# 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. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playwright-mcp-vs-skyvern
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playwright-mcp-vs-skyvern.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playwright-mcp-vs-skyvern.min.md (~830 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playwright-mcp-vs-skyvern.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

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 MCP: grade B, 67.6/100, rank #189 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playwright-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playwright-mcp.json
- Skyvern: grade B, 63.1/100, rank #288 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/skyvern.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/skyvern.json

## 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

| Category | Weight | Playwright MCP | Skyvern | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 57 | 57 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 88 | Skyvern +18 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 76 | Playwright MCP +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 59 | Skyvern +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 32 | Playwright MCP +28 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 85 | Skyvern +1 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 72 | even |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **67.6 · B** | **63.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Playwright MCP | Skyvern |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Microsoft | Ikonomos Inc. (Skyvern) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.skyvern.com/v1` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy) | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | 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 |
| Tools exposed | 72 | 114 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.microsoft/playwright-mcp` | `io.github.Skyvern-AI/skyvern` |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-02-27 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models |  | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 37k stars, 5.3M npm/wk | 23k stars, 3.2k npm/wk, 1.6k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (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).


## For agents

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

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