Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!
Nightwatchjs vs Playwright: What are the differences?
Nightwatch.js and Playwright are both popular automation testing frameworks used for testing web applications. Let's explore the key differences between them.
Testing Framework: Nightwatch.js is built on top of Node.js and uses the WebDriver protocol for automating browsers. On the other hand, Playwright is a browser automation library that provides a high-level API for interacting with browsers. Playwright supports multiple programming languages including JavaScript, Python, and C#.
Supported Browsers: Nightwatch.js supports a wide range of browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. Playwright, on the other hand, supports Chrome, Firefox, WebKit (Safari), as well as Microsoft Edge. Playwright also provides cross-browser support, allowing you to write tests that can be run on multiple browsers.
Parallel Execution: Nightwatch.js supports parallel execution of tests, allowing you to run multiple tests concurrently. This can significantly reduce the overall test execution time. Playwright, on the other hand, does not have native support for parallel execution. However, you can achieve parallel execution by using additional tools or frameworks.
Test Execution Speed: Playwright is generally considered to be faster compared to Nightwatch.js when it comes to test execution speed. This is due to Playwright's use of browser-specific automation backends, which eliminates the need for a WebDriver server. Nightwatch.js, on the other hand, relies on the WebDriver protocol for browser automation, which can introduce some overhead.
Flexibility and Versatility: Nightwatch.js provides a built-in test runner and comes with a rich set of assertions and commands specifically designed for web application testing. It also integrates well with popular testing frameworks like Mocha and Jasmine. Playwright, on the other hand, offers a more versatile and modern approach to browser automation, allowing you to interact with not only web pages but also perform actions on iframes, web components, and more.
Documentation and Community Support: While both Nightwatch.js and Playwright have decent documentation and active community support, Nightwatch.js has been around for a longer time and has a larger user community. This means that there are more resources, tutorials, and community-driven plugins available for Nightwatch.js compared to Playwright.
In summary, Nightwatch.js is more mature and has better community support, while Playwright offers cross-browser support, faster test execution, and a more modern approach to browser automation.
Pros of Nightwatchjs
- Open source3
- Testing2
- Automates browsers2
- Better cross browser (use selenium)1
- Cross-Browser Testing1
- Multiple Browser Support1
- Parallel Test Running1
Pros of Playwright
- Cross browser14
- Open source10
- Test Runner with Playwright/test9
- Promise based7
- Well documented7
- Execute tests in parallel5
- Integrate your POMs as extensible fixtures5
- API Testing5
- Capture videos, screenshots and other artifacts on fail4
- Python Support4
- Context isolation3
- Inbuild reporters html,line,dot,json3
- Fastest2
Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions
Cons of Nightwatchjs
- No automatic wait2
- Less flexibility1
- Limited native mobile app support1
- Limited browser support1
- Configuration complexity1
Cons of Playwright
- Less help12
- Node based3
- Does not execute outside of browser2