Best Playwright Alternatives in 2026
Looking for alternatives to Playwright? Here are the top options compared.
Why Consider Playwright Alternatives?
- β οΈSteeper initial learning curve
- β οΈSmaller community than Cypress
- β οΈNo interactive test runner like Cypress
- β οΈLess beginner-friendly documentation
Top 3 Alternatives to Playwright
#1
Cypress
Cypress is a developer-friendly end-to-end testing framework known for its interactive test runner, time-travel debugging, and exceptional developer experience for testing web applications.
Free / Cloud from $67/month
Free tier availableβ Pros
- β’ Interactive test runner with time-travel
- β’ Excellent developer experience
- β’ Real-time reloading during development
β Cons
- β’ Chromium-only for most features (limited Firefox/WebKit)
- β’ JavaScript/TypeScript only
- β’ No native multi-tab support
#2
Jest
Jest is the most popular JavaScript testing framework, created by Facebook. It provides a zero-config testing experience with built-in mocking, code coverage, and snapshot testing.
Free
Free tier availableβ Pros
- β’ Industry standard with massive adoption
- β’ Zero-config for most projects
- β’ Built-in mocking and assertions
β Cons
- β’ Slow for large test suites
- β’ ESM support still evolving
- β’ Heavy dependency footprint
#3
Vitest
Vitest is a blazing-fast unit testing framework powered by Vite. It offers Jest-compatible APIs with native ESM support, TypeScript integration, and significantly faster execution.
Free
Free tier availableβ Pros
- β’ Blazing fast execution with Vite
- β’ Native ESM and TypeScript support
- β’ Jest-compatible API (easy migration)
β Cons
- β’ Smaller community than Jest
- β’ Newer with less battle-testing
- β’ Some Jest plugins not compatible
Quick Comparison
| Tool | Price | Free Tier | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playwright | Free | β | Testing |
| Cypress | Free / Cloud from $67/month | β | Testing |
| Jest | Free | β | Testing |
| Vitest | Free | β | Testing |