Playwright vs Cypress: The Definitive Comparison

A smooth and engaging user experience is the key to success in today's competitive software landscape.

This is where end-to-end (E2E) testing comes in, simulating real-world user interactions and testing how different parts of your application work together.

This guide compares two powerful E2E testing tools: Playwright and Cypress.

What is Playwright?

Playwright is a modern testing framework developed by Microsoft. Released in 2020, it quickly gained popularity with over 61,000 GitHub stars and 4 million weekly NPM downloads. This rapid adoption demonstrates the industry's recognition of Playwright's capabilities and reliability.

Playwright operates through the DevTools Protocol, which enables direct communication with browsers at a low level. This approach allows for more precise control over browser behavior and enables advanced features like network interception, geolocation mocking, and permission handling.

It supports all major browser engines (Chromium, WebKit, and Firefox) across Windows, Linux, and macOS, ensuring comprehensive coverage of user environments.

What is Cypress?

Cypress is a testing framework designed to write, run, and debug tests efficiently. Released in 2014, it focuses primarily on end-to-end testing and provides quick and reliable solutions for testing web applications.

Cypress enables you to write tests in JavaScript, which are executed directly within your application event loop, offering direct access to elements like the Window, DOM, document, and the application instance itself. This architecture gives Cypress unique advantages for interactivity and debugging.

Over the years, Cypress has built a strong reputation, achieving over 4 million weekly downloads and attracting 46,000 stars on GitHub. It supports web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge, with experimental support for WebKit.

Let's explore how these powerful tools compare across key evaluation criteria:

1. Ease of installation

Playwright provides an exceptionally streamlined installation experience. It requires only the relevant programming language environment (e.g., Node.js for JavaScript implementations).

A single command installs Playwright and automatically downloads all necessary browsers. It also provides a sample test in the tests directory and automatically creates a Playwright configuration file.

This "batteries included" approach means you can start writing and running tests within minutes of installation.

npm init playwright@latest

After running this command, Playwright guides you through a setup wizard that helps configure your testing environment according to your preferences, including selecting browsers and test runners.

Cypress also offers a straightforward installation process. After installing Cypress using npm, its launchpad guides you in selecting testing types (e.g., end-to-end) and browsers. Cypress then automatically generates configuration files and sample tests.

npm install cypress --save-dev
npx cypress open

The Cypress launchpad provides an intuitive interface for setting up your testing environment, making it accessible even for those new to testing frameworks.

Both tools excel in providing user-friendly installation experiences with minimal setup required, making them excellent choices for teams looking to quickly implement E2E testing.

2. Performance

Performance is crucial in testing frameworks as faster execution times lead to shorter feedback loops during development. Based on carefully conducted benchmarks involving navigation to a local application and checking for specific elements, Playwright demonstrated superior performance with an average execution time of 4.513 seconds compared to Cypress's 9.378 seconds.

The significant performance gap of approximately 4.865 seconds becomes even more substantial when scaled to hundreds or thousands of tests, potentially saving hours in large test suites. Playwright's architecture, built specifically for modern browsers and leveraging the DevTools Protocol, contributes to this performance edge.

Here's an example of how a test looks using Playwright:

const { test, expect } = require("@playwright/test");

test("has title", async ({ page }) => {
 await page.goto("http://localhost:3000/");
 // Expect the title to contain a substring.
 await expect(page).toHaveTitle(/Book List/);
});

And the equivalent in Cypress:

describe('Homepage', () => {
 it('has title', () => {
   cy.visit('http://localhost:3000/');
   cy.title().should('contain', 'Book List');
 });
});

The performance difference becomes particularly noticeable in CI/CD pipelines, where fast test execution is essential for continuous delivery workflows. Playwright's significant speed advantage makes it the clear choice for performance-critical testing environments.

3. Learning curve and language support

Playwright features an intuitive API designed with modern development practices in mind. Its documentation is comprehensive, covering advanced capabilities like support for web components, shadow DOM, and iframes with clear examples.

