5 Cypress Alternatives for Faster Testing and Better Coverage
April 9, 2022
James Palmer
Introduction
Many QA teams choose Cypress.io for creating automated software tests because it executes tests directly inside the browser (which solves some of the most frustrating timing issues that are common with Selenium).
However, many teams end up looking for Cypress alternatives because it still has a few major downsides:
- Cypress can only be used by someone who knows JavaScript, which makes it costly to scale up testing. As your software grows and you need more testing, you’ll need to hire more (high-salaried) developers to manage that testing.
- Cypress tests can be time-consuming to set up. Many teams find they need to add custom attributes to element locators because the underlying code of modern web applications are often complex.
- Cypress tests are limited to performing actions inside a single browser, which means critical functions of some applications will go untested. To test functions like downloading an application to a desktop, installing browser extensions, or testing interactions between users (such as chat features), you’ll need your testing tool to be able to test outside a single browser window.
In this post, we’ll discuss these downsides in more detail and show how our tool— Rainforest QA—solves these issues. Then, we’ll provide four other tools for you to consider.
Rainforest QA
Rainforest QA is a codeless functional testing tool that uses a drag-and-drop editor to create tests that interact with the visual layer of your app the way a real user would.
Here are five reasons why Rainforest QA is the best Cypress alternative for many teams:
1. Anyone Can Write and Maintain Tests without Adding Custom Attributes
Rainforest QA lets anyone write tests by testing the visual layer directly rather than the underlying code. To test the visual layer, Rainforest tests use pixel-matching to locate and interact with elements on the UI. You’ll never need to worry about locators or adding custom attributes.
2. Tests Can Include Actions Outside of a Browser Tab or Browser Window
With Rainforest’s proprietary automation, you can create tests that open new tabs and new windows, open and close browsers, and even interact with desktop apps.
3. Tests are Less Brittle to Minor Changes in the Underlying Code
A Rainforest test will only fail if there’s a change to the UI. This means Rainforest tests are immune to minor changes in the underlying code that don’t affect the UI.
4. Investigating Test Failures with Video Replays Is Fast and Easy
Rainforest QA automatically records every test run, whether it passes or fails, and saves the recording for future reference.
5. Only Pay for What You Use
Our software makes software test automation accessible to anyone.
Katalon
Katalon is built on Selenium and Appium and was designed to be used by both developers and non-developers for web testing and mobile app testing.
Testim
Testim.io is a tool that uses a Chrome extension to record steps for basic tests.
WebdriverIO
WebdriverIO is an open-source end-to-end testing framework built on JavaScript.
Protractor
Protractor is an end-to-end testing framework built on top of WebDriverJS.
Conclusion
With Rainforest QA, anyone can write and maintain automated UI tests without learning a new programming language.