Selenium Alternatives: The 6 Best Options You Can Find

Selenium is one of the most popular and widespread open-source software testing tools for browser testing and automation. With Selenium, people can run automated tests for web applications through various platforms. Unfortunately, this handy cross-browser testing tool does come with some caveats. The good news is that there are plenty of test automation tools you can find in the market – do just one Google search, and you will stumble upon hundreds of alternatives to Selenium.

But among all the options, what are the most practical Selenium alternatives? How do these options compare to Selenium? Today, we will discuss all of these. Keep scrolling if you are interested!

Why Do People Use Selenium Web Testing Framework?

Selenium is an open-source lightweight test automation tool for web application testing. Its applications include regression, load, and functional testing on web applications. 

In Selenium, there are primarily four components – Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for integration tests, Remote Control for automated tests with various programming languages, WebDriver for browser testing and automation testing, and the Selenium Grid for parallel test running.

To make the test scripts and code the logic, several popular scripting and programming languages are supported in Selenium, including Ruby, ava, PHP, Python, Perl, etc. 

The key reasons for Selenium’s popularity are the absence of license fees and portability.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Test Automation with Selenium

Selenium comes with a good range of pros and cons. Here is a concise overview of them –

Pros

• It supports cross-browser testing so that you can run tests across multiple devices and browsers.
• You can use multiple programming languages – Ruby, JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, etc.
• Supports multiple browsers – Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Opera, and Apple Safari
• A cross-platform tool – You  can use Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Many third-party plugins available for use
• Can be easily connected to other frameworks (TestNG, NUnit, JUnit, etc.) to manage test cases and make reports on them
• A tester friendly tool

Cons

• Not remarkably simple to understand – it comes with a learning curve
• Can do test automation only for web applications – no mobile or desktop apps supported
• Difficult and costly maintenance
• No built-in reporting capabilities
• Image-based or visual regression testing is not available
• Dedicated tech support is unavailable

Why Users are Looking for Selenium Alternatives?

Selenium is well-known as a web automation testing framework; however, it has some limitations which can prompt users to look for other alternatives. Here are a few common reasons that might lead users on the hunt for Selenium alternatives:

Coding demand is a must for Selenium: because of this, writing test scripts using Selenium requires knowledge in programming languages — which acts as a block for non-programmers or testers with less coding experience. On this account, some other alternatives provide more user-friendly interfaces or visual tools that allow you to build tests easily and make it easier for everyone to use them.

Maintenance difficulties: Selenium scripts easily get fragile as web applications evolve, thus demanding consistent care. This process can be time and resource-consuming for test teams; however, some other methods are able to solve the problem by providing additional features like self-healing capabilities or record-and-playback functionality.

Scalability limitations: Selenium is mainly used for web application testing which means that if a complete test (including desktop applications or API testing) needs to be done, other tools may have to be introduced — further increasing complexity. There are some alternatives that offer more vast testing capabilities apart from just the web interfaces.

There is a hidden cost related to the time and effort needed to learn Selenium plus write test scripts, despite it being free and open-source; thus, the choice might not be suitable for all. Some other tools may present gentler learning curves or provide components ready-to-use that can reduce development time.

If you’re looking at an alternative to Selenium, it’s essential for you to assess your specific needs and priorities before choosing one of these popular alternatives— Testsigma, Cypress, Playwright, and RPA tools.

Top 6 Selenium Alternatives

Here are the top Selenium alternatives for UI tests, data-driven testing, automated testing, keyword-driven testing, browser automation, test maintenance, load testing, and more –

1. Testsigma

Our first pick is an up-and-coming Selenium alternative that has been growing in popularity fast. This simple, flexible, and reliable tool provides functional and regression testing, cross-browser testing, continuous testing, data-driven testing, and more. Testsigma supports both web apps and mobile apps.

Testsigma has been created to be an all-in-one test automation platform where you can plan, design, develop, run, and analyze tests. It uses AI and smart technology to reduce the test times vastly. 

