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Leapwork vs Playwright – Which One is Right for your Project?

October 23, 2024
Harish Rajora
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leapwork vs playwright
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Web applications have become complex to develop, test, and maintain. They are developed by complex elements for the end-users and sometimes, these new technologies have to be mixed with the legacy systems as revamping the complete website is time and cost-intensive. Such a complex digital world cannot be tested by manual methods. It demands and depends on web automation that can take actions as code snippets and run them on the application. However, there are many capable tools today that can perform this feat, and whenever such a question arises, the Leapwork vs Playwright question can often pop up among the testers with a few claiming either one of them to be more powerful.

To make sure that the testers always select the most suitable tool for their projects and make the most out of it, we need to look at both of these software individually before comparing various practical parameters.

Leapwork vs Playwright – Overview

What is Leapwork?

Leapwork is an intelligent web app automation framework that brings a simplified interface with easy-to-use steps that can convert complex testing into simple blocks of action. The software can record the actions performed on the web page and create a UI flow automatically that relates to the logical flow of execution of steps. 

This type of web automation helps identify failures easily and point out the exact areas that failed as well. Leapwork introduces great team management and reporting features that can be used to efficiently organize automated tests and share the findings with other team members.

Leapwork

What is Leapwork known for?

Leapwork tries to take away the pain associated with hardcore programming of test cases and convert it into a little more fun by providing visual elements for each of those scripts. Its visual representation and automatic generation of tests are probably one thing that attracts many testers but there is a lot more to Leapwork than this. It provides reusable elements that can be taken out as a subpart from the complete flow and even run in parallel for quick execution. 

Such exciting features that introduce time and cost reductions without compromising on quality have always been the favorites of testers and businesses.

Check here – Leapwork Alternatives

What is Playwright?

Playwright is an end-to-end web app testing framework that provides cross-browser support for test execution using a single API. Launched in 2020, Playwright was developed by Microsoft but is currently maintained by developers all around the world as it is open-source and has active participation as well. Playwright requires Node.js installed on the system and an IDE (preferably VS Code) to create test cases. Once done, the tester can use simple assertions to validate the tests. Its simplicity in use has led many big firms such as Adobe and Disney Hotstar to adopt it in their primary test cycles for end-to-end tests.

Playwright

What is Playwright known for?

Playwright is an open-source lightweight framework which is one of the most upselling point a tester sees in any framework they shortlist. The platform also provides a wide browser support including all the Chromium-based browsers, WebKit, and Firefox. The support also extends to all the major operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. 

Playwright is also known for providing both headless (although a bit different than Selenium) and non-headless methods of testing. While it does not provide a different software (SaaS) as Leapwork, it is used as a framework blended into the normal testing code and hence proves itself as a great alternative to Leapwork

This is preferred by a lot of testers who have been working on IDE-based frameworks and libraries (such as TestNG or Selenium) most of their life and feel comfortable with it.

Check here – Playwright Alternatives

Leapwork vs Playwright – A Side by Side Comparison

A better understanding of Leapwork vs Playwright can be acquired only by comparing both the software side by side on common parameters.

ParameterLeapworkPlaywright
USPNo-code platform.Integrated as a framework in the IDE.
Cloud-basedYes, a cloud-based facility is available.No.
Pre-requisite skillsOnly testing skills are required.Testing, a supported programming language, and experience with IDE (preferably VS code).
Open-sourceNo.Yes.
Language supportNone, no code.Python, Java, Javascript, C#, and more.
Learning curveEasySteep
Customization flexibilityNoneTesters can customize according to their requirements.
Testing areasDesktop apps, mobile apps, and web apps.Only web apps.
Technology usedSeleniumIs a complete framework with its own libraries to work.
PerformanceSlower than Playwright because visual workflow requires to be converted to Selenium.Faster as directly written in the library code.
ParallelismSupportedSupported
CI/CD integrationAvailableAvailable
MaintenanceEasier due to no-code and visual workflow.Harder due to test scripts.
Preferred project sizeSmall to medium as visual workflow can become highly complex on large-scale projects.Medium to large-scale scripts are easier to construct for complex scenarios. Small projects may take too much time to set up which could be avoided.
Cost-effectivenessCostly as it is licensed and available as a full version only after purchase.Free to use and open source to redefine libraries as required.
ScalabilityDue to the increasing complexity per project, Leapwork is not highly scalable.Playwright is a highly scalable and lightweight framework.
Customer success metricOver 300 global companies have adopted Leapwork.7.6 million weekly downloads using NPM.

With these parameters that are crucial in an industry, we can easily judge how software suits the current requirements, project needs, and team skills. It will help select the correct software for best results.

Check here – Playwright vs Cypress

Alternative for Leapwork and Playwright – What is Testsigma?

While the automation world has covered most of its journey using complex test scripts that perform multiple actions on the web page, it is safe to say now, it has advanced towards no-code tools. 

