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Capybara vs Cypress: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this comparison, we will discuss the key differences between Capybara and Cypress.

  1. Architecture and Approach: Capybara is a Ruby-based testing framework that operates in a headless environment using a mix of several tools like Selenium, Rack-Test, and Poltergeist. It follows a DSL (Domain Specific Language) approach and provides a high-level abstraction for web interactions. On the other hand, Cypress is a JavaScript-based end-to-end testing framework that runs directly in the browser. It operates in a headful environment and offers a developer-friendly API.

  2. Synchronization: Capybara provides implicit waiting, which means it waits for a certain amount of time before performing an action. This can lead to slower test execution and makes it harder to catch asynchronous issues. Cypress, on the other hand, uses automatic waiting and retries, which eliminates the need for explicit waits and makes the tests faster and more reliable by automatically synchronizing with the application.

  3. Debugging Capabilities: Capybara lacks robust debugging capabilities. It provides simple logging and requires external tools and libraries for debugging and troubleshooting test failures. In contrast, Cypress has built-in debugging capabilities. It allows developers to pause and debug their tests directly within the browser, making it easier to identify and fix issues.

  4. Browser Support: Capybara supports multiple browsers through the use of different drivers like Selenium, Poltergeist, and Capybara Webkit. However, the setup and configuration for each driver can be complex. On the other hand, Cypress supports only modern web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Electron. This limited browser support allows Cypress to provide a more streamlined and consistent testing experience.

  5. Installation and Setup: Capybara requires additional setup and configuration to work with different drivers and headless environments. It also has dependencies on other tools like Selenium and PhantomJS. In comparison, Cypress provides a simple installation process without any external dependencies. It can be set up quickly and easily, making it more beginner-friendly.

  6. Community and Ecosystem: Capybara is a mature and well-established framework with a large community and a wide range of plugins and extensions available. This extensive ecosystem provides a lot of flexibility and options for customization. On the other hand, Cypress is a relatively new framework but has been rapidly gaining popularity. It has a smaller community but is highly focused and actively maintained, offering a more tightly integrated ecosystem.

In summary, Capybara is a Ruby-based testing framework with a DSL approach, while Cypress is a JavaScript-based framework that runs directly in the browser. Capybara provides implicit waiting, lacks strong debugging capabilities, supports multiple browsers but requires complex setup, and has a mature ecosystem. Cypress, on the other hand, offers automatic waiting, built-in debugging capabilities, limited browser support, easy installation, and a focused ecosystem.

Advice on Capybara and Cypress
Yildiz Dila
testmanager/automation tester at medicalservice · | 5 upvotes · 260.8K views
Needs advice
on
CypressCypress
and
ProtractorProtractor

In the company I will be building test automation framework and my new company develops apps mainly using AngularJS/TypeScript. I was planning to build Protractor-Jasmine framework but a friend of mine told me about Cypress and heard that its users are very satisfied with it. I am trying to understand the capabilities of Cypress and as the final goal to differentiate these two tools. Can anyone advice me on this in a nutshell pls...

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Replies (2)
Kevin Emery
QE Systems Engineer at Discovery, Inc. · | 4 upvotes · 159.6K views
Recommends
on
CypressCypressProtractorProtractor

I've used both Protractor and Cypress extensively. Cypress is the easier and more reliable tool, whereas Protractor is the more powerful tool. Your choice of tool should depend on your specific testing needs. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of each tool:

Cypress advantages:

  • Faster

  • More reliable (tends to throw fewer intermittent false failures)

  • Easier to read code (handles promises gracefully)

Cypress disadvantages:

  • Cannot switch between browser tabs

  • Cannot switch to iFrames

  • Cannot specify clicks or keypresses explicitly as if a real user was interacting

  • Cannot move the mouse to specific co-ordinates

  • Sometimes has trouble switching between different top-level domains, so not good for testing external links

  • Cypress is a newer tool with less extensive documentation and less community support

Protractor advantages:

  • More powerful because it is Selenium-based - it can switch between tabs, it can handle external links to other domains, it can handle iFrames, simulate keypresses and clicks, and move the mouse to specific co-ordinates within the browser.

