21.1Quick Decision Tree

Do you need browser automation?
├── No → Use standard tools (curl, API clients)
└── Yes
    ├── Is an AI agent driving it?
    │   ├── No → Use Playwright or Selenium directly
    │   └── Yes
    │       ├── Does the agent have filesystem access?
    │       │   ├── Yes → Playwright CLI + skill (default: ~4x cheaper than MCP)
    │       │   └── No (sandboxed) → Playwright MCP
    │       ├── Building agent features into a product (TypeScript)?
    │       │   └── Stagehand (intent API, hosted browsers)
    │       ├── Python-first team or research work?
    │       │   └── browser-use
    │       └── Want the full plan → generate → heal workflow?
    │           └── Playwright Test Agents (npx playwright init-agents)
    └── What type of testing?
        ├── Functional → Playwright CLI skill + test agents
        ├── Accessibility → Playwright MCP or CLI snapshots (a11y summaries)
        ├── Visual regression → screenshots on disk + comparison tooling
        ├── Exploratory → planner agent, or MCP for interactive sessions
        ├── Performance → Traditional tools (k6, Lighthouse)
        └── API → No browser needed (curl, httpie)