No-code tools are those tools that do not require programming to create test cases. Instead, they use other methods such as drag-and-drop, recording actions (similar to Leapwork which is another no-code tool) or using artificial intelligence like Testsigma.

Natural language processing can process English language and make sense out of it. Testsigma uses the same technique to let testers write test scripts in English and convert them into actions using NLP at back-end. This makes test scripting extremely easy and does not require testers to know programming languages to create tests. It helps testers focus on what’s important which is testing rather than investing their time and energy in figuring out programming errors.

What is Testsigma known for?

Testsigma is a cloud-based platform which is one of the best things today considering how local software can consume large chunks of memory. However, this is not the only thing that will attract the testers in using the software. Testsigma uses NLP that eases out the test scripting pain. In addition to it, the platform can be used for automating most major testing types such as regression testing, mobile app testing, data-driven testing, and API testing. Offering real devices on their infrastructure, Testsigma can speed up the test execution to as much as 10 times using Gen AI. This will decrease the testing cycle and help in early delivery of the software.

Explore Testsigma for Your Test Automation Needs.

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Why Prefer Testsigma Over Leapwork and Playwright?

Leapwork and Playwright have established themselves as reliable and effective test automation frameworks. If a tester is working on them but is not satisfied, they will start finding alternatives to Playwright and Leapwork. In such a case, they can consider the following advantages of Testsigma over Leapwork and Playwright.

  • AI-enabled: Testsigma’s artificial intelligence based engine can speed up the testing by automatically generating test cases and reducing time to write them using natural language processing. Leapwork does provide these benefits but they are technology based (for example self healing provided for Oracle applications) and are not generic across all tests.
  • Self-healing: Testsigma’s test cases are self-healing i.e. they can detect the changes in UI and make the appropriate changes in the respective test cases automatically. Leapwork, again, contains this ability but is limited to a few technologies only.
  • Easy to maintain: Leapwork provide a logical flow through visual diagram as part of its no-code test automation structure. On the other hand, Playwright is a completely scripted test automation tool. Both of these paradigms are not easily maintainable, especially Playwright because of complex scripts. Testsigma, however, writes tests in English which eases out the maintenance work.
  • Smooth learning curve: Due to above reasons, it is much easier to get started with Testsigma than with Leapwork or Playwright. A smoother learning curve is always good for business as the new testers can get started quickly and it costs less for the company to train employees.
  • Supports many testing types: Leapwork provides functional, UI, regression, and end-to-end testing through their platform. Playwright is not even this versatile and is capable (and officially recommended) for only end-to-end testing. However, Testsigma provides all types of testing including API, data-driven, cross-browser, and visual in addition to those provided by Leapwork. This helps keep all testing data under a single umbrella.
  • Integrations: Leapwork provides integrations limited to bug tracking, release, and delivery software. They cannot be integrated through UI and require coding the integration through REST API. Playwright is even harder to integrate (and provides only CI integrations) requiring plugin download and installation along with coding. This overhead can be eliminated by Testsigma where the tester gets all the integrations already enabled and integrated into the platform. The tester can choose the integration through UI, configure it, and attach it to their runs all through easy UI. It is quick and the integration list expands from CI/CD to issue tracking to collaborative tools.

When so many reasons work in favor of Testsigma, it is natural to be inclined towards it and at least try once to measure the difference between different software practically. Testsigma is free to use and all its features are just a sign-up away. 

Explore Testsigma for Your Test Automation Needs.

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Conclusion

Web app automation is a method to ensure the functionalities and all the modules work as expected. Their performance and stability should match the expectations of the users in all the releases (current and future). However, as the software scales up and a lot more modules get added each sprint, this task is hard to perform manually. Hence, testers look for web app automation where the Leapwork vs Playwright question is often discussed.

What fits perfectly in what situation can never be predicted by drawing a few rules. For this, testers should study the software, understand its underlying structure, and match it with the project requirements and skills of the team. If both of them confuse you, it is probably due to a mismatch in technical skills or concerns about on-premise resource utilization. In such cases, it is better to look in the direction of a cloud-based codeless test automation tool such as Testsigma instead. Such tools provide an economical alternative with a wide expansion and demanding minimum programming skills without compromising efficiency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which companies use Leapwork?

A lot of big companies use Leapwork including Paypal, Mercedes-Benz, and Ricoh.

Is Leapwork free?

No, Leapwork is a paid software. However, a free trial is available to familiarize with the software and get comfortable.

Does Playwright need coding?

Yes, Playwright is a framework that requires additional library support to perform assertions in the test scripts. It is generally used in an IDE where all other test scripts are written.

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Testsigma Author - Harish Rajora

Harish Rajora

A senior software engineer by profession who likes to contribute to the world by sharing knowledge through my writings. Loves reading books and implementing ideas into reality through a computer.

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