What is Playwright MCP?
Latest launch Apache-2.0
Summary
Microsoft's Apache-2.0 MCP server that lets LLM agents drive a browser through Playwright accessibility snapshots instead of screenshots.
- Category
- MCP servers
- Open source
- Yes
- License
- Apache-2.0
- MCP
- Yes
- Pricing
- Apache-2.0 and free to run with npx. You pay your model provider for the agent that calls it.
Playwright MCP is Microsoft's Model Context Protocol server for browser automation, code at microsoft/playwright-mcp under Apache-2.0. An agent gets tools such as browser_navigate, browser_click, browser_snapshot and browser_network_requests. Pages come back as accessibility snapshots, so the model works on structured page data instead of pixels.
It runs with npx @playwright/mcp@latest on Node.js 18 or newer. Extra tool groups such as cookies and storage, network routing and devtools stay off until you enable them with --caps. The README is clear about the trade-off: for coding agents that are short on context, Microsoft points to Playwright CLI with skills instead.
Latest release covered: Playwright MCP v0.0.84, October 31, 2026. For agents that browse rather than script a browser, see Browser Use.
Playwright MCP alternatives
| Tool | License | Pricing note |
|---|---|---|
Playwright MCPThis pageMicrosoft's Apache-2.0 MCP server that lets LLM agents drive a browser through Playwright accessibility snapshots instead of screenshots. | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 and free to run with npx. You pay your model provider for the agent that calls it. |
Browser UseBrowser Use is an MIT-licensed Python library for AI browser agents that run locally with any LLM, plus the hosted Browser Use Cloud. | MIT | The library is MIT and free. The README lists Browser Use Cloud stealth browsers from $0.02 per browser-hour. |
TinyFishHosted web agent with an MCP server for search, browsing, and extraction, plus an MIT-licensed local proxy. | MIT | The proxy repository is MIT. Hosted calls need a TinyFish account or API key. No dollar price is listed here. |
GitHub MCP serverGitHub's official MCP server: 92 tools in 22 toolsets, 45 on by default. Version 2.1.0 shipped November 3, 2026 with opt-in issue artifact tools. | Open source | The server repository is public. GitHub product charges, if any, are your existing GitHub plan. |
Launches and updates
Playwright MCP 0.0.84 adds isolated contexts per tab
Playwright MCPPlaywright MCP v0.0.84 (October 31, 2026) adds named isolated browser contexts, URL parameter redaction, capped find results and network history.
Category: MCP servers
Pricing: Open source
Guides covering Playwright MCP
Questions
What is Playwright MCP?
An MCP server from Microsoft, published on npm as @playwright/mcp, that gives an MCP client browser automation through Playwright. The README says it works on structured accessibility snapshots, so no vision model is needed.
How do I install Playwright MCP?
Add a server entry that runs npx @playwright/mcp@latest to your MCP client config. The README lists Node.js 18 or newer and clients such as VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop and Goose.
Should coding agents use Playwright MCP or Playwright CLI?
The README says coding agents may do better with Playwright CLI plus skills, because CLI calls use fewer tokens than large tool schemas and accessibility trees. It keeps MCP for long-running loops that need persistent browser state, such as exploratory automation or self-healing tests.
What is the latest release covered here?
v0.0.84, published October 31, 2026, which adds isolated browser contexts per tab name and URL parameter redaction.