Playwright MCP Server vs Serena

A side-by-side comparison of two Developer Tools servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	Playwright MCP Server Microsoft's official browser-automation MCP using Playwright's accessibility tree (no vision model). Verified stdio (local) No auth TypeScript	Serena LSP-powered coding agent toolkit: semantic symbol search, references and structural edits. Verified stdio (local) No auth Python
Category	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Language	TypeScript	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	24k	12k
Last commit	9 days ago	11 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npx -y @playwright/mcp@latest`	`uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Playwright MCP Server if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option.

Pick Serena if you prefer its approach (lsp-powered coding agent toolkit: semantic symbol search, references and structural edits).

Add Playwright MCP Server

Install / run

npx -y @playwright/mcp@latest

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add Serena

Install / run

uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serena": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena",
        "serena",
        "start-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.

FAQ

Playwright MCP Server or Serena — which is better?

Pick Playwright MCP Server if you want the official, vendor-maintained server, and you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option. Pick Serena if you prefer its approach (lsp-powered coding agent toolkit: semantic symbol search, references and structural edits).

Can I use both Playwright MCP Server and Serena?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do Playwright MCP Server and Serena work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View Playwright MCP Server →View Serena →More comparisons →