Top 7 Selenium Alternatives for Firefox & Chrome

Selenium has always been a much loved library for web automation testing. Its compatibility with a wide range of browsers, platforms, and languages make it an ideal choice for any QA team. However, there’s always a catch. Testers who have used Selenium to automate their web testing knows the pain:

1. High technical expertise requirements: at its core, Selenium is only a library to build testing frameworks. Selenium testers must have a solid understanding of Selenium functions, test artifact management structures, test design patterns, coding standards, test report plugins, etc. before they can effectively test with Selenium.
2. High maintenance: whenever the UI changes, Selenium test scripts must also be updated accordingly to remain relevant. For large-scale testing projects, updating test scripts is an incredibly daunting task.

There are many Selenium alternatives available on the market with attractive features to consider. They should outweigh Selenium in terms of:

• Feature
• Usability
• Cost
• Learning curve
• Etc.

In this article, we will list out 7 best alternatives, with detailed reviews, feature highlights, and details on pricing for you.

1. Katalon
2. Cypress
3. Puppeteer
4. Playwright
5. Testim
6. TestComplete
7. Watir

1. Katalon

When seeking a Selenium alternative, Katalon is the best tool of choice thanks to all of its robust features that perfectly solve the challenges associated with Selenium. For starters, Katalon is more than just an automation testing tool. It is an entire suite of tools centralized under one platform that allows you to plan, write, organize, and execute tests, then view reports for them - all you need under one roof.

Let’s take a look at Katalon product portfolio:

1. Katalon Studio: this is where you’ll create your test cases. Unlike Selenium, where you’ll have to code your test steps out, all you have to do now is click Add and choose the right keywords for the right test steps. Or, you can just use the Record-and-Playback feature to record your screen and turn that action sequence into a test script. You can then execute your test cases, whose results should be imported into TestOps for later analysis
2. Katalon TestOps: as you arrive at TestOps, you should be able to have a comprehensive view over your existing test cases, their status, and then you can easily categorize, prioritize, or schedule them for execution on a specific date to fit your plan. You can also view test reports here for a better understanding of your testing effectiveness.
3. Katalon TestCloud: for execution on the cloud, Katalon TestCloud got you covered. TestCloud essentially expands the power of Katalon Studio by giving you access to a rich array of environments to run your tests on. TestCloud also intelligently optimizes cloud resources to ensure that your tests are run smoothly. All of the maintenance are taken care of, so that you can focus fully on testing.

→ Check out the reviews of Katalon on G2

To start using Katalon, simply download Katalon Studio:

Download Katalon & Start Testing Within Minutes       

 

Here is a snapshot of the keywords in Katalon Studio. You can easily see how easy it is to automate almost any actions on the web just by a click on the right keyword.
 

Read More: Katalon vs Selenium: A Detailed Comparison
 

You can have a look at this comparison table to understand the differences between Katalon and Selenium:

If you are already using Selenium for test automation, chances are you have a repository of regression test cases, and migrating those tests to another platform can be quite a messy ride. Here's a really insightful and thought-provoking webinar about migrating from Selenium to Katalon. It answers a lot of the questions for anyone considering switching:

Start Your Katalon Free Trial Now
 

2. Cypress

Cypress is an open-source test automation platform, and it has gained significant traction in the testing community due to its developer-friendly interface and robust features. Its ability to run tests within the same environment as the application under test is a standout feature, making test creation and debugging more straightforward. This makes Cypress also a good alternative for Selenium.
 

The tool's quick setup and ability to handle complex interactions on web applications contribute to its appeal. Additionally, the time-traveling feature, automatic waiting, and built-in assertions greatly assist in writing reliable tests.
 

Highlighted Features:

• Provides a live view of test execution, displaying test steps, commands, and associated elements in real-time.
• Allows users to visually see the application's state at each step of the test, simplifying debugging.
• Intelligently waits for elements to appear, actions to be completed, or assertions to be verified, reducing test flakiness.
• Simplifies verification of elements, behaviors, and state changes within the application under test, reducing reliance on external libraries.
• Captures network requests, responses, and console logs during test execution for detailed inspection and analysis.
• Operates within the same run loop as the application being tested, providing direct access to application state.
• Known for its simple setup and installation process without additional dependencies.

Website: Cypress

Read More: Katalon vs Cypress

3. Puppeteer

Puppeteer is a Node library that provides a high-level API over the Chrome DevTools Protocol, allowing for the control and interaction with headless Chrome or Chromium browsers. It's commonly used for automated testing, web scraping, and other web interaction tasks.
 

