Playwright Vs Cypress: Which one should you choose for your business?

Currently we have many test automation frameworks available in our market. But Playwright and Cypress being the modern test automation frameworks in testing web applications, let’s see the battle between these two in terms of unique features, limitations, advantages and much more.

Let’s not wait anymore!

First let’s begin by introducing Playwright.

What is Playwright framework?

The Playwright framework, developed and managed by Microsoft, is an open-source automation framework built on Node.js for end-to-end testing purposes. That is, Playwright doesn’t rely on the browser’s built-in processes to run tests. Instead, it operates independently, which can be more efficient. Its primary objective is to operate seamlessly across the leading browser engines, including Chromium, WebKit, and Firefox.

Additionally, Playwright provides the flexibility to write tests using various programming languages. Supporting TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, .NET, and Java, it distinguishes itself as an exceptionally versatile testing tool. The most recent version of Playwright is 1.36.

Highlights of Playwright

• A key aspect of Playwright is its capability to mimic native mobile browsers such as Google Chrome for Android and Mobile Safari.
• It also offers strong features to reduce flaky tests, including automatic waiting, assertions prioritizing web content, and tracing functions.
• Playwright runs out-of-process, following modern browser architectures. By doing so, it avoids the typical constraints associated with running tests within the browser’s main process.
• Playwright ensures full isolation and quick execution by creating a new browser context for each test, akin to a fresh browser profile. This setup enables thorough test isolation with minimal overhead. Additionally, Playwright offers robust tools, including action-based code generation, a page inspector for inspection and selector creation, and a trace viewer for comprehensive failure analysis.

Salient Features of Playwright

Cross-Browser Support

Playwright stands out for its capability to run tests across various browser engines such as Chromium, WebKit, and Firefox. This functionality enables developers to verify the seamless functionality of their applications across different browsers.

Multi-Page and Multi-Domain Scenarios

Playwright creates complex test scenarios spanning multiple pages and domains. This capability is handy for testing web applications with intricate navigation and interaction flows.

Network Activity Interception

With Playwright, developers can intercept network activity, facilitating the stubbing and mocking of network requests. This special feature helps in simulating different network conditions and testing edge cases.

Mobile Device Emulation

To ensure comprehensive testing of web applications across different mobile platforms, developers can utilize Playwright to emulate mobile devices, replicating their screen sizes, touch events, and other device-specific functionalities.

File Download and Upload

Playwright facilitates automating file download and upload scenarios, benefiting when testing features involving file handling, such as uploading and downloading files.

Native Input Events

Playwright incorporates native input events for mouse and keyboard interactions, ensuring precise and lifelike user engagements. This guarantees accurate testing of UI elements dependent on specific user inputs.

Browser Contexts

Utilizing Browser Contexts, Playwright creates isolated environments within a single browser instance. This enables concurrent and parallel test execution in separate contexts, thereby optimizing testing efficiency.

CI/CD Server Integration

Playwright seamlessly integrates with popular CI/CD servers like TravisCI, CircleCI, Jenkins, Appveyor, and GitHub Actions. This integration simplifies the automation process within the development workflow.

Cloud Deployment Support

Playwright can be effortlessly deployed in the cloud using Docker images, without reliance on specific CI/CD providers. This flexibility allows teams to leverage cloud infrastructure for their test automation requirements.

Intelligent Defaults

Playwright offers intelligent defaults, streamlining the setup process for test automation. These defaults provide sensible configurations, reducing the initial learning curve and facilitating easy initiation of automated testing.

Limitations of Playwright

Learning Curve

Due to its advanced features and flexibility, Playwright may require more time and effort for developers and testers to fully grasp API and underlying concepts. Hence Playwright has a steeper learning curve compared to other automation tools.

Community Support

Though Playwright is a popular figure, its community may not be as extensive as that of other frameworks which can result in fewer online resources, tutorials, and community-driven support available for users.

Maturity

As a newer member in the framework family, users prefer mature frameworks with more years of experience in the field.

Tooling Ecosystem

As mentioned above, although Playwright’s tooling ecosystem is expanding its newbie-ness limits the availability of specific plugins, integrations, or extensions required by developers for their testing requirements.

Before we move into Cypress, know the top test automation frameworks in 2024: Top 10 Test Automation Frameworks and Best Practices (zucisystems.com)

What is Cypress Framework?

Cypress Framework is an open-source automation tool designed for front-end testing. It primarily supports JavaScript and is commonly utilized for end-to-end testing purposes. In fact, Cypress was initiated by a developer Brian Mann, back in 2015. His prime agenda were:

• Setting up the tool within 60 seconds.
• Ensuring a fast and reliable writing experience with a strong emphasis on debugging capabilities.
• Prioritizing an efficient maintenance cycle.