Know more about how Testsigma can help you with continuous testing to achieve continuous delivery.

Testsigma’s regression testing tool is so efficient that tests that usually require weeks in traditional platforms need minutes to complete.

That is not all; you also get the chance to write test scripts in simple English instead of complex coding language. This makes it very easy for anyone in your team to develop and perform tests, even if they do not have an IT background.

With continuous integration of AI and the NLP-based approach, you can manage and maintain tasks effortlessly.

Testsigma Vs. Selenium: How Do They Stack Up?

Testsigma’s biggest upper hand in this comparison is its simplicity – you can write test scripts with simple English! This makes codeless automation possible.

It is also better for customizing your test environment requirements. And lastly, Selenium’s most significant drawback – not supporting mobile apps – is not present in Testsigma.

On the other hand, Selenium is quite an established name in the industry. You will find many more plugins, drivers, frameworks, and bindings available on this platform. But despite that, in terms of functionality and ease of use, Testsigma is one of the best alternatives to Selenium, hands down!

Here is a in depth post on how Testsigma performs compare to the Selenium, Tricentis Tosca, Micro Focus UFT (formerly HP QTP/UFT)

And here is a comparison on Testsigma vs selenium.

2. Cypress

When it comes to Selenium alternatives, Cypress is the most similar test automation solution. Like Selenium, Cypress is an open-source test automation framework.

The selling point for Cypress is its simplicity; it does not require any special setup for installation. Functional testing is quite simple in this tool, even for beginner test engineers. A QA engineer can get it up and running in just a few hours.

This automation testing tool is JavaScript-based, and used mainly for unit testing and front-end integration. You can add many plugins to customize this tool to your preference. 

Another cool thing about Cypress is that you can view changes as they happen in real-time with the app preview function. So, you can view the automation testing in action with it. Test failures are easy to detect this way.

Cypress Vs. Selenium: How Do They Stack Up?

While these test automation tools are pretty similar, Cypress is simpler to execute. It has growing popularity because of its capabilities to complement other web development tools. You can use Cypress along with Selenium to enhance the scripts, stability, and test coverage.

Selenium stands out in terms of versatility. Cypress only supports JavaScript. While it supports multiple browsers, Apple Safari is not available in Cypress, unlike Selenium.

A plus for this Selenium alternative would be its strict regulation of current development practices, which Selenium lacks.

3. Cucumber

When you look into Selenium alternatives, Cucumber is another popular name every time. It is a behavior-driven development automation tool. It combines test documentation and specifications.

The standout for Cucumber is that anyone can understand and use this tool, not just IT experts. Initially, it started out using the Ruby programming language, but another script called Gherkin was introduced later.

Gherkin is a plain English script with which the testers can write down scenarios (acceptance testing) describing the behavior of a system from the user’s POV. It runs the test automation based on these scenarios. 

This acceptance test-driven development makes Cucumber a popular tool for business owners, with a large support group.

Cucumber vs. Selenium: What’s the Difference?

Selenium does UI testing, while Cucumber is for acceptance testing. The former tool uses coding scripts and languages, while the latter is much simpler, utilizing simple English scripts.

Since no language learning is needed, creating test automation scripts with Cucumber is amazingly simple. Anyone can write, read, and understand the script without prior experience in test management.

4. Robot Framework

Yet another open-source test automation solution, Robot Framework, follows a keyword-based and behavior-driven testing approach. It is a package containing various third-party integration tools, libraries, functionalities, etc.

As such, it has frameworks for distinct types of test automation. You can further expand its use using extra test libraries such as Java. The framework can use these libraries as an interface to access different systems for tests.

Robot Framework is not bound to any platform, application, browser, or technology – You can use multiple platforms for writing test scripts with this tool. It is easy to learn if you are familiar with keyword-based testing.

This is an all-encompassing framework with many key functionalities, such as detailed logs, high-level architecture, a test data editor, libraries, clear reports, etc.

