Compare
Playwright MCP vs Chrome DevTools MCP
Same catalog, two overlapping tools. Catch and verdict side by side. No winner score.
Playwright MCP
Official Microsoft MCP server for Playwright browser automation
OSS/MIT · open-source
The Catch
It is a control interface, not a complete solution. You still need browser infrastructure (local Chromium or Browserbase). No built-in session management, authentication, or scaling.
Verdict
The standard way to give MCP clients browser access.
Chrome DevTools MCP
Official Chrome DevTools as an MCP server for coding agents
OSS/MIT · open-source
The Catch
chrome-devtools-mcp@1.8.0 engines: "^20.19.0 || ^22.12.0 || >=23". 20.16 and 20.17 fail; 20.19 LTS is in engines. “Node ≥ 22.12” and “Node 20 fails” are both too blunt — README “LTS” is marketing; engines is the catch. A CLI is provided for use without MCP; official CLI docs call it experimental. Complementary to Playwright MCP already on the catalog—DevTools-grade traces, Lighthouse, heap snapshots, and --autoConnect, not a generic scraper or a Playwright replacement. Officially supports Google Chrome and Chrome for Testing only. Exposes browser content to the MCP client—do not point it at sensitive sessions. Usage statistics on by default (opt out with --no-usage-statistics). Needs a current Chrome.
Verdict
The MCP browser for agents that need real DevTools, not just clicks.