When you run tests using Cypress, it starts its own web application and then loads your app into it, allowing it to track everything happening in the browser. Cypress scripts run in the same loop as your application, which lets it monitor and interact with every part of your app directly, making automation very precise.

For tasks outside the browser, Cypress employs a Node.js server, ensuring it can seamlessly handle both in-browser and out-of-browser activities without complex protocols. This dual approach, operating both inside and beyond the limitations of JavaScript, enables Cypress to perform more advanced and efficient testing than typical tools.

Another strength of Cypress is its plugin extensibility, meaning that users can add new features and functionalities to the testing tool on their own, without waiting for the official developers to add them. As a result, Cypress has an extensive library of plugins that extend its capabilities. Popular plugins like cypress-axe and cypress-audit are examples of how users can add valuable functionality, such as accessibility testing and performance auditing, to their test suites.

What more is there to Cypress?

Highlights of Cypress

• Cypress is a JavaScript-based end-to-end testing framework that simplifies the testing of modern web applications. It enables developers to create tests, debug them visually, and run them automatically in continuous integration builds.

• Cypress offers a real-time view of end-to-end and component tests during application development. Its API is both simple but robust, running tests as quickly as your browser can provide content. The installation of Cypress is hassle-free, as it requires no additional servers, drivers, or dependencies.

• A standout feature of Cypress is its capability to execute directly within the browser, enabling developers to troubleshoot failed tests using well-known in-browser developer tools. Additionally, it strives to eradicate unreliable tests by simulating interactions with your application just like your users would, aiding in the identification of intermittent bugs before they impact your users.

• Cypress easily integrates with any CI provider, simplifying the process of running tests in a CI environment. Additionally, it provides Cypress Cloud, a service that offers helpful features such as test parallelization, load balancing, and prioritizing test specs to enhance the efficiency of your test runs. Cypress Cloud also includes user-friendly visual tools for reviewing and troubleshooting test failures, along with detailed analytics to keep track of your test suite’s performance.

Salient Features of Cypress

Comprehensive Test Insight

By capturing screenshots during test execution, testers can assess command sequences and outcomes at each step.

Efficient Debugging

Integration with tools like Developer Tools simplifies debugging of failed tests. Cypress provides clear errors and stack traces, expediting issue identification and resolution.

Built-in Wait Mechanism

Cypress automatically waits for commands and assertions to finish, removing the need for developers to manually add waits into their test code. This enhances test reliability and efficiency.

Behavioral and Functional Testing

Cypress validates function behavior, server responses, and timers, offering functionality akin to unit testing.

Network Traffic Control

Testers can simulate various network conditions and scenarios directly within Cypress, without needing a live server. Additionally, Cypress provides extensive customization options for controlling and stubbing network traffic, allowing testers to tailor their tests to specific requirements or scenarios.

Limitations of Cypress

• Cypress does not support testing across multiple tabs concurrently.
• JavaScript is the only preferred language for writing test cases.
• Cypress cannot open multiple browsers at the same time.

Cypress vs Playwright: Key Differences

Which to choose – Playwright or Cypress?

Advantages of Choosing Playwright

• Offers support for various programming languages, including JavaScript, Java, Python, and .NET C#.
• Simplified setup and configuration process.
• Comes equipped with a range of useful built-in reporters such as List, Dot, Line, JSON, JUnit, and HTML Reporters.
• Facilitates parallel testing execution via Browser Context.
• Provides multiple debugging options including Playwright Inspector, VSCode Debugger, Browser Developer Tools, and Trace Viewers Console Logs.

Disadvantages of Choosing Playwright

• Does not support testing of Native Mobile Apps.
• Lack of support for Internet Explorer 11 (IE11).
• Limited community support due to Playwright being a relatively new framework.
• Growing user base since Playwright is still emerging in the market.
• Difficult to test with specific version of web browser.

Advantages of Choosing Cypress

• Offers excellent documentation, gives better understanding.
• Automatically captures snapshots during test execution, helping to troubleshoot and debug.
• Features automatic waits for commands and assertions, reducing the need for explicit waiting statements.
• Enables verification and control of server responses, functions, or timers using Spies, Stubs, and Clocks.
• Supports testing on multiple browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
• Provides real-time execution of commands with visual feedback as they run, enhancing developer experience.

Disadvantages of Choosing Cypress

• Inability to simultaneously control multiple browsers.
• Lack of support for testing across multiple tabs.
• Restriction to using JavaScript for test case creation.
• Limited support for iFrames.

Wrapping Up:

Understanding different testing frameworks is essential for staying ahead in the market curve also to understand which one’s features leverage your business platform. With Zuci’s QA experts we can select the right test automation framework partner for your software product. As a first step, set a pro-bono consultation with our QA specialist here.