Nightwatch vs Playwright | Which One to Choose?

Modern software testing tools are providing a lot of capabilities to simplify test automation. Earlier, it was a big task to develop a test automation framework. Especially, building the test automation framework with open-source libraries like Selenium was challenging. With the advancement of test automation tools, the open-source test automation framework also evolved a lot. Today, many open-source tools are readymade, no need to build the framework from scratch. As many perform test automation for front-end testing, the NodeJS-based framework for test automation is preferred. Around 6.3 billion websites use NodeJS (as per Radix web). NightwatchJS, Playwright, Cypress, WebdriverIO, and Testcafe are some of the test automation frameworks built with NodeJS. Among these, Nightwatch and Playwright are the most popular ones. This blog makes a comprehensive comparison of Nightwatch vs Playwright.

Nightwatch vs Playwright – Overview

Nightwatch and Playwright both are NodeJS-based test automation frameworks. 

Playwright also has other flavors built with different technologies to support different programming languages. However, Playwright-NodeJS is most popularly used. 

Nightwatch is actively maintained by a popular cloud test automation company called BrowserStack. Let us understand Playwright vs Nightwatch in detail.

What is NightwatchJS?

NightwatchJS is an open-source end-to-end test automation tool, managed by BrowserStack. It is built with technologies like NodeJS, Selenium, Appium, etc. Nightwatch Supports automating desktop web and mobile applications natively with minimal configurations. Additionally, it is a cloud execution-friendly tool. 

Key features of NightwatchJS

• It is an open-source tool
• Supports multiple platforms
• Highly scalable
• Multiple testing type support
• Clear syntaxes
• Inbuilt reporting
• Multiple platform support

Pros of NightwatchJS

• Cost and License: NightwatchJS is open-source and completely free and comes with an MIT license.
• Setup Complexity: NightwatchJS is easy to set up and configure. It comes with an interactive command line tool, which helps to configure during the time of installation.
• Learning Curve: For those who are familiar with Selenium-JavaScript syntaxes it is easy to learn and integrate this tool.
• Multiple Platform Support: NightwatchJS supports web, mobile, and native mobile applications on different platforms. Users can test the web applications in real browsers on desktop platforms like Mac, Windows, etc. It also supports mobile web application testing in Android and iOS. Additionally, it supports Android and iOS native application test automation. This helps NightwatchJS stand out from other tools.
• Powerful Debugging Feature: It supports efficient debugging capability with three unique features. Inbuilt HTML reporter helps with test status and HTTP logs. Travel back in DOM history after every command, pause and debug by executing the different commands to identify the root cause.
• Faster Execution: It natively supports parallel execution with multiple browsers, which reduces the test execution time
• Cloud Testing support: Comes with cloud grid support, with this capability one can configure the test to execute in popular cloud grids such as BrowserStack, SauceLabs, etc.
• Support For Complex Scenarios: It supports popular mobile gestures and complex web scenarios such as multiple windows, iFrame, pop ups, etc.
• Multiple testing type support: The tool is not only limited to end-to-end testing; it also supports integration testing and unit testing. If an organization is using a popular development framework such as React, VueJS, or Angular, then all different testing can be carried out with the NightwatchJS framework.
• Extensible: NightwatchJS can be further extended using the plugins to support advanced capabilities such as Visual regression testing, API Testing, Accessibility Testing, etc.
• Assertions: NightwatchJS comes with an inbuilt assertion library that can support almost all the use cases
• CI/CD integration: NightwatchJS is DevOps friendly, it supports many popular tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, Travis CI, etc.
• Third-party libraries: As NightwatchJS is an open-source framework there are many community contributors actively working to support many plugins and utility libraries. This makes the testers’ job easier, as one doesn’t need to reinvent the things. When it comes to third-party tools it has support for many tools including enterprise communication tools.
• Reporters: Nightwatch Supports different types of reporters including list, JUnit, JSON, mocha-awesome, etc. 
• Documentation: It has very good documentation, anyone can learn and start testing. 

Cons of NightwatchJS

• Slower: Nightwatch is built with Selenium internally; it uses Webdriver to communicate with the browser. Hence Nightwatch is comparatively slower.
• Debugging Complexity: Though NightwatchJS provides many debugging capabilities when it comes to complex scenarios debugging is difficult.
• Limited Community Support: NightwatchJS is still evolving, users are limited. As the community is still growing community support is also limited.
• Documentation: Some people have opinionated that NightwatchJS documentation is incomplete
• Third-Party Tools Integration: NightwatchJS has limited support for third-party tools integrations.
• Programming Language Support: NightwatchJS supports only JavaScript programming language.
• Learning curve: If testers are not from the Selenium background, the learning curve is high
• No support for low code automation: NightwatchJS doesn’t support low code automation, testers need to write the script manually. Hence it requires highly skilled resources.

What is Playwright?

Playwright is a modern and advanced automation tool. It is an open-source tool managed by Microsoft. Playwright doesn’t rely on any other middleware like Webdriver. It directly interacts with the browser, so it is capable of delivering high speed. Playwright supports Java, JavaScript, C#, and Python programming languages. It was initially released in 2020, due to Playwrights’ aggressive strategy; today, it is competing with the most popular tools like Selenium, Cypress, etc.

