Appium vs Selenium: Which One is Best for Your Project?

Regarding testing, multiple automation tools and frameworks are making their way into the market. Some modern platforms are leveraging the intelligence of AI to reduce the manual labor of creating test scripts, while others are still taking the vintage road and keeping the code-based test scripting capabilities alive. Appium and Selenium are popular automation testing frameworks that have been around for a while and are helpful in testing web and mobile applications. Each has its share of benefits, limitations, functionalities, and architecture, making it a worthy competitor. How would you choose one over the other? 

This article compares the two test automation tools – Appium vs Selenium, to help you decide which one would be better for your use. Understanding their similarities and differences will help businesses improve their testing efforts by employing the right tool as per their project needs.

Appium vs Selenium – Overview

Before we discuss the two frameworks and how they contradict each other, let’s take a look at them individually. 

What is Selenium?

Selenium is an open-source automation testing framework renowned for automating web applications. The platform enables testers to build tests in a variety of languages, including Java, Python, C#, Ruby, and JavaScript. Selenium is a powerful tool that makes website testing easier, faster, and more accurate.

It comes with four main parts:

• Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment): The IDE is a record and playback tool that helps you create tests without writing any code. It is available as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox.
• Selenium RC (Remote Control): RC is the first Selenium tool that allowed testers to automate web tests in Java, Python, C#, Ruby, and JavaScript. It lets you control the web browser automatically, so you can do many different tests without manually clicking.
• Selenium WebDriver: It is the successor to RC and the most widely used Selenium tool. WebDriver lets you interact directly with web browsers and their elements using a rich set of APIs. 

Also read: ChromeDriver for Selenium

• Selenium Grid: It is a distributed system that allows running tests on multiple browsers, devices, and OS, supporting parallel testing. Selenium Grid consists of a hub and multiple nodes—the hub acts as a central point for distributing test execution requests to available nodes. And each node can run tests on different browsers and OS configurations. Grid can be integrated with WebDriver.

Use Case Scenario

An example always explains the concept better.

Suppose you work as a QA for an online store. You want to ensure that the flow of data from searching for a product, adding it to their cart, and checking out functions smoothly on different web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

But running the tests on all these browsers is time and resource-consuming. That’s where Selenium comes in.

You can use the Selenium Grid to have multiple robots (or virtual robots) test your website simultaneously on different browsers. It will run the flow of actions on multiple devices and OS around the clock to ensure your website works perfectly for the users.

Basically, Selenium Grid has a hub that connects to different nodes corresponding to the device and OS you want to run your application on for testing. 

Some cool features of Selenium:

• It’s free to use.
• It works on different computer systems (like Windows, Linux, and Mac).
• You can write the test instructions in the programming language you’re comfortable with, like Java, Ruby, C#, or Python.
• Selenium can handle popular web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
• It lets you test things in parallel on countless combinations of browsers, devices, and OS.
• There are plenty of resources and help available online for guidance.

What is Appium?

Appium is a test automation framework used for automating mobile applications across platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows. It allows testers to write and execute automated test scripts to interact with mobile apps similar to the real-world user.

Appium provides a unified API that abstracts the underlying platform-specific details, allowing testers to write tests once and run them on multiple platforms without any modifications.

It is a super-smart helper for Quality Assurance (QA) professionals, particularly those focused on mobile apps.

Use Case Scenario

Suppose you have created a new app for Android and iOS and want to run mobile app testing to ensure it works perfectly before the release. You could manually run all the tests on different devices, but that would take forever and is not worth the effort.

With Appium, test time is reduced, and quality improves. It uses the JSON wire protocol (an extension of Selenium) to guide the app through a set of instructions and accelerate app testing by automating interactions and ensuring consistent quality. These instructions are then carried out automatically on your app, ensuring everything runs smoothly.

