Computer Use vs Browser Use: How AI Agents Should Control Software

This article compares computer-use agents, which operate a whole desktop from screenshots by moving the mouse and keyboard, with browser-use agents, which drive a real browser over the Chrome DevTools Protocol by reading page structure and acting on elements. It recommends browser use for web tasks because it is more precise, scriptable and parallelizable, and computer use for steps that leave the browser, such as desktop apps or OS dialogs. It also notes that many workflows need both approaches combined.