Gasoline MCP vs Chrome DevTools MCP: Which Browser MCP Tool Should You Use?
Gasoline MCP and Chrome DevTools MCP both give AI coding assistants access to browser data, but they take fundamentally different approaches. One watches your real browsing session passively. The other takes active control of a separate browser instance. The right choice depends on what you’re building.
Architecture: Passive Capture vs Active Control
Section titled “Architecture: Passive Capture vs Active Control”Gasoline MCP uses a Chrome extension to observe your normal browsing. Console logs, network requests, WebSocket frames, and DOM state are captured silently and served to your AI assistant through a local Go binary via MCP. You browse normally; Gasoline MCP watches and records.
Chrome DevTools MCP uses Puppeteer to drive a dedicated Chrome instance through the Chrome DevTools Protocol. Your AI assistant can navigate pages, click elements, take screenshots, and read page state — but in a separate browser window, not your real session.
This is the core tradeoff. Gasoline MCP captures what actually happens during development. Chrome DevTools MCP controls a browser programmatically.
Feature Comparison
Section titled “Feature Comparison”| Feature | Gasoline MCP | Chrome DevTools MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Console logs | Yes | Yes |
| Network errors | Yes | Yes |
| Network bodies | Yes | Partial |
| WebSocket monitoring | Yes | No |
| DOM queries | Yes | Yes (full control) |
| Accessibility audit | Yes (axe-core) | No |
| Test generation | Yes (Playwright) | No |
| Screenshots | No | Yes |
| Browser control | No | Yes |
| Cross-browser | Chrome, Edge, Brave | Chrome only |
Gasoline MCP covers more observability surface — WebSocket monitoring, full network body capture, accessibility auditing, and Playwright test generation are capabilities Chrome DevTools MCP does not offer. Chrome DevTools MCP wins on active capabilities: screenshots and programmatic browser control.
Security
Section titled “Security”Security posture is where the two tools diverge most sharply.
| Gasoline MCP | Chrome DevTools MCP | |
|---|---|---|
| Data locality | localhost only (127.0.0.1) | Depends on configuration |
| Auth handling | Headers stripped automatically | Not stripped |
| Dependencies | Zero (single Go binary) | Puppeteer + npm dependency tree |
| Telemetry | None | Unknown |
| Debug port | Not required | Required (Chrome debug port) |
Gasoline MCP rejects non-localhost connections at the TCP level and never makes outbound network calls. Authorization headers are stripped before data reaches the MCP layer. The single binary has zero third-party dependencies, which means no supply chain risk and no node_modules/ folder to audit.
Chrome DevTools MCP requires opening a Chrome debug port, which is a known security surface. It also depends on Puppeteer and its transitive npm dependencies — a significantly larger attack surface for enterprise environments.
Performance
Section titled “Performance”Gasoline MCP enforces strict performance SLOs to ensure the extension never degrades browsing. Every WebSocket interception completes in under 0.1ms. Fetch interceptions stay under 0.5ms. Memory is capped at 20MB soft / 50MB hard, with adaptive sampling for high-frequency events.
Chrome DevTools MCP runs a separate Chrome instance entirely, so it does not affect your browsing performance — but it does consume additional system resources for that second browser process.
Should I use Gasoline MCP or Chrome DevTools MCP?
Section titled “Should I use Gasoline MCP or Chrome DevTools MCP?”Use Gasoline MCP if you want to observe your real browsing session. During normal development, you interact with your app, trigger bugs, and test features in your browser. Gasoline MCP captures all of that context — console errors, failed network requests, WebSocket traffic — and makes it available to your AI assistant without changing how you work. If you need zero dependencies, enterprise-grade security, or Playwright test generation, Gasoline MCP is the clear choice.
Use Chrome DevTools MCP if you need browser automation. If your workflow requires programmatic navigation, taking screenshots, or scripting browser interactions, Chrome DevTools MCP gives your AI assistant direct control. This is valuable for scraping, visual regression testing, or workflows where the AI needs to drive the browser itself.
Can I use both?
Section titled “Can I use both?”Yes. The two tools serve different purposes and can run side by side. Use Gasoline MCP as your default for development — it passively captures everything as you work. Reach for Chrome DevTools MCP when you specifically need automation or screenshots. Since they operate independently (Gasoline MCP watches your real browser, Chrome DevTools MCP controls a separate instance), there is no conflict.
Getting Started
Section titled “Getting Started”Gasoline MCP installs with a single command, no runtime required:
npx gasoline-mcpSee how Gasoline MCP compares to other browser MCP tools in our full alternatives breakdown, or jump straight to the getting started guide.