For Android apps, Appium interacts with the UI elements using the Android UI Automator framework, which simulates user actions such as tapping, swiping, and entering text. For iOS, Appium utilizes the XCUITest framework to interact with the app’s UI elements. This framework works similarly to Android and simulates user interactions like gestures and text inputs. Even for Windows, Appium makes use of WinAppDriver.

Appium’s unified API feature enables developers to script tests efficiently across platforms like Java, Python, Ruby, and PHP, minimizing test time while maximizing coverage. 

Another fantastic thing about Appium is that it is not limited to a particular platform; it supports testing for both Android and iOS. You can even test on real devices or use emulators and simulators.

Some cool features of Appium:

• It is open-source and free to use.
• Appium works for native-built applications (specifically for one platform), hybrid (mix of web and native), or purely web-based.
• You can use it with your preferred programming language.
• It can test Android and iOS and works with real devices, emulators, and simulators.

Appium and Selenium Frameworks for Automation Mobile Testing

Appium and Selenium are two leading frameworks that empower Quality Assurance (QA) professionals to conduct automated testing on mobile applications. While they share a common goal of enhancing testing efficiency, they cater to distinct needs in the mobile testing landscape.

Appium, a versatile open-source tool, specializes in automating tests for Android, iOS, and Windows mobile platforms. It offers cross-platform capabilities, supports multiple programming languages, and ensures testing across real devices, emulators, and simulators. Appium’s ability to handle native, hybrid, and web applications makes it a preferred choice for comprehensive mobile app testing.

On the other hand, Selenium, originally designed for web automation, extends its reach to mobile testing through Selenium WebDriver. It excels in web application testing but also covers mobile web applications. Selenium provides a unified framework for web and mobile testing, making it a valuable choice for organizations already invested in Selenium for web automation.

In essence, Appium excels in pure mobile app testing, offering flexibility across platforms, while Selenium, with its broad web testing capabilities, provides a seamless transition for organizations seeking a consolidated approach to web and mobile automation testing.

Appium vs Selenium: A Detailed Comparison

The brief introduction of both test automation frameworks above highlights how they excel in automating test scripts but still differ in some aspects of testing. While Appium is primarily used for mobile app testing, Selenium takes a holistic approach to both web and mobile automation testing.

Let’s examine some of their architecture and functionality in a comprehensive manner to help you determine which platform is better suited for your needs.

Primary Function

The purpose of Selenium is to automate testing for web-based applications to ensure the pages and the website function correctly across devices and browsers. It is used for browser-based testing, including functional, regression, and performance testing. In contrast, Appium is tailored explicitly for mobile application testing, with the primary function being to automate native, hybrid, and mobile web applications on iOS and Android platforms. It uses a unified API for mobile automation to automate mobile apps using the same principles as web automation with Selenium. 

Architecture

In terms of architecture, Selenium and Appium share a similar design based on the WebDriver protocol. 

Selenium’s architecture comprises the Selenium WebDriver and the Selenium Grid. Appium, on the other hand, builds on Selenium’s WebDriver. It uses a client-server architecture where the server translates Selenium WebDriver commands into mobile-specific commands, sending them to mobile devices via native automation frameworks like XCUITest for iOS and UiAutomator for Android.

Support for Programming Languages

Both Selenium and Appium support multiple programming languages to create test scripts.

Selenium offers support for Java, Ruby, NodeJS, JavaScript, C#, PHP, and Python. For Appium, Java is the primary language, but it extends further to include Java, Python, JavaScript (Node.js), Ruby, C#, and PHP. 

WebDriver

WebDriver is a crucial component that facilitates browser automation in Selenium and extends to mobile automation in Appium. Selenium WebDriver interacts directly with web browsers, and Appium leverages the same WebDriver API but enhances it to support mobile-specific commands.

Support for Platforms

Selenium and Appium are cross-platform tools that allow tests on multiple browsers, devices, and OS combinations. 

Selenium offers extensive support for major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Edge, and Opera across Windows, macOS, and Linux. Appium is designed for mobile automation and supports both iOS and Android platforms. 

