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Cypress vs Robot Framework: What are the differences?

Cypress and Robot Framework are both popular automation testing tools that are used to test web applications. Here are the key differences between the two:

  1. Architecture: Cypress is a JavaScript-based end-to-end testing framework that runs directly in the browser. It executes tests in the same run loop as the application being tested, allowing it to directly access and modify the application's DOM. On the other hand, Robot Framework is a generic open-source automation framework that uses a keyword-driven testing approach. It provides a simple and readable syntax for test case development.

  2. Language Support: Cypress is primarily focused on testing web applications built with JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue. It provides built-in support for writing tests in JavaScript. Robot Framework, on the other hand, supports multiple programming languages such as Python, Java, and C#. This allows testers to choose the language they are most comfortable with for test case development.

  3. Test Execution: Cypress runs tests in a single process and within the browser, giving it full control over the application's environment. It can automatically wait for elements to become visible, handle AJAX requests, and prevent flaky tests. Robot Framework, on the other hand, executes tests by using a separate test runner. This allows it to run tests in parallel and distribute test execution across multiple machines, making it suitable for large-scale test automation.

  4. Community and Ecosystem: Cypress has a growing community and a vibrant ecosystem. It provides comprehensive documentation, a dedicated support team, and regular updates with new features. Robot Framework, on the other hand, has a large and active community with extensive support and a wide range of external libraries and extensions that can be used to extend its functionality.

  5. Test Maintenance: Cypress provides a rich API that allows developers to easily interact with elements, perform assertions, and handle different scenarios in their tests. It also provides features like auto-waiting, time-travel debugging, and real-time reload. Robot Framework, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and readability. Its keyword-driven approach makes it easier to write and maintain tests, especially for testers who are not proficient in programming.

  6. Integration with CI/CD: Cypress provides built-in integration with popular CI/CD tools like Jenkins and Travis CI. It can generate test reports in different formats and supports parallel test execution. Robot Framework also offers seamless integration with CI/CD tools and supports various reporting formats. It can be easily integrated into existing CI/CD pipelines for continuous testing.

In summary, Cypress is a JavaScript-based end-to-end testing framework with a focus on simplicity, while Robot Framework is a keyword-driven automation framework that supports multiple programming languages.

Advice on Cypress and Robot Framework
Yildiz Dila
testmanager/automation tester at medicalservice · | 5 upvotes · 257.8K 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 · 157.4K 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 · 186.2K 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 Cypress and Robot Framework
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 Cypress
Pros of Robot Framework
  • 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
  • 23
    Easy with CI/CD
  • 22
    Open Source
  • 21
    Simple Usage
  • 14
    Easily extendable
  • 13
    Vast Scope more than Front End
  • 12
    Fast
  • 4
    Mobile supports
  • 4
    Extensive libraries
  • 4
    Supports windows applications
  • 3
    Easy for Non-tech personal

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Cons of Cypress
Cons of Robot Framework
  • 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
  • 8
    Nested Loops
  • 1
    Devtooling is not there
  • 1
    Mostly for python
  • 0
    Extensive library support
  • 0
    Mobile supports

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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.

What is Robot Framework?

It is a generic test automation framework for acceptance testing and acceptance test-driven development. It has easy-to-use tabular test data syntax and it utilizes the keyword-driven testing approach. Its testing capabilities can be extended by test libraries implemented either with Python or Java, and users can create new higher-level keywords from existing ones using the same syntax that is used for creating test cases.

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What companies use Cypress?
What companies use Robot Framework?
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What are some alternatives to Cypress and Robot Framework?
Selenium
Selenium automates browsers. That's it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that. Boring web-based administration tasks can (and should!) also be automated as well.
TestCafe
It is a pure node.js end-to-end solution for testing web apps. It takes care of all the stages: starting browsers, running tests, gathering test results and generating reports.
Puppeteer
Puppeteer is a Node library which provides a high-level API to control headless Chrome over the DevTools Protocol. It can also be configured to use full (non-headless) Chrome.
WebdriverIO
WebdriverIO lets you control a browser or a mobile application with just a few lines of code. Your test code will look simple, concise and easy to read.
Jest
Jest provides you with multiple layers on top of Jasmine.
See all alternatives