The Evolution of Test Automation: From Selenium to Playwright. A Comparison of Automation Tools: Selenium vs. Playwright vs. Cypress

Abstract

This study examines the evolution of web application test automation tools, focusing on a comparative analysis of Selenium, Playwright, and Cypress. The research justifies the relevance of transitioning from the traditional Selenium-based approach to modern frameworks that offer higher performance and stability in the rapidly evolving landscape of web applications. The study follows a methodology that involves sequential execution of test scenarios of varying complexity, including a simple static site test, end-to-end testing in a production environment, and a comprehensive test suite evaluation. Key performance metrics such as average execution time, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation are assessed. The findings indicate that Playwright demonstrates the best performance for testing dynamic web applications, while Cypress, despite an initial slowdown in simple scenarios, becomes competitive when executing local test suites. The article provides practical recommendations for selecting an automation tool based on the characteristics of the tested applications and outlines future development prospects, including the integration of artificial intelligence technologies and the optimization of CI/CD processes. This research addresses an existing gap in the field and offers practical solutions to enhance the quality and efficiency of modern web application testing. The findings will be of interest to researchers in software engineering, quality assurance professionals, test system architects, and academic professionals seeking to integrate advanced methodologies into software development and testing processes.