Playwright's code completion and intelligent suggestions in IDEs like Visual Studio Code further flatten the learning curve. It supports multiple programming languages including JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, .NET, and Java, accommodating diverse development teams.

# Playwright Python example
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

with sync_playwright() as p:
   browser = p.chromium.launch()
   page = browser.new_page()
   page.goto("https://example.com")
   print(page.title())
   browser.close()

Cypress also provides an easy-to-use API tailored specifically for JavaScript developers. Its approach is often praised for being developer-friendly, with clear documentation and numerous examples that make test creation intuitive.

// Cypress JavaScript example
describe('Website', () => {
 it('loads successfully', () => {
   cy.visit('https://example.com');
   cy.title().then((title) => {
     console.log(title);
   });
 });
});

However, Cypress's limitation to JavaScript can be restrictive for teams using multiple programming languages. While this focused approach allows for tight integration with JavaScript frameworks, it may not be suitable for polyglot organizations.

For teams working exclusively with JavaScript, both tools offer gentle learning curves. However, in diverse technology environments with multiple programming languages, Playwright's multi-language support provides a significant advantage.

4. Debugging tools

Playwright excels with a comprehensive suite of debugging tools:

• VSCode Debugger Integration: Enables direct test step-through in the popular code editor.
• Playwright Inspector: A graphical interface that allows step-by-step test execution, live locator editing, and actionability log viewing.
• Trace Viewer: A sophisticated tool for examining recorded traces of test executions, including screenshots, DOM snapshots, and network requests.
• Browser Developer Tools: Running Playwright in debug mode exposes the browser's native developer tools.
• Verbose API Logs: Detailed logging of all API interactions when the DEBUG environment variable is set.
• Headed Mode with Slow-Motion: Tests can run visually with configurable execution speed for easier observation.

These tools work together to provide a multi-dimensional view of test execution, making it easier to identify issues ranging from timing problems to selector failures.

// Trace recording in Playwright
await page.goto('https://example.com');
await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png' });
await context.tracing.stop({ path: 'trace.zip' });
// This trace file can be opened in the Playwright Trace Viewer

Cypress also offers powerful debugging capabilities:

• Time Travel: The ability to see exactly what happened at each step of test execution.
• Live Reloading: Tests automatically rerun when changes are made to test files.
• Real-time Execution: Commands execute in real-time as you add them to your test.
• Error Messages: Clear, actionable error messages that help identify issues quickly.
• Snapshot: DOM snapshots at each step of test execution.
• Command Log: A detailed log of all commands executed during a test.

// Using Cypress debugging features
cy.visit('https://example.com');
cy.get('.button').then(($button) => {
 // Debugging in the Command Log
 console.log($button);
 debugger; // Opens Chrome DevTools with execution paused here
});

Both frameworks provide excellent debugging tools, but they take different approaches. Playwright's Trace Viewer and Inspector offer comprehensive post-execution analysis, while Cypress's time travel and live reloading facilitate real-time debugging. The best choice depends on your team's debugging preferences and workflow.

5. Browser support

Playwright offers exceptional cross-browser support, covering all major rendering engines:

• Chromium (including Chrome and Edge): Full support with advanced capabilities.
• Firefox: Complete support with consistent API across browsers.
• WebKit (Safari): Native support without requiring additional setup.

Additionally, Playwright provides robust mobile viewport emulation for testing responsive designs and mobile user experiences. It offers granular control over browser versions and updates, allowing tests to run against specific browser versions as needed.

Cypress supports Chromium-based browsers (Chrome and Edge) and Firefox with stable implementations. WebKit (Safari) support is available but still experimental, which may limit testing capabilities for Safari users. Like Playwright, Cypress offers device emulation for testing responsive designs, but with a more limited range of options.

For applications that need to support diverse browser environments, especially those with Safari users, Playwright's comprehensive and stable browser support makes it the more reliable choice. However, if your application primarily targets Chrome and Firefox users, Cypress provides adequate browser coverage.