  • More extensive community support and documentation

Protractor disadvantages:

  • Slower and more brittle - in general there is a higher likelihood of cryptic and/or intermittent errors which may cause your tests to fail even though there is nothing wrong with your application

  • For highly experienced automation engineers, the fundamental "brittle" nature of Selenium can be worked around - it can be reliable but only if you really know what you are doing

  • Less graceful handling of promises - relies on async/await or .then to manage the order of execution. Therefore it is a bit harder to read the code.

  • Harder to set up, and the method of setup impacts its reliability. For example, a hub/node configuration where the selenium jar is on a different physical machine than the browser under test will cause unreliability in your tests. Not everyone knows about this type of thing, so it's common to find Selenium frameworks that are set up poorly.

It's probably better to use Cypress if

  • you're at a smaller company and have a close relationship with developers who can help write hooks or stubs in their code to assist your testing

  • you don't need to do things like switch between tabs or test links to external top-level domains

It's probably better to use Protractor if

  • You might need to switch between tabs or test external links to other domains within the scope of your framework

  • You want to use a more accurate simulation of how a real user interacts with a browser (i.e. click at this location, type these keys)

  • You're at a company where you won't have any support from developers in writing hooks or stubs to make their code more testable in a less powerful framework like Cypress

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Jian Wang
Web Engineer at sentaca · | 1 upvotes · 188.4K views
Recommends

Please try Handow, the e2e tool basing on Puppeteer.

Gherkin syntax compatible

Chrome/Chromium orentied, driven by Puppeteer engine

Complete JavaScript programming

Create test suites rapidly without coding (or a little bit), basing on built-in steps library

Schedule test with plans and arrange stories with sequential stages

Fast running, execute story groups in parallel by multi-workers

Built-in single page report render

Cover page view, REST API and cookies test

https://github.com/newlifewj/handow

http://demo.shm.handow.org/reports

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Decisions about Capybara and Cypress
Shared insights
on
CypressCypressJestJest

As we all know testing is an important part of any application. To assist with our testing we are going to use both Cypress and Jest. We feel these tools complement each other and will help us get good coverage of our code. We will use Cypress for our end to end testing as we've found it quite user friendly. Jest will be used for our unit tests because we've seen how many larger companies use it with great success.

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Pros of Capybara
Pros of Cypress
  • 12
    Best acceptance test framework for Ruby on Rails apps
  • 2
    Synchronous with Rack::Test
  • 1
    Fast with Rack::Test
  • 29
    Open source
  • 22
    Great documentation
  • 20
    Simple usage
  • 18
    Fast
  • 10
    Cross Browser testing
  • 9
    Easy us with CI
  • 5
    Npm install cypress only
  • 1
    Good for beginner automation engineers

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Cons of Capybara
Cons of Cypress
  • 1
    Hard to make reproducible tests when using with browser
  • 21
    Cypress is weak at cross-browser testing
  • 14
    Switch tabs : Cypress can'nt support
  • 12
    No iFrame support
  • 9
    No page object support
  • 9
    No multiple domain support
  • 8
    No file upload support
  • 8
    No support for multiple tab control
  • 8
    No xPath support
  • 7
    No support for Safari
  • 7
    Cypress doesn't support native app
  • 7
    Re-run failed tests retries not supported yet
  • 7
    No support for multiple browser control
  • 5
    $20/user/thread for reports
  • 4
    Adobe
  • 4
    Using a non-standard automation protocol
  • 4
    Not freeware
  • 3
    No 'WD wire protocol' support

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What is Capybara?

Capybara helps you test web applications by simulating how a real user would interact with your app. It is agnostic about the driver running your tests and comes with Rack::Test and Selenium support built in. WebKit is supported through an external gem.

What is Cypress?

Cypress is a front end automated testing application created for the modern web. Cypress is built on a new architecture and runs in the same run-loop as the application being tested. As a result Cypress provides better, faster, and more reliable testing for anything that runs in a browser. Cypress works on any front-end framework or website.

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