Highlighted Features:

• Operates in headless mode by default, suitable for automated tasks without a visible browser interface.
• Leverages the Chrome DevTools Protocol for direct interaction and control of the browser.
• Puppeteer tends to offer faster performance compared to Selenium due to its direct communication with the browser.
• Utilizes modern JavaScript features and syntax, appealing to developers comfortable with newer standards.
• Allows interception and modification of network requests for testing or scraping scenarios.
• Provides easy functionalities to capture screenshots and generate PDFs of web pages. Users can easily interact with web pages, performing actions like clicking elements, filling forms, and navigating.
• Offers a simplified and straightforward API for various tasks, making it user-friendly for common actions.

Website: Puppeteer

Read More: Top 7 Puppeteer Alternatives
 

4. Playwright

Playwright is a testing and automation framework similar to Puppeteer but with expanded capabilities. It's developed by Microsoft and offers powerful tools for browser automation and testing.
 

Highlight Features:

• Playwright supports multiple browsers (Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit), whereas Selenium only focuses on Chrome, with support for other browsers through WebDriver implementations.
• Playwright extends its automation beyond just web pages to include tasks like automating interactions with iframes, cross-tab interactions, and more complex scenarios
• Automatic waiting strategies to make tests more stable and less prone to timing-related issues
• Detailed tracing capabilities, allowing for in-depth inspection and analysis of tests and interactions.
• Snapshots capturing during test runs, aiding in understanding and verifying the state of the application at different points, a feature not as integrated in Selenium.

Website: Playwright

5. Testim

Testim is an AI-powered test automation platform designed to simplify and enhance the creation and execution of automated tests for web applications. It's focused on enabling testers to create robust, codeless tests using AI capabilities. With Testim, people without coding skills can quickly create end-to-end tests using its recording functions, while people with coding skills can still leverage their expertise to enhance these capabilities, combining the strengths of both approaches.
 

Testim enhances test maintenance with its innovative smart locators method. This method examines every element utilized in testing and assigns weights to hundreds of attributes for each element. Therefore, even if one attribute, such as an ID, changes, Testim can still locate the element, preventing test failures. This is a powerful advantage over Selenium.
 

Highlighted Features:

• Utilizes AI algorithms to create, maintain, and execute tests. It can intelligently adapt to changes in the application's UI, reducing the need for constant manual updates to test scripts.
• Offers a codeless testing environment, allowing users to create tests through a visual interface without the need for extensive coding knowledge.
• Employs AI to automatically identify and adapt to changes in the UI elements, ensuring tests remain robust and resilient to UI changes.
• Provides automatic adjustments to tests when the UI changes, reducing the effort required to maintain test scripts.
• Facilitates collaboration among team members by allowing shared access to test creation and results, enhancing team productivity.
• Supports testing across multiple browsers, ensuring application compatibility and consistency.
• Allows tests to run concurrently, speeding up the overall testing process by executing multiple tests simultaneously.

Website: Testim

6. TestComplete

TestComplete is a comprehensive automated testing platform developed by SmartBear Software. It offers a wide range of features for automated UI testing of desktop, web, and mobile applications.
 

Highlighted Features:

• Quickly record and configure web or mobile tests using customized JavaScript steps.
• AI-powered Smart Locators understand your app, lock in elements, and self-improve for unmatched stability.
• Reduce maintenance with well-architected and clean tests built with the help of AI.
• Expedite failure analysis with error aggregation, suggestions, comparison screenshots, and parsed logs.
• Find and fix issues without requiring specialized expertise.
• Effectively control changes and simplify the management of teams and tests.
• Gain insights to prove your app's quality and guide transformation.
• Minimize fixing efforts and maximize overall test quality.

Website: TestComplete

7. Watir

Watir, which stands for Web Application Testing in Ruby, is an open-source library for automating web browsers. It is primarily used for web application testing and supports Internet Explorer on Windows, as well as Firefox, Chrome, and Edge on Windows and Linux.
 

Highlighted Features:

• Watir uses Ruby as its scripting language, known for its simplicity and readability, facilitating easy script writing and understanding for both beginners and experienced testers.
• Enables testers to ensure web application compatibility across different browsers.
• Accessible to a wide range of users and projects with budget constraints.
• Seamlessly integrated with Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) frameworks like Cucumber.
• Forums and documentation are available, contributing to user support and knowledge sharing.

Website: Watir Github
 

Conclusion

Indeed Selenium is a popular framework for web testing and development, but there are many Selenium alternatives available that better suit your needs depending on your specific use case. When exploring these options, make sure to weigh their pros and cons to find the best fit for your team and improve your web testing and development workflow.