serena vs chrome-devtools-mcp
Two of the top projects in MCP servers for developers, side by side: who leads on each score part and who each one suits, then setup, license, activity and what each review found.
serena
MCP server giving coding agents symbol-level code search, editing and refactoring
chrome-devtools-mcp
MCP server that lets coding agents drive and debug a live Chrome
Verdict
serena ranks higher, 71 to 70. Of the 5 score parts we measure for both, serena leads on 2, chrome-devtools-mcp on 1 and 2 are even.
- Adoptionchrome-devtools-mcp leads by 19 points, 89 to 70: a wide gap.
- FreshnessEven at 100.
- Maintenanceserena leads by 9 points, 95 to 86.
- Easy to runEven at 33.
- Agent-readyserena leads by 40 points, 70 to 30: a wide gap.
Pick serena if you are
Developers who want their coding agent to navigate and refactor large codebases
- Symbol-level find, reference lookup and edit tools instead of line-number or regex operations
- Language server backend covers 40+ languages and is free to use
Pick chrome-devtools-mcp if you are
Developers who want their coding agent to debug and test pages in Chrome
- Records DevTools performance traces and extracts insights from them
- Puppeteer-based automation waits for action results automatically
| What we compare | serena | chrome-devtools-mcp |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 70, popular | 89, widely used |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 95, healthy | 86, healthy |
| Easy to run | 33, some setup | 33, some setup |
| Agent-ready | 70, partly | 30, minimal |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 30.3k | 53.6k |
| License | custom license (read the license) | Apache-2.0 (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Docker | Yes | No |
| GPU | Not needed | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Not stated | Not stated |
serena
Serena is an MCP server that exposes IDE-style tools to coding agents: find symbol, find referencing symbols, symbol-body replacement, rename, and a memory system. It uses language servers (LSP, 40+ languages) by default, or a paid JetBrains plugin that adds move, inline, type hierarchy and debugging. It works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VSCode, Claude Desktop and other MCP clients.
Who it is for: Developers who want their coding agent to navigate and refactor large codebases
Strengths
- Symbol-level find, reference lookup and edit tools instead of line-number or regex operations
- Language server backend covers 40+ languages and is free to use
- Works with any MCP client, including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenWebUI
- Layered YAML configuration: global, per-project, per-client context and modes
Weaknesses
- Move, inline, type hierarchy and debugging need the paid JetBrains plugin
- LSP backend rename covers symbols only; some languages need extra dependencies installed
- Mixed licensing: GPL-3.0-or-later application with MIT SolidLSP component
- README warns against marketplace installs; setup requires uv and per-client configuration
- no GPU
- Docker + Compose
- Needs uv, language servers (per language), JetBrains IDE plugin (optional, paid)
- Models: any MCP-capable client/LLM
chrome-devtools-mcp
chrome-devtools-mcp is an MCP server that gives coding agents such as Claude, Cursor and Copilot control of a live Chrome browser. It records performance traces through Chrome DevTools, inspects network requests and console messages with source-mapped stack traces, and automates page actions via puppeteer. A CLI is included for use without MCP, and a --slim mode exposes a smaller tool set.
Who it is for: Developers who want their coding agent to debug and test pages in Chrome
Strengths
- Records DevTools performance traces and extracts insights from them
- Puppeteer-based automation waits for action results automatically
- Slim mode limits the exposed tools to basic browser tasks
- Also ships a CLI for use without an MCP client
Weaknesses
- Usage statistics are sent to Google by default; opt out with --no-usage-statistics
- Performance tools may send trace URLs to the Google CrUX API
- Officially supports only Chrome and Chrome for Testing
- Exposes all browser content to the connected MCP client
- no GPU
- Needs Node.js LTS, npm, Google Chrome (current stable)
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