot when you only need one element's ref
  2. Pass depth or a target to browser_snapshot on large pages
  3. Run with --isolated for untrusted sites. The default profile persists cookies between runs
  4. Add --caps only for the groups the task needs. Each group adds tools to the schema
  5. Pin a version in npx @playwright/mcp@<version>. 0.0.x releases can rename tools

Skyvern

  1. Connect to https://api.skyvern.com/mcp/x/lean or /x/operate, or send X-Skyvern-Scope, so the client loads 32 or 29 tools. The scope filters the list and does not limit permissions
  2. Use a separate Skyvern organisation for each blast radius. Any key or OAuth token can read and write stored credentials and delete workflows
  3. Never pass passwords to skyvern_act or skyvern_type. Store them as credentials and call skyvern_login
  4. Set max_steps on tasks, or x-max-steps-override on agent runs, to cap credits. A run that reaches the cap ends as timed_out
  5. On 503 from POST /v1/run/agents, wait Retry-After seconds. No run was created, so resubmitting is safe

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Playwright MCP or Skyvern?

Playwright MCP scores 67.6 (B) on agent readiness against Skyvern's 63.1 (B), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Skyvern leads on schema & documentation.

Do Playwright MCP and Skyvern need an API key?

Playwright MCP needs no key. Skyvern takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Playwright MCP and Skyvern without installing anything?

Playwright MCP runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Skyvern has a hosted endpoint at https://api.skyvern.com/v1.

Are Playwright MCP and Skyvern open source?

Yes. Playwright MCP is open source (Apache-2.0). Skyvern is open source (AGPL-3.0 for the open-source server, SDKs and MCP server. Skyvern Cloud is a proprietary service under Skyvern's terms, and its anti-bot measures aren't in the repository).

Other comparisons with Playwright MCP or Skyvern

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