Robot Framework Vs. Selenium: How Are They Different?

Selenium testing requires codes and programming scripts, while Robot utilizes English. So, it is much simpler to understand and use, as you can do test automation codelessly. Selenium is a complete library for test automation, while Robot uses other libraries to run.

You can use the Robot testing tool for testing Android and iOS apps, which is unavailable in Selenium. 

5. Protractor

Created mainly for Angular web application testing, Protractor is an open-source automation framework for end-to-end (E2E) testing. It works for Angular and AngularJS applications using JavaScript.

As a tool for WebDriverJS, Protractor supports behavior-focused development frameworks such as Jasmine, Cucumber, Mocha, etc., to write test code. You can write test suites for behavior-based test cases with this tool.

Protractor has an ‘Automatic Waiting’ function. With automated testing, the steps are seamlessly executed without waiting for the test and the webpage to sync. So, you can test web apps faster with this tool.

Protractor has been built on top of JavaScript selenium WebDriver so that you can enjoy all the Selenium tests and automation tools with it.

Protractor vs. Selenium: Are They the Same?

As stated before, a protractor is a built of Selenium, so it supports everything a Selenium WebDriver does. Therefore, Selenium WebDriver has no functions that are unique from Protractor.

However, Protractor has a few functions that you will not find in Selenium, which makes it one of the most popular Selenium WebDriver alternatives. 

Because it specializes in Angular testing, Protractor is a more straightforward automation test tool for Angular apps. It is based solely on JavaScript, so you cannot use any other coding language with this tool.

6. Screenster

Last but not least, we have a visual and layout testing tool that can run UI automation testing on parallel platforms. Parallel test execution is not the only thing Screenster offers; you can run coded and codeless tests with it too!

Screenster is one of the best Selenium alternatives purely because of all the functionalities it offers. You can do visual testing, UI testing, and self-healing tests with this. It is a platform-to-platform user interface automation tester based on cloud. 

The best part of this Selenium alternative is its codeless functionality – it is made so simple that anyone can use it without having to write a single line of code.

You can also integrate it with other web applications and services such as Jira, Bamboo, TeamCity, TravisCI, Jenkins, etc. 

Screenster Vs. Selenium: How Do They Compare?

Screenster is a paid Selenium alternative that runs automation test cases. It comes with a very user-friendly interface, which makes website testing a piece of cake! By comparison, Selenium has a steep learning curve. It is meant for more professional use, so novices cannot grasp it simply.

The selenium tool is used for functional, regression, and load testing, while Screenster focuses on automated UI cases. And so, it provides lots of useful features for UI testing, which you cannot find on Selenium.

Also Know – Ranorex Vs Selenium

Final Words – Selenium Alternatives

There are lots of other Selenium alternatives you can find in the market. This article has tried to provide you with a mix of free and paid test automation tools that are the best Selenium alternatives.

When choosing an automation tool, you should evaluate your needs and project requirements – such as required language, teammate expertise level, type of test needed, etc. Keeping such considerations in mind will help you choose the best web automation tool.

That is all from us today. Thank you for staying with us!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there a better alternative to selenium?

Ans: Selenium is an amazing tool, without a doubt. But tools like Testsigma can be alternatives as they can do functional and regression, cross-browser, continuous, data-driven testing, and more. It also supports both web apps and mobile apps. Planning, designing, developing, running, and analyzing tests is easy with Testsigma.

2. Is selenium become obsolete?

Ans: Selenium is still the most used and standard tool for web browser automation testing. It gives a powerful and flexible framework for automating web applications across various platforms and browsers.

3. What’s faster than Selenium?

Some alternatives like Testsigma, Puppeteer, and Playwright often boast faster execution speeds due to their streamlined functions.

4. Can we migrate test data from Selenium to Testsigma?

Migrating test data directly from Selenium to Testsigma might be challenging. However, you can typically export test data from Selenium scripts (e.g., CSV format) and import it into Testsigma.