6. Auto waiting

Auto-waiting mechanisms ensure that actions are performed only when elements are ready for interaction, significantly reducing flaky tests caused by timing issues.

Playwright implements sophisticated auto-waiting through its locator methods like getByRole(), page.getByLabel(), and page.getByAltText(). Before performing actions, Playwright automatically:

• Checks element visibility.
• Verifies element stability (not moving).
• Confirms the element is enabled.
• Ensures the element is editable (for input-related actions).

If these conditions aren't met within a configurable timeout, Playwright aborts the action with a descriptive error message. This comprehensive approach eliminates most timing-related failures without requiring explicit waits in test code.

// Playwright automatically waits for the button to be visible, stable, and enabled
await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).click();

Cypress also features robust auto-waiting capabilities. It actively monitors the application for various events, including:

• Page load and unload events.
• XHR and fetch requests.
• Animation and transition completions.
• Element visibility changes.

Cypress automatically waits for these events to complete before proceeding with the next command, reducing the need for explicit waits.

// Cypress automatically waits for the button to be actionable
cy.get('button[name="Submit"]').click();

Both tools excel in auto-waiting implementations, providing reliable mechanisms that help create stable tests without extensive explicit waiting code. The choice between them may come down to preference for their specific auto-waiting behavior and integration with other features.

7. Retries

Test retry capabilities help distinguish between genuine bugs and intermittent failures caused by environmental factors, network issues, or timing problems.

Playwright offers comprehensive retry functionality:

• Locator retries: Built into methods like page.getByRole(), which automatically retry finding elements
• Global retry configuration: Set maximum retry attempts for all tests
• Test-specific overrides: Configure specific retry settings for individual tests or test groups
• Detailed reporting: Tests are categorized as "passed" (successful initially), "flaky" (fails initially but succeeds on retry), or "failed" (never passes)

This multi-layered approach allows teams to identify and address flaky tests while preventing them from blocking CI/CD pipelines.

// Playwright test retry configuration
// In playwright.config.js
module.exports = {
 retries: 3,  // Retry failed tests up to 3 times
};

// For a specific test
test('my flaky test', { retries: 5 }, async ({ page }) => {
 // This test will retry up to 5 times
});

Cypress also provides robust retry mechanisms:

• Command retries: Built into commands like cy.get() and cy.find(), which retry until elements are found or timeout
• Test retries: Configure retry attempts at the global, suite, or individual test level
• Customizable retry logic: Fine-tune retry behavior through configuration

// Cypress test retry configuration
// In cypress.config.js
module.exports = {
 e2e: {
   retries: {
     runMode: 2,      // Retry failed tests up to 2 times in run mode
     openMode: 1      // Retry failed tests once in open mode
   }
 }
};

// For a specific test
it('my flaky test', {
 retries: {
   runMode: 3,
   openMode: 1
 }
}, () => {
 // This test will retry up to 3 times in run mode
});

Both frameworks provide excellent retry capabilities that help manage test flakiness. Playwright's categorization of test results as passed, flaky, or failed provides additional insights for test maintenance, while Cypress's distinction between open mode and run mode offers flexibility for different testing contexts.

8. Multiple tabs

Support for multiple tabs or windows is essential for testing complex user journeys that span across different browser contexts.

Playwright provides elegant handling of multiple tabs within browser contexts:

// Playwright multiple tab handling
const context = await browser.newContext();
// Create two pages within the same context
const pageOne = await context.newPage();
const pageTwo = await context.newPage();

await pageOne.goto('https://example.com');
await pageTwo.goto('https://another-example.com');

// Interact with both pages
await pageOne.getByRole('button', { name: 'Login' }).click();
await pageTwo.getByRole('link', { name: 'Register' }).click();

// Retrieve all pages of a browser context
const allPages = context.pages();

This approach makes it straightforward to create and manage multiple tabs that share the same session state, cookies, and local storage—ideal for testing features like "open in new tab" functionality.

