When it comes to the topic of web test automation, it is crucial to choose the right tool that can greatly affect the results of the tests. 

The two most popular tools in this field are Cypress and Selenium. Even though both are popular among users, they are designed for different purposes and provide a set of features that can be beneficial for certain testing conditions. 

This guide is a detailed comparison of Cypress vs Selenium which will help you to understand which one suits your needs for test automation.

What is Web Test Automation?

Let me first explain what web test automation is to help you better understand Cypress vs Selenium. 

It refers to the process of simulating user actions to ensure that web applications perform as expected on different operating systems, browsers, and gadgets. 

They can also mimic the actions of real users on the web pages in order to check the functionality of applications with the newly added features.

What is Cypress?

Cypress is a new player in the world of test automation tools and was specifically built to complement the age of modern, JavaScript-based Web applications. 

It is known to be fast and designed to be very simple to use while targeting developers and QA engineers involved in front-end testing. 

While Selenium executes tests outside of the browser, Cypress does it within the browser and gives instant results.

Key Features of Cypress:

• Fast Setup and Execution: Cypress is easy to install and doesn’t require any extra libraries or tools. The tests are written in JavaScript and run right in the browser, which makes it quicker than other testing tools.

• Automatic Waits: Cypress will wait for the elements to load before interacting with them, hence eliminating the need for using explicit waits and making tests more stable.

• Real-time Reloads: Modifications made to test files automatically refresh the browser allowing test results to be seen without delay.

• Rich Debugging Tools: Cypress offers the ability to debug the test and has snapshots and precise error messages that will help developers find the problem.

• Useful for Javascript Users: Cypress is especially useful for teams who are using JavaScript frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue. It gives a clean and effortless development experience that meshes well with the existing web development toolchains.

What is Selenium?

Selenium however has been there for web test automation for more than ten years now. 

It is an open-source tool that enables testers to automate browsers across different languages and platforms such as Java, Python, C#, JavaScript, and many others. 

The fact that Selenium is highly flexible and supports most of the browsers in use makes it a preferred tool for testing.

Key Features of Selenium

• Cross-browser Support: Selenium is capable of testing on all the major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge among others. This makes it very suitable for use in doing cross-browser testing.

• Multi-language Support: Selenium has support for all major programming languages so that testers can work with the technology of their choice.

• Scalability: Selenium Grid allows multiple test scripts to run simultaneously across different browsers and platforms; it is a perfect solution for large enterprises.

• Established Ecosystem: Selenium has a very rich and well-developed ecosystem, which is represented by a large number of plugins, extensions and integration possibilities.

• Selenium regression testing: Especially when there is a need to test across multiple browsers. It has Selenium regression testing that is useful in large-scale projects that require more testing features.

Cypress vs Selenium: Key Differences

In this article, we shall compare Cypress and  Selenium in terms of performance, setup, language support, browser support, and more.

Ease of Setup and Use

• Cypress: Cypress has an easy-to-use setup with no major issues to setup. It has everything you need to get started as soon as you install it and begin using it to write and run tests. Nothing like WebDriver needs to be installed and the tests can be written in JavaScript itself.

• Selenium: Selenium needs more setup, the installation of WebDriver and browser drivers are needed for Selenium to work. Although this is quite flexible, it makes the installation not very straightforward, particularly for new users.

Test Execution Speed

• Cypress: Cypress tests are faster than the tests that are conducted in general because they run directly in the browser of the fact that tests in Cypress run in the browser, they are faster. This reduces the interactions between the test code and the browser, hence shortening test cycles.

• Selenium: Selenium operates outside the browser with the help of WebDriver which sends commands to the browser over the network. This, however, can cause latency and hence slower test execution as compared to Cypress.

Browser and Platform Support

• Cypress: As of now, Cypress is compatible with Chrome, Edge, and Firefox; however, Cypress does not support cross-browser testing fully, especially with Safari and Internet Explorer. This might be a drawback for the teams that require performing a lot of browser testing.

• Selenium: The most important advantage of Selenium is that this tool is compatible with all widely used browsers and even with their older versions, for example, with IE. This makes it a very useful tool for cross-browser testing on different operating systems and different devices.

Language Support

• Cypress: It has been developed with JavaScript in mind, which can be a disadvantage for teams that work with other languages.

• Selenium: Selenium has a lot of flexibility and can work with different programming languages such as Java, Python, C#., Ruby and JavaScript which is quite beneficial for a larger and more complex project.

Community and Ecosystem

• Cypress: Cypress has been developed relatively recently and, therefore, it has a vibrant and still expanding community. Nonetheless, its list of plugins and extensions is more limited than that of Selenium.

• Selenium: As a tool, Selenium has a vast community behind it and is well-supported with resources and documentation as well as many third-party plugins. This is good as there are numerous websites, solutions, plugins and other support for Selenium problems.

Test Stability

• Cypress: Cypress is known to be stable and reliable in part because it reduces the number of what are known as flaky tests – tests which often fail due to network latency or differences in how elements are rendered. It always waits for elements to appear and become interactive before making an action on it.

• Selenium: Selenium is known for housing flaky tests especially when working with dynamic content or elements that are loaded after the page has fully been rendered. It sometimes needs the application of explicit waits to check that the element is clickable.

Conclusion

Both Cypress and Selenium are two great tools but they serve different purposes. 

Cypress is faster and has a better developer experience for applications written in JavaScript than Selenium, as well as Cypress, supports only JavaScript-based applications.