Obscura: A 70MB Rust Headless Browser Loads Pages in 85ms on 30MB RAM
Roger_M_Taylor · x · 2026-09-06
Obscura is an open-source headless browser engine built in Rust by a solo developer, targeting web scraping and AI automation.
- Efficiency: a single 70MB binary that loads pages in 85ms and runs on 30MB of RAM, versus Chrome's 300MB disk, 200MB memory, and 2-second startup
- Stealth: per-session fingerprint randomization (GPU, canvas, audio, battery), 3,520 tracker domains blocked, navigator.webdriver fully masked
- Compatibility: runs real JavaScript via V8 and speaks the Chrome DevTools Protocol natively, so it works as a drop-in binary for Puppeteer and Playwright with no code changes
Related event: Rust Headless Browser Obscura Goes Viral with Just 30MB RAM(2 posts)→
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