Overall, both these frameworks have multiple features, some of which are similar. One such aspect is support for scripting languages that require a substantial learning curve and considerable time. 

To counter that and make test case creation easy, Testsigma comes with its cloud-based test automation platform that can build tests in plain English. AI and NLPs within the tool make test case creation, execution, and management simple.

Let’s look at how Testsigma differs from Appium and Selenium, which only reduces testing efforts by a huge amount and improves product quality.

Appium vs Selenium vs Testsigma: Key Differences

In a world driven by digital transformation, the choice of automation testing framework plays a pivotal role in ensuring the quality and reliability of software applications. Three prominent contenders in this arena are Appium, Selenium, and Testsigma. 

Feature	Appium	Selenium	Testsigma
Purpose	Automates tests for native, hybrid, and mobile web applications on Android, iOS, and desktop platforms.	Automates web application testing on multiple browsers.	A unified automation testing platform that integrates web and mobile testing with natural language processing.
Coverage	Mobile (Android, iOS) and desktop application testing.	Web application testing across multiple browsers.	Web and mobile application testing, desktop application reducing scripting efforts through natural language processing.
Language Support	Supports multiple programming languages (Java, Python, Ruby, etc.).	Primarily supports Java but also has bindings for other languages.	Uses natural language, making it accessible to non-technical team members.
Ease of Use	Requires coding expertise for scripting.	Requires coding expertise for scripting.	Reduces scripting effort with natural language processing, making it accessible to non-technical users.
Platform Compatibility	Cross-platform, compatible with Android, iOS, and desktop platforms.	Primarily focused on web applications; limited mobile support via Selenium WebDriver.	Cross-platform, web, and mobile application testing.
Community and Support	Active open-source community with extensive documentation.	Active open-source community with extensive documentation.	Active support and community with documentation.
Scalability and Parallel Execution	Scalable for parallel execution on multiple devices.	Scalable for parallel execution on multiple browsers and platforms.	Scalable for parallel execution on multiple browsers and devices.
Cost	Open-source, free to use.	Open-source, free to use.	Subscription-based pricing model.

Which One to Choose – Appium vs Selenium?

The choice between Appium vs Selenium is fairly complex. While one is more suited for Android and iOS application testing, the other is primarily used for web application testing using WebDriver.

Appium is a go-to option for QA professionals solely focused on testing mobile-based apps, sometimes including desktop apps as well. Selenium automates browser actions for web apps using its WebDriver. If you have a choice between these two, the type of application you are testing would decide the tool.

However, in case your app in not limited to a particular platform and device, a unified solution like Testsigma that works best for web and mobile testing and reduces scripting efforts is the right option. It uses NLPs to build tests in plain English and make the automation process accessible to non-technical team members.

In the end, the choice between Appium vs Selenium vs Testsigma depends on your specific testing needs, project requirements, and team’s expertise.

Conclusion

When it comes to automation testing, choosing the right tool is a critical decision. And between Appium and Selenium, two frameworks with an established track records, the choice can often be tricky. They both offer robust solutions for mobile and web application testing. The blog highlights their features, limitations, and a detailed comparison for you to make an informed decision.

Meanwhile, for an easy approach toward testing, Testsigma introduces a novel approach. It leverages NLPs for a more user-friendly automation experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Appium support Selenium?

Yes, Appium supports Selenium WebDriver. Appium uses the Selenium JSON wire protocol to automate web and mobile applications, making it compatible with Selenium WebDriver commands. This integration allows QA teams to leverage the strength of both Appium and Selenium for comprehensive testing.

How different is Appium from Selenium?

Appium and Selenium serve different but complementary purposes. Appium is primarily designed for mobile application testing and supports automation for native, hybrid, and mobile web applications on platforms like Android and iOS. In contrast, Selenium focuses on web application testing, automating actions on web browsers. The choice between them depends on your specific testing needs and the types of applications you are testing.