Playwright

Playwright is Microsoft's open-source framework for browser testing: an API for Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit, stable and fast.

Development & Data

What is Playwright?

Playwright is an open-source framework from Microsoft for browser automation and end-to-end testing, released in 2020. With a single API, you can control Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit, effectively covering Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. It's developed by a team that previously worked on Google's Puppeteer, with new releases appearing monthly.

Its primary application is automated testing of web apps: click paths, logins, and checkout flows are automatically verified with every release. Additionally, Playwright is suitable for scraping and browser agents. Its strength lies in its stability, as auto-waiting and the Trace Viewer significantly reduce the dreaded test flakiness.

Compared to Selenium, Playwright is more modern and faster, but also newer. The Selenium ecosystem is larger, and only Selenium covers some legacy browsers. One thing is clear: you won't get anywhere with either without programming skills.

It's the top choice for development teams starting with automated browser tests today. Business departments without developers are left out — for simple, no-code web automation, Zapier or Make are more suitable.

Functions

  • Trace Viewer with screenshots, logs, and a timeline for each test run
  • Codegen: Record tests by clicking in the browser
  • Parallel execution and test isolation via browser contexts
  • Significantly fewer flaky tests than with Selenium thanks to built-in wait logic
  • Popular foundation for scraping and browser agents
  • Free and Open Source under Apache License
  • Control Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit via a single API
  • Libraries for TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, and C#
  • Auto-Waiting: automatically waits until elements are ready
  • Network mocking and request interception in tests
  • Headless and headed operation, even in CI pipelines
Development & Data
Complexity
Hard

Alternatives to Playwright

Top Alternative

Next.js

Next.js ist das meistgenutzte React-Framework für schnelle, SEO-starke Websites und Web-Apps, entwickelt von Vercel.

Development & Data
Top Alternative

React Native

React Native ist Metas Framework für Mobile Apps: eine Codebasis für iOS und Android statt zwei getrennter Entwicklungen.

Development & Data
Top Alternative

Vue

Vue.js ist ein JavaScript-Framework für Web-Oberflächen: leichter zu lernen als React und bei Agenturen wie Konzernen beliebt.

Development & Data
Top Alternative

MySQL

MySQL ist die meistverbreitete Open-Source-Datenbank der Welt und speichert die Daten hinter WordPress, Online-Shops und Web-Apps.

Development & Data