Chrome DevTools MCP vs Playwright MCP
Compare Chrome DevTools MCP and Playwright MCP on pricing, free tier, open source, API, self-host, verdict and momentum.
Both are mcp tools. Chrome DevTools MCP is free (Apache-2.0; npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest; Node 22+ and a current Chrome) with open source, an API, self-hostable, a free tier; Playwright MCP is free (Apache-2.0; npx @playwright/mcp@latest; you pay the model, not Microsoft) with open source, an API, self-hostable and a free tier. The catalog stamp is ship for Chrome DevTools MCP and ship for Playwright MCP, last verified 2026-08-26 and 2026-08-26 respectively.
Auto-paired from catalog data — the verdicts are hand-set, the pairing is algorithmic.
Chrome DevTools MCP
Official Chrome DevTools MCP — control and inspect a live Chrome from a coding agent.
Playwright MCP
Microsoft's MCP server for browser automation via accessibility snapshots — no vision model required.
| field | Chrome DevTools MCP | Playwright MCP |
|---|---|---|
| pricing | free · Apache-2.0; npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest; Node 22+ and a current Chrome | free · Apache-2.0; npx @playwright/mcp@latest; you pay the model, not Microsoft |
| free tier | yes | yes |
| open source | yes | yes |
| api | yes | yes |
| self-host | yes | yes |
| verdict | ship | ship |
| momentum | blueshift | blueshift |
| last verified | 2026-08-26 | 2026-08-26 |
| key limitation | Requires Node 22+ and a current stable Chrome, not just any Chromium. | Version line is still 0.0.x (v0.0.79 as of 2026-08-06). |
The call
Pick Chrome DevTools MCP for coding agents that need to debug or profile a live Chrome s…
Pick Playwright MCP for agents that need to click through a live page without scree…
Chrome DevTools MCP sources
Playwright MCP sources
Open live compare →Chrome DevTools MCP pagePlaywright MCP pageChrome DevTools MCP.jsonPlaywright MCP.json