apify-mcp-server
★ 12.6k
vs
playwright-mcp
★ 38.5k
apify-mcp-server vs playwright-mcp
apify-mcp-server: The Apify Model Context Protocol (MCP) server enables AI agents to extract data from various websites using thousands of ready-made scrapers and automation tools from the Apify Store. It also supports OAuth for easy connection from clients like Claude.ai or Visual Studio Code using just a URL.; playwright-mcp: Playwright MCP is a server that leverages Playwright's browser automation capabilities to enable Large Language Models (LLMs) to interact with web pages. It utilizes structured accessibility snapshots, allowing LLMs to process web content without relying on visual input or traditional screenshots.
01
TL;DR
apify-mcp-serverBrowser Automation · ★ 12.6k
When to choose:
- You want AI agents to invoke thousands of battle-tested cloud scrapers from the Apify Store (social media, Google Maps, Amazon, real estate).
- You want serverless data extraction with managed proxy pools and anti-bot bypass without maintaining local browser clusters.
When to skip:
- You are scraping simple static sites without anti-bot blocks where free local libraries (Scrapling, Crawl4AI) are more cost-effective.
- Strict data compliance prevents sending scraping target URLs and credentials through external third-party cloud infrastructure.
playwright-mcpBrowser Automation · ★ 38.5k
When to choose:
- You want an agent to drive a real browser through structured accessibility snapshots instead of screenshots, so no vision model is needed.
- You need Firefox, WebKit or Edge as well as Chrome: the README's --browser option lists chrome, firefox, webkit and msedge.
- You want to test or script flows with isolated in-memory profiles (--isolated), device emulation (--device) or saved Playwright traces (--save-trace).
When to skip:
- Your main goal is debugging or performance analysis of a page; Chrome DevTools MCP exposes performance traces and network inspection as dedicated tools.
- You need proxies, CAPTCHA handling or large-scale scraping of protected sites; that is outside what the README claims for this server.
- You want to treat it as a sandbox: the project says its origin allow and block lists are not a security boundary.
02
Side-by-Side Comparison
Field
apify-mcp-serverplaywright-mcpCategory
Browser Automation
Browser Automation
Stars
★ 12.6k
★ 38.5k
License
MIT
Apache-2.0
Install Command
npx @apify/actors-mcp-server
npx @playwright/mcp@latest
Updated
1d ago
1d ago
Open Source
Yes
Yes
Tags
AI Agents, Data Extraction, Web Scraping
Playwright, Browser Automation, LLM Tools
03
Features
apify-mcp-server01Integrate any Apify Actor as an AI agent tool.
02Support for OAuth and API token authentication.
03Enable agentic payments via Skyfire integration.
04Dynamic discovery of Apify Actors and helper tools.
05Offers both a hosted HTTPS endpoint and local standard I/O server options.
playwright-mcp01Fast and lightweight web interaction (accessibility tree)
02LLM-friendly with structured data (no vision models needed)
03Deterministic tool application, avoiding ambiguity
04Browser automation capabilities using Playwright
05Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for seamless integration
04
Use Cases
apify-mcp-server↳Extracting data from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
↳Scraping contact details from Google Maps listings.
↳Collecting results from Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
↳Performing web searches and extracting content from top URLs for RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation).
↳Automating data collection from e-commerce sites and other websites.
playwright-mcp↳Enabling LLM-powered web browsing and task completion
↳Automated data extraction and interaction from complex web pages
↳Facilitating LLM-driven web UI testing and validation
05
Best For
apify-mcp-serverMost Popular
playwright-mcpMost PopularEssentialTrending
FAQ
FAQ
What is the difference between apify-mcp-server and playwright-mcp?
Both apify-mcp-server and playwright-mcp are in the Browser Automation category. apify-mcp-server has 12.6k stars, while playwright-mcp has 38.5k stars.
Which is better, apify-mcp-server or playwright-mcp?
The best choice depends on your use case. Choose apify-mcp-server if Extracting data from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram., and playwright-mcp if Enabling LLM-powered web browsing and task completion.
Is apify-mcp-server free or open source?
Yes, apify-mcp-server is open source on GitHub (MIT).
Is playwright-mcp free or open source?
Yes, playwright-mcp is open source on GitHub (Apache-2.0).
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