# Serein and other ways to give an agent a browser

Serein is a free macOS browser that runs the coding agent tools you already have (Claude Code, Codex and others) in visible tabs, with access that you grant for each task. The other tools on this page are a browser with its own assistant, a browser extension, or a server that an agent drives.

The lines about the other products give only what each product is. For their features, price and platforms, read each product's own site.

## What is specific to Serein

- **It is a harness, not an assistant.** It brings no agent of its own. It finds the agent command-line tools on the Mac and runs them with their own sign-ins. There are no API keys to paste.
- **Tasks run in visible tabs with their own cookies.** You can take a tab over or stop the task at any moment.
- **Access is off until you grant it.** Clicks and typing, your sign-ins, project edits and Mac actions each need a grant. Stop takes a task's browser access away at once.
- **It hands back on sensitive pages.** On a password, payment or verification-code page, the task gives the tab back to you.
- **It also works in your projects.** A task can edit files in a repository. You read the diff of each turn and can undo it.
- **It is a native Mac app** for macOS 14 or later, not an extension.

## Serein and ChatGPT Atlas

| | Serein | ChatGPT Atlas |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A macOS browser for the coding agent tools on your Mac | A web browser from OpenAI with ChatGPT built in |
| Which agent does the work | The tool you choose: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor Agent, OpenCode and others | ChatGPT |

Choose Serein when you already use coding agent tools and want them to browse under grants for each task. Choose ChatGPT Atlas when you want ChatGPT inside the browser.

## Serein and Comet

| | Serein | Comet |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A macOS browser for the coding agent tools on your Mac | A web browser from Perplexity with Perplexity's assistant built in |
| Which agent does the work | The tool you choose: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor Agent, OpenCode and others | Perplexity's assistant |

Choose Serein when you already use coding agent tools and want them to browse under grants for each task. Choose Comet when you want Perplexity's assistant inside the browser.

## Serein and Dia

| | Serein | Dia |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A macOS browser for the coding agent tools on your Mac | A web browser from The Browser Company with an AI assistant built in |
| Which agent does the work | The tool you choose: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor Agent, OpenCode and others | Dia's built-in assistant |

Choose Serein when you already use coding agent tools and want them to browse under grants for each task. Choose Dia when you want an assistant that is part of the browser.

## Serein and Claude in Chrome

| | Serein | Claude in Chrome |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A macOS browser for the coding agent tools on your Mac | A Chrome extension from Anthropic that lets Claude work in your Chrome browser |
| Which agent does the work | The tool you choose: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor Agent, OpenCode and others | Claude |
| Where the agent works | In separate agent tabs with their own cookies, unless you grant your sign-ins for a task | In your Chrome browser |

Choose Serein when you want more than one agent tool in one browser, in tabs that are apart from your own. Choose Claude in Chrome when you want Claude in the Chrome browser that you already use.

## Serein and Playwright MCP

| | Serein | Playwright MCP |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A macOS browser for the coding agent tools on your Mac | An open-source MCP server from Microsoft that lets an agent drive a browser through Playwright |
| Who it is for | A person who wants to watch and control what agents do in a browser | A developer who adds browser automation to an agent |
| How you set it up | Install the app; it finds the agent tools | Add the server to the configuration of an MCP client |

Choose Serein when you want a browser with a control model for agent tasks: grants for each task, visible tabs, and a hand-back on sensitive pages. Choose Playwright MCP when you want a browser automation tool inside your own agent setup.

More: https://serein.pro/llms/permissions.md, https://serein.pro/llms/faq.md, https://serein.pro/llms.txt