Developer.com content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may earn money when you click on links to our partners. Find out more.
Selenium is an open source web testing automation framework that is quite popular among developers and QA teams. It can help developers ensure the compatibility, functionality and performance of their web applications and save them time by automating various tasks. In this review, we’ll analyze the automation tool Selenium in terms of its features, price, pros and cons to help you determine if it’s right for you. And if Selenium isn’t your ideal web test automation tool, we’ll also reveal its best alternatives to give you some purchasing flexibility.
Jump to:
Overview of Selena
Selenium is one of the best web test automation tools on the market. Huge brands like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft use Selenium to save time and increase efficiency when testing their web applications, but it’s also popular among small and medium-sized organizations because the framework is free, open source, and flexible. Selenium supports various platforms and programming languages, has a large community, is updated regularly, and integrates with various development tools to increase convenience and productivity.
Selenium is a valuable test automation tool for Agile and DevOps teams, developers, QA professionals, software testers and users with programming skills.
Features of selenium
Some of the main features of the Selenium automation tool include:
- Support for multiple browsers
- Support for multiple platforms
- Support for multiple programming languages
- Various types of automated testing
- Parallel testing
- Mindless browsing
- Test reporting
- Framework integration testing
- Extensibility
Software developers can use Selenium to test web applications on different browsers and operating systems, which is critical to ensuring that applications work as intended for different types of users. The automation tool also supports multiple programming languages (Python, C#, Ruby, etc.), making it a convenient choice for developers with different tastes when it comes to coding.
You can automate various tests (functional, performance, cross-browser, regression, etc.) with Selenium and run parallel tests on multiple machines to save time. If you want to run tests in the background to speed up execution and save resources, you can do so via Selenium’s headless mode, which runs tests without the need for a graphical user interface. And if you want to get detailed test reports and logging for enhanced analysis, you can integrate Selenium with test reporting frameworks. Selenium integrates with PyTest, Junit, TestNG and other popular testing frameworks. It can also be extended using third-party tools, custom plugins, libraries and frameworks, and CI/CD pipeline integration.
Selenium prices
As mentioned, the automation tool Selenium is open source. As such, developers can download and use it for free.
Although you can enjoy Selenium at no cost, you will likely incur some costs when implementing and maintaining a tool that serves your automated testing needs. Because Selenium is complex for some, you may have to spend time and money learning how to use it properly, or you may have to pay someone else to help with training and support. You may need to pay developers and testers to build and maintain test frameworks, automation scripts, and test cases.
Other possible costs include those for infrastructure, including servers or dedicated machines for running tests. If you prefer to run your tests in the cloud, you may need to pay for premium cloud-based testing services such as Sauce Labs or BrowserStack. If you want to enhance your automation capabilities through third-party tools and libraries for continuous integration, report test management, etc., this could also increase your total cost.
Benefits of selenium
Benefits of using Selenium to automate web testing include:
- Free to use
- Supports multiple languages/platforms/browsers
- Great community
- It saves time
- Versatile testing
- Regularly updated
- Framework integration testing
Developers on a budget will enjoy the fact that Selenium automation tool is open source and free to use. Its support for multiple programming languages, browsers and platforms offers plenty of flexibility for developers of various profiles, and its huge community offers a solid base of support and additional resources. Selenium also significantly saves time and increases productivity, thanks to parallel testing.
The versatility of the web automation testing tool is another advantage worth mentioning as you can use it to automate a wide range of testing. Frequent updates and bug fixes from the Selenium team are very helpful, as are its integrations with test frameworks for improved reporting and test structure.
Deficiencies of selenium
Disadvantages of using Selenium to automate your web application testing include:
- Complex for beginners
- Requires coding knowledge
- Final cost
- Only serves web applications
- Limited reporting
- User support
Beginners new to web test automation are likely to find Selenium complex with a steep learning curve. Its need for at least some coding knowledge can be another barrier to entry. Although Selenium is free and open source, the actual cost of using a web test automation tool could become quite high when you factor in potential training, support, setup and configuration, development costs, infrastructure, etc.
Developers looking to test desktop and mobile applications will have to look elsewhere, as Selenium specializes in web application testing. Selenium’s out-of-the-box reporting is on the basic side. If you want detailed reports, you’ll need to rely on third-party plugins. And if you want expert support to help you troubleshoot, you won’t get it through Selenium and will have to rely on its community instead.
Alternatives to selenium
Selenium has many advantages that make it a good choice as a web test automation tool. It is open source and free to use, flexible with support for multiple platforms and programming languages, has a large community, is regularly updated, has useful integrations and saves time, allowing developers to improve efficiency and productivity.
The web automation testing tool does have some drawbacks, however, as it is complex and requires coding knowledge, has limited reporting and support, only serves web applications, and can be expensive, depending on your specific needs. If Selenium’s shortcomings are too much to overcome, try one of the web test automation alternatives below.
Cypress
Cypress is an open-source, JavaScript-based test automation platform known for being easy to use, fast, and supported by the community. The Selenium alternative is ideal for working with modern web applications, especially single-page applications. Cypress supports end-to-end testing and unit testing and offers real-time reloading. It also simplifies the debugging process.
Dramatist
Playwright is an open source framework used to automate web testing. The Node.js library was created by Microsoft contributors and automates Firefox, Chromium, and WebKit browsers through a single API. Playwright is fast, reliable, offers parallel testing, supports multiple browsers, platforms and programming languages, and is easy to set up and configure. It is an ideal alternative to Selenium for developers who need cross-browser testing and want to automate web, desktop and mobile applications through an all-in-one platform.
Puppeteer
Puppeteer is a Selenium alternative that comes from the Google Chrome team. The Node.js library provides a high-level headless browser automation interface for Chromium and Chrome. Developers can use it for web scraping, web testing automation and various browser automation tasks. Highly regarded for its superior browser control, Puppeteer is ideal for testers and developers who prefer JavaScript and need a programmatic and flexible strategy to automate browser tasks.
Final thoughts on selenium
Selenium is one of the best tools for web application automation testing, but it is not the only solution of its kind. If you find that the Selenium automation tool isn’t perfect for your web testing needs, one of the alternatives listed above should suffice.
Not sure if Selenium is the right tool for you? For more options, check out our list of the best automation tools for developers.