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Playwright is a relatively new open-source browser automation framework based on Node.js that provides support for cross-browser testing and automation for all modern rendering engines, including Chromium, WebKit, and Firefox, while still supporting multiple programming languages such as TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, .NET, and Java. Playwright offers a modern approach to web application testing with speed and ease of use.
Selenium, on the other hand, is an open-source browser automation suite that allows testers to write test cases in many programming languages, such as Java, Python, C#, Ruby, JavaScript, and Kotlin – giving testers more freedom in choosing programming languages. It is valued for its extensive browser support and established community.
This article compares Selenium and Playwright to help you see how they stack up and make the best choice between these popular open-source libraries for web scraping, browser automation, and testing.
What is Playwright?
Playwright is an open-source Node.js browser automation framework developed by Microsoft and released in 2020. It allows developers and testers to conduct end-to-end web testing and mobile application testing.
Pros and cons
Playwright ships with features that set it apart from other browser automation frameworks, such as cross-platform, cross-browser, and cross-language support, as well as helpful features like auto-waiting.
It supports all modern rendering engines, including Chromium, WebKit, and Firefox. It allows you to carry out your tests on Windows, Linux, and macOS, locally or on CI, in headless or headful mode with native mobile emulation.
Let’s compare the advantages and disadvantages of Playwright.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Eliminates the need for additional drivers or proxies: Playwright simplifies mobile testing by connecting directly to devices or emulators, removing the need for extra software that can introduce latency or communication issues. | Browser support: Playwright supports WebKit, which is the engine behind Safari, but it does not provide direct support for the Safari browser itself. |
Playwright auto-waits for elements availability before performing any actions to prevent flakiness. If the checks do not pass, Playwright will throw a TimeoutError. |
According to Playwright developers, there are no plans for Playwright to support IE10/IE11. |
| Playwright lets you make comparisons through visual regression tests. | Playwright's documentation and community ecosystem are still under development. |
| Detailed HTML report that is beneficial for both local testing and continuous integration. | Playwright currently supports fewer programming languages. This can limit teams using tech stacks that Playwright doesn't support. |
| Tracing and Debugging: Playwright trace viewer allows you to see what happened during each test visually. It allows you to go back in time to inspect the results of your test. | A less developed but growing community. This means fewer resources for solving problems. |
What is Selenium?
Selenium is an open-source browser automation suite originally created by Jason Huggins in 2004. It allows testers to write test cases in multiple programming languages, providing extensive cross-browser support for web application testing across different platforms. Selenium is now maintained by a diverse community of contributors.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cross-browser support: As of Selenium 4.6, Selenium now downloads the correct driver for you using the Selenium Manager. This tool automatically downloads and manages the necessary drivers for your setup, making it easier to get started with Selenium testing. | Selenium itself does not support parallel testing. To run tests in parallel, you will need to integrate Selenium with testing frameworks that do support parallel testing, such as JUnit, TestNG, or Selenium Grid. |
| A larger user community and more extensive knowledge base support Selenium, offering developers access to in-depth help. | Tests are usually slower, especially for complex tests. This can be a disadvantage for large test suites or performance-critical scenarios. |
| Selenium has a vast array of learning resources, an established community, and extensive documentation. | Because of its complicated setup and the need for external driver maintenance, Selenium adoption and learning are more challenging. |
| Webdriver Bi-directional APIs in Selenium 4 allow network request interception, perform basic authentication, check the browser console logs, and more. | Selenium does not support API testing, desktop applications, or other non-web technologies. |
| Selenium works well with many other tools. It easily integrates with different reporting systems, build tools, and other development tools like Sauce Labs, Selenium Grid, Extent, and JUnit. | Mobile testing is limited with Selenium. To test mobile apps, you need extra tools like Appium. This makes your setup more complex. |
What is the difference between Playwright and Selenium?
