Browser Use vs Playwright MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the Browser Use and Playwright MCP MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Browser Use when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Browser Automation domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Browser Use Details

Choose Playwright MCP when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Browser Automation domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Playwright MCP Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Browser Use Browser Automation	Playwright MCP Browser Automation
Summary	Control a real Chrome browser to complete any task: fill forms, extract data, book flights.	Playwright MCP server
Category & Scope	Browser Automation	Browser Automation
Quality signal

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browser-use": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "browser-use"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Related MCP Server Comparisons