Cypress, in contrast, does not natively support testing across multiple tabs or windows. This is one of its major limitations when testing workflows that involve opening new tabs or windows:

// Cypress workaround for handling links that open in new tabs
cy.get('a[target="_blank"]').invoke('removeAttr', 'target').click();
// This prevents the link from opening in a new tab, forcing it to open in the same tab

For applications with workflows that involve multiple tabs or windows, Playwright's native support for managing multiple browser contexts provides a significant advantage. Teams using Cypress will need to implement workarounds or modify application behavior during testing, which may not accurately represent real user experiences.

9. Test isolation

Test isolation ensures that each test runs in a clean environment, preventing tests from affecting each other and making test failures more reproducible.

Playwright excels in test isolation through its BrowserContext concept:

// Playwright test isolation
test('first test', async ({ browser }) => {
 // This creates a fresh context for this test only
 const context = await browser.newContext();
 const page = await context.newPage();
 // Any cookies, localStorage, etc. are isolated to this context
 await page.goto('https://example.com');
 await context.close();
});

test('second test', async ({ browser }) => {
 // This test gets its own fresh context
 const context = await browser.newContext();
 const page = await context.newPage();
 // No shared state with the previous test
 await page.goto('https://example.com');
 await context.close();
});

These contexts function like separate user profiles or incognito windows, but they're much lighter and faster to create. Each test gets a pristine environment with fresh cookies, local storage, session storage, and cache, preventing cross-test contamination.

Cypress also provides strong test isolation by automatically clearing cookies, localStorage, and sessionStorage between tests. Each test runs in a fresh browser context, ensuring that state from previous tests doesn't affect current test execution.

// Cypress test isolation
describe('User flow', () => {
 beforeEach(() => {
   // Cypress automatically clears state between tests
   cy.visit('https://example.com');
 });

 it('first test', () => {
   // Test runs in a clean state
   cy.get('#login').click();
 });

 it('second test', () => {
   // Also runs in a clean state, unaffected by the first test
   cy.get('#register').click();
 });
});

Both frameworks provide excellent test isolation capabilities, helping ensure reliable and consistent test results. Playwright's BrowserContext approach offers more granular control, while Cypress's automatic state clearing between tests provides simplicity and ease of use.

10. Scalability

Scalability determines how effectively a testing framework can handle large test suites and distribute test execution across computing resources.

Playwright offers excellent scalability features:

• Automatic parallelization: Runs test files in parallel across available CPU cores by spawning worker processes.
• Fine-grained control: Allows parallelizing tests within a single file if needed.
• Test sharding: Supports distributing tests across multiple machines to reduce execution time.
• Worker isolation: Each test worker runs in isolation to prevent interference.

// Playwright parallelization configuration
// In playwright.config.js
module.exports = {
 workers: 8, // Run tests in 8 parallel workers
 // Alternatively, use a percentage of CPU cores
 // workers: '50%',
};

For distributed execution across multiple machines:

# On machine 1
npx playwright test --shard=1/3

# On machine 2
npx playwright test --shard=2/3

# On machine 3
npx playwright test --shard=3/3

Cypress also provides robust support for test parallelization, particularly when using Cypress Cloud:

• Spec-level parallelization: Distributes spec files across available machines.
• Load balancing: Intelligently distributes tests to minimize total execution time.
• Dashboard integration: Centralized reporting of test results across parallel runs.

// Cypress parallelization configuration
// In cypress.config.js
module.exports = {
 e2e: {
   // Configuration for Cypress Cloud parallelization
   projectId: 'abc123',
 },
};

For local parallelization, third-party tools like cypress-parallel can be used:

npx cypress-parallel -s cy:run -t 4 -d "cypress/e2e/**/*.cy.js"

Both frameworks provide strong scalability solutions, with Playwright offering more built-in options for local parallelization and test sharding, while Cypress provides a polished cloud-based approach through Cypress Cloud. For teams without access to Cypress Cloud, Playwright's native parallelization capabilities may be more accessible.