| Features | Playwright | Selenium |
|---|---|---|
| Visual regression tests | Playwright test snapshots allow you to produce and visually compare screens or screenshots of a web application to detect any differences between different versions. Visual regression testing comes in-built in Playwright while in Selenium, you’ll need to install third-party tools or plugins. | Selenium does not support visual regression testing. You need third-party tools like JUnit, and TestNG for visual regression testing. |
| Supported languages | Playwright only supports JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, and .NET. | Selenium supports multiple programming languages like Java, Python, C#, Ruby, JavaScript/TypeScript, and Kotlin. |
| Supported platforms | Playwright does not support non-browser platforms, e.g., mobile apps. | Selenium can be used for testing other platforms such as Internet Explorer and even mobile apps through Selenium-supported frameworks such as Appium, and Selendroid. |
| Evolving vs. Established | Introduced in 2020, Playwright is newer to the testing world. Its community is still growing, and its APIs are still evolving. | Selenium, on the other hand, has been around since 2004 with a vast community, comprehensive documentation, and stable APIs. |
| Support for API testing | Playwright supports API testing with features such as APIRequest for API testing, etc. | Selenium mainly automates web browser tasks for testing websites. It can't test APIs on its own and needs third-party applications. |
| Community |
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| Learning curve | Playwright is easier to learn and set up. Its user-friendly design makes it a good fit for new projects or teams new to automation. | Selenium is a more established framework. It has a steeper learning curve with its extensive features and versatility. |
| Developer experience | Playwright makes testing easier across different browsers. Its unified system works with Chrome, Edge, Brave, Safari, and Firefox. This means you can write one test script and run it on various browsers with little to no changes. | Selenium requires you to write test cases for each browser individually or use a testing framework to run tests across multiple browsers. |
| Efficiency and Performance |
Playwright is usually faster than Selenium for two main reasons:
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Selenium is comparatively slower than Playwright because its communication is sent over the WebDriver protocol which does not happen in real time. |
This NPM chart shows a statistical comparison of the downloads between Playwright and Selenium for one week. It will give you a good sense of which is more popular.
When to use Playwright or Selenium?
Playwright and Selenium each has its strengths and works better in different situations.
When to use Playwright
- When testing modern web applications: Playwright performs great at testing single-page applications (SPAs) and applications heavily reliant on JavaScript frameworks like React or Angular. What sets it apart is its features like auto-waiting, and efficient handling of asynchronous operations, among other features.
- When speed matters most: If you want to prioritize speedy testing or web scraping, then Playwright is a good option. This is because Playwright uses a WebSocket connection instead of relying on the WebDriver API and HTTP. This therefore sets it apart because the WebSocket connection allows real-time, bidirectional communication.
- When support for parallel test execution and CI/CD Pipelines is needed: Playwright support for parallel testing and speedy tests makes it a good choice for teams with large test suites and fast release cycles.
- When testing across multiple browsers, using a single API is important: Playwright simplifies testing across multiple browsers by unifying them under a single, common API.
When to use Selenium
- When support for legacy browsers is needed: Selenium's extensive support for legacy browsers such as Internet Explorer makes it a good choice if that's something you need.
- When enterprise application testing is important: Selenium supports a wide range of networks, programming languages, and integration with plugins and tools.
- If your team consists of more testers than developers: Selenium integrates well with various tools and frameworks for test management, CI/CD, and reporting.
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Frequently asked question
Is Playwright better than Selenium?
There is not a single "better" choice. Playwright excels in modern web testing with speed and cross-browser compatibility, while Selenium offers broader browser support and a mature ecosystem.
Is Playwright faster than Selenium?
Yes. Playwright is faster than Selenium because of WebSocket communication and features such as auto-waiting, parallel test execution out of the box, network interception, and mocking capabilities.
Can I use Selenium and Playwright together?
You can use Selenium Grid and Playwright together because the PlaywrightWebDriver exposes the underlying IPlaywright, IBrowser, IBrowserContext, and IPage objects as public properties. These are then used to match the Selenium APIs with the Playwright APIs. However, using Selenium and Playwright together is uncommon.
What’s your next move?
Selenium and Playwright are both great for web testing. So, how to choose between them?
Selenium's strong points include its flexibility, wide browser support (even for legacy browsers), and compatibility with many programming languages. These features make Selenium a good pick for testing web apps on different platforms.
The Playwright framework stands out for its excellent speed, great performance, cross-browser compatibility, and developer-friendly APIs.
Try out both options to see which works best for your project. Whichever you pick, you'll be on your way to creating better, more reliable web applications.
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