Firecrawl MCP vs Playwright MCP
Playwright MCP is currently the stronger option based on benchmark score, installability, and documentation quality. Firecrawl MCP scores 25/100 and Playwright MCP scores 32/100.
Comparison
| Attribute | Firecrawl MCP | Playwright MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Web Scraping & Crawling | Browser Automation |
| GitHub stars | 7,423 | 36,907 |
| Forks | 880 | 3,121 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Last commit | Sep 8, 2026 | Sep 4, 2026 |
| Supported clients | Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline | Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Cline |
| Best for | Crawl and scrape websites | Automate browser navigation |
| Risk level | High | High |
| Popularity score | 72 | 86 |
| Freshness score | 100 | 100 |
| Maintenance score | 100 | 100 |
| GEO score | 65 | 70 |
| Benchmark score | 25 | 32 |
| Install status | unknown | unknown |
| Startup status | unknown | unknown |
| Capability discovery | skipped missing env | passed |
| Capabilities | 0 tools / 0 resources / 0 prompts | 24 tools / 0 resources / 0 prompts |
| Docs score | 0 | 0 |
| Config score | 0 | 0 |
| Safety score | 0 | 0 |
| Last tested | Unknown | Sep 7, 2026 |
When to choose Firecrawl MCP
- You want the more recently maintained option (last commit Sep 8, 2026).
- Your main use case is Crawl and scrape websites.
When to choose Playwright MCP
- You want broader GitHub adoption — Playwright MCP has 36.9K stars vs 7.4K.
- Your main use case is Automate browser navigation.
Alternatives to Firecrawl MCP and Playwright MCP
- Apify Actors MCP★ 6.4K · Web Scraping & Crawling
run thousands of prebuilt Apify Actors to scrape and automate the web
- Exa MCP★ 5K · Search & Retrieval
search the web and retrieve high-quality, AI-ready results in real time
- apify-mcp-server★ 6.4K · Web Scraping & Crawling
extract data from any website with thousands of scrapers, crawlers, and automations on Apify Store ⚡
- pinkpixel-dev-web-scout-mcp★ 132 · Web Scraping & Crawling
search the web and extract clean, readable text from webpages. Process multiple URLs at once to sp…
- ScrapeGraphAI-scrapegraph-mcp★ 108 · Web Scraping & Crawling
enable language models to perform advanced AI-powered web scraping with enterprise-grade reliabili…
- oxylabs-oxylabs-mcp★ 105 · Web Scraping & Crawling
fetch and process content from specified URLs using the Oxylabs Web Scraper API
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Firecrawl MCP and Playwright MCP?
Firecrawl MCP is an MCP server that helps AI assistants crawl websites and convert pages into clean markdown or structured data. Playwright MCP is an MCP server that helps AI assistants control a real browser to navigate, click, type, and extract page content. Firecrawl MCP is best for Crawl and scrape websites, while Playwright MCP is best for Automate browser navigation.
Is Firecrawl MCP or Playwright MCP more popular on GitHub?
Playwright MCP is more popular, with about 36.9K GitHub stars versus 7.4K.
Which is more actively maintained, Firecrawl MCP or Playwright MCP?
Firecrawl MCP's most recent commit was Sep 8, 2026, and Playwright MCP's was Sep 4, 2026. More recent activity is a signal of active maintenance.
Are Firecrawl MCP and Playwright MCP open source?
Firecrawl MCP is open-source under the MIT license. Playwright MCP is open-source under the Apache-2.0 license.
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