11. CI/CD integration

Seamless integration with Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery pipelines is essential for automating test execution as part of the development workflow.

Playwright provides exceptional CI/CD support with detailed documentation and sample configurations for major providers:

• GitHub Actions
• Azure Pipelines
• CircleCI
• Jenkins
• GitLab CI

These configurations include features like:

• Parallel test execution
• Report generation and merging
• Artifact storage for screenshots and videos
• Cache optimization for faster runs

# Example GitHub Actions configuration for Playwright
name: Playwright Tests
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
 test:
   runs-on: ubuntu-latest
   steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
     - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: npm ci
     - name: Install Playwright browsers
       run: npx playwright install --with-deps
     - name: Run Playwright tests
       run: npx playwright test
     - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
       if: always()
       with:
         name: playwright-report
         path: playwright-report/
         retention-days: 30

Cypress also excels in CI/CD integration, offering:

• Ready-to-use examples for popular CI providers
• Cypress Cloud integration for test parallelization and result dashboards
• Automated screenshot and video capture
• Detailed reporting options

# Example GitHub Actions configuration for Cypress
name: Cypress Tests
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
 cypress-run:
   runs-on: ubuntu-latest
   steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
     - uses: cypress-io/github-action@v5
       with:
         record: true
       env:
         CYPRESS_RECORD_KEY: ${{ secrets.CYPRESS_RECORD_KEY }}
         GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Both frameworks provide excellent CI/CD integration capabilities, with comprehensive documentation and example configurations. Cypress's tight integration with Cypress Cloud offers additional features for teams willing to use their cloud service, while Playwright's approach is more platform-agnostic, providing consistent integration across various CI/CD environments.

12. Visual comparison testing

Visual comparison testing verifies that applications not only function correctly but also appear as expected to users.

Playwright includes built-in support for visual comparisons:

// Playwright visual testing
// Take a screenshot
await expect(page).toHaveScreenshot('homepage.png');

// Compare specific element
await expect(page.getByRole('navigation')).toHaveScreenshot('nav.png');

// With mask and style options
await expect(page).toHaveScreenshot('checkout.png', {
 mask: [page.getByTestId('dynamic-content')],
 style: 'body { animation: none !important; }',
});

These capabilities allow teams to detect unexpected visual changes without additional third-party tools. Playwright automatically generates reference screenshots during the first run and compares against them in subsequent runs. The framework includes pixel-by-pixel comparison with configurable threshold settings to handle minor rendering variations.

Cypress does not provide native visual testing capabilities. Implementing visual testing with Cypress requires integration with third-party plugins or services like Percy, Applitools, or Happo:

// Cypress with Percy integration
describe('Visual testing', () => {
 it('homepage looks correct', () => {
   cy.visit('https://example.com');
   // Percy snapshot requires the Percy plugin
   cy.percySnapshot('Homepage');
 });
});

While these integrations are effective, they add complexity to the testing setup and may increase costs through additional subscriptions. For teams prioritizing visual testing capabilities without additional dependencies, Playwright's built-in visual comparison features offer a more streamlined solution.

13. Test runner support

Integrated test runners simplify the process of organizing, executing, and reporting test results.

Playwright includes a full-featured test runner called Playwright Test:

// Playwright Test example
import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test.describe('Authentication', () => {
 test('should allow login with valid credentials', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.goto('/login');
   await page.getByLabel('Username').fill('user@example.com');
   await page.getByLabel('Password').fill('password123');
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Log in' }).click();
   await expect(page.getByText('Welcome back')).toBeVisible();
 });

 test('should show error with invalid credentials', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.goto('/login');
   await page.getByLabel('Username').fill('wrong@example.com');
   await page.getByLabel('Password').fill('wrongpassword');
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Log in' }).click();
   await expect(page.getByText('Invalid credentials')).toBeVisible();
 });
});

This built-in runner includes:

• Parallel test execution
• Test filtering and tagging
• Fixtures for setup/teardown
• Parameterized tests
• Comprehensive reporting

Cypress comes bundled with Mocha as its test runner, providing a familiar syntax for many JavaScript developers:

// Cypress with Mocha test runner
describe('Authentication', () => {
 beforeEach(() => {
   cy.visit('/login');
 });

 it('should allow login with valid credentials', () => {
   cy.get('[data-cy=username]').type('user@example.com');
   cy.get('[data-cy=password]').type('password123');
   cy.get('[data-cy=login-button]').click();
   cy.contains('Welcome back').should('be.visible');
 });

 it('should show error with invalid credentials', () => {
   cy.get('[data-cy=username]').type('wrong@example.com');
   cy.get('[data-cy=password]').type('wrongpassword');
   cy.get('[data-cy=login-button]').click();
   cy.contains('Invalid credentials').should('be.visible');
 });
});

Mocha provides:

• BDD and TDD interfaces
• Before/after hooks
• Pending tests
• Exclusive and inclusive tests

Both frameworks offer robust test runner capabilities that simplify test organization and execution. Playwright Test was designed specifically for web testing and offers more integrated features, while Cypress's use of Mocha provides a familiar experience for developers already using this popular JavaScript testing framework.

14. Record and playback support

Record and playback functionality accelerates test creation by allowing testers to generate test scripts through manual browser interactions.

Playwright provides a powerful codegen tool:

npx playwright codegen https://example.com

This launches a browser window where user interactions are automatically converted into executable test code in real-time. The tool supports:

• Multiple programming languages (JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET)
• Custom selectors through right-click options
• Editing generated assertions
• Directly copying code to clipboard

This approach enables rapid test prototyping while generating maintainable code that follows Playwright best practices.

Cypress offers record and playback functionality through an experimental feature called Cypress Studio:

// Enable Cypress Studio in cypress.config.js
module.exports = {
 e2e: {
   experimentalStudio: true
 }
};

Cypress Studio allows:

• Adding new tests by recording interactions
• Extending existing tests with recorded commands
• Basic selector generation
• Standard action recording (clicks, typing, assertions)

While functional, Cypress Studio is still considered experimental and may not offer the same level of polish and flexibility as Playwright's codegen tool. For teams heavily relying on record and playback capabilities, Playwright's more mature implementation provides advantages in terms of language support and selector customization.

Comparison Table

✖️ - No support ✔️ - Partial support ✔️✔️ - Full support

Final thoughts

Both Playwright and Cypress are powerful E2E testing tools with distinct advantages. Playwright excels in performance, cross-browser support, and multi-language compatibility. Its architectural design provides significant advantages in areas like multiple tab support, visual testing, and record/playback functionality. For teams working with diverse technology stacks or requiring comprehensive browser coverage, Playwright's versatility makes it an excellent choice.

Cypress offers a developer-friendly experience with its intuitive API and real-time execution model. Its time-travel debugging and tight integration with web applications make it particularly appealing for JavaScript developers. While it has limitations in areas like multiple tab support and WebKit compatibility, its strong community support and polished developer experience make it a compelling option for JavaScript-focused teams.

For new projects prioritizing performance, language flexibility, and comprehensive browser support, Playwright generally offers a more versatile solution. For JavaScript teams valuing seamless integration and real-time debugging capabilities, Cypress remains a strong contender despite its limitations.

Ultimately, the best tool depends on your specific testing requirements, team expertise, and application characteristics. Both frameworks continue to evolve, with Playwright rapidly expanding its feature set and Cypress enhancing its existing strengths through continuous improvement.

Article by

Ayooluwa Isaiah

Ayo is a technical content manager at Better Stack. His passion is simplifying and communicating complex technical ideas effectively. His work was featured on several esteemed publications including LWN.net, Digital Ocean, and CSS-Tricks. When he's not writing or coding, he loves to travel, bike, and play tennis.

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