Playwright MCP vs Cloakbrowser MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the Playwright MCP and Cloakbrowser 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 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).
• Primary tools included: Uses Playwright accessibility tree instead of screenshots, LLM-friendly structured data interface, Supports persistent browser context and introspection.

Explore Playwright MCP Details

Choose Cloakbrowser 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).
• Primary tools included: cloakbrowser_binary_info, cloakbrowser_bridge_info.

Explore Cloakbrowser MCP Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Playwright MCP microsoft VerifiedBrowser Automation	Cloakbrowser MCP swimmwatch Browser Automation
Summary	Official Microsoft Playwright MCP server, enabling LLMs to interact with web pages through structured accessibility snapshots	Playwright MCP-compatible browser automation using CloakBrowser Chromium, available as an npm package and Docker image.
Category & Scope

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

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

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