Key Features of Playwright

• Easy to install and open-source
• Fast, reliable, and accurate
• Supports all major browsers. Open-source version of Safari i.e. Webkit can be used for automated test execution even in Windows machines.
• Multiple programming language support
• Robust and Advanced architecture
• Auto waiting, network mocking, in-built reporters
• Supports Web and API testing out of the box
• Videos, Screenshots, and Traceviewers are the most popular features

Pros of Playwright

• Cost and License: Playwright is purely open-source with no cost involved to use. It is shipped with an Apache 2.0 license.
• Cross Browser Support: Playwright supports multiple browsers such as Chrome, Chromium, Edge, and Webkit
• Parallel Execution: It supports parallel execution natively, thus reducing the execution duration
• Debugging: It comes with debugging features such as Playwright inspector, IDE-integrated debugging, console logs, and compressive reporting with traceviewer.
• Record and Playback: The Playwright has a Test generator with which one can record the tests using preferred programming languages.
• Edge Case Scenarios: It supports many edge case scenarios such as file upload and download scenarios with ease. 
• Reports: Playwright supports multiple reporters including HTML and Allure reporters. No need to integrate from external libraries all these features are inbuilt.
• Extensible: Playwright is highly extensible; it offers many libraries to extend the test automation framework. For example, the AXE library can be integrated with Playwright to perform accessibility testing. 
• Traceviewer: Traceviewer records detailed network requests and responses along with a waterfall. Once the test execution is complete, you can trace back. 
• Assertion Libraries: It supports both inbuilt and third-party assertion libraries. Assertion libraries are very helpful while performing end-to-end and API testing.
• Multiple Programming Language Support: Playwright can be used with popular programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Python, C# etc.
• API and Functional UI Testing Support: API testing support is built in Playwright. It provides capabilities to create a request and validate the responses.
• Iframe, Shadow DOM, And Multiple Window Support: iFrame, Shadow DOM, and multiple tabs and windows-based scenarios can be validated easily without hassle.
• CI/CD Tools Integrations: Tests can be integrated with CI/CD pipelines, thus it perfectly fits into the modern DevOps ecosystem 
• Highly Customizable: It is highly customizable, though it is a readymade framework, using plugins and third-party libraries you can customize the way you want
• Documentation: As Playwright is maintained by Microsoft, it has very good documentation with examples. Documentation is available in all supported programming languages.
• Community Support: Community members are growing, however, compared to other modern tools, Playwright has good community support

Cons of Playwright

• No support for Native Mobile Application: Playwright supports only web-based applications. Native mobile applications are not supported yet.
• Cross-browser support: Playwright doesn’t support Safari browser. Though it supports Webkit it is an open-source version of Safari, not the stock Safari browser.
• Ecosystem Maturity: Its ecosystem, including plugins, and integrations are growing but support is limited. Some users have opined that it is not extensive.
• No-Code Automation Support: Playwright Test generator can be used for recording and playback. But Tests generated using this tool are not stable. It doesn’t include any AI capabilities to reduce maintenance. So no-code support in Playwright is limited.
• Community Support: The community is still growing, Community support is moderate in Playwright

Read here more about – Playwright Alternatives

Alternative Tool for Nightwatch and Playwright

NightwatchJS and Playwright lack a lot of features such as No-code automation, and AI/ML capabilities. Additionally, they require experts to build the framework and automate the test cases. 

Testsigma is a great alternative to the NightwatchJS and Playwright. Testsigma is a modern test automation that has all the required features in one platform. 

Multiple testing types such as End-to-End testing, API Testing, and Visual regression testing can be carried out easily without writing code. 

It also supports Mobile and Web. Mobile native and hybrid applications can be tested on the cloud with minimal configurations. 

Users do not need to worry about the reports and configurations, everything comes by default. 

Additionally, since it is a SaaS tool, no need to configure or build the framework in the local system, one can just log into Testsigma using the browser and start testing. It can be considered an All-in-one platform for test automation.

NightwatchJS vs Playwright: Similarities

NightwatchJS and Playwright share a lot of similarities; 

• They both support Functional UI and API testing. 
• They support cross-browser testing and cloud testing with additional configurations. 
• Both are built with NodeJS. 
• JavaScript programming language is supported on both platforms. 
• These are code-based tools and don’t support no-code automation. 
• These tools can be integrated with CI/CD pipelines with configurations. 

Nightwatch vs Playwright – Detailed Comparison

The below listed table shows a quick comparison of Nightwatch vs Playwright.

Features	NightwatchJS	Playwright
Usage	NightwatchJS is used for end-to-end testing and API Testing. With additional capabilities, it can also be used for Accessibility and Visual regression testing. It can also be used for Component and Integration Testing.	Playwright can be used for end-to-end testing and API Testing, Visual Regression Testing. Using the Axe integration, it can be extended for Accessibility Testing.
Cost/License	Open-source and free MIT License	Open-source and FreeApache 2.0 license
Browser Support	Supports Firefox, Edge, Safari and Chrome	Supports Firefox, Edge, Webkit, and Chrome
Platform Support	Desktop Web and Mobile	Web-only
No-Code Automation Support	No support for no-code automation	Limited support for no-code automation
Supported Testing Types	UI, API, component/unit testing, integration testing, visual regression testing and accessibility testing	UI, API visual regression testing, and accessibility testing
Additional feature support	iFrame and Multiple window	iFrame, multiple windows, Shadow DOM, Upload and download, etc.
CI/CD Integration support	Yes, support requires additional configurations	Yes, support requires additional configurations
Third-party tools support	Limited support for third-party tools	Limited support for third-party tools
GitHub Stats	Nightwatch GitHub StatsStars: 11.7KForks: 1.3KUsers: 147KContributors: 133	Playwright GitHub StatsStars: 63.8KForks: 3.5KUsers: 98.8KContributors: 560
Key limitations	Slower execution Not debugging friendly Limited support for third-party tools No support for low code automationHigh learning curveLimited documentation and community support	No Support for native mobile application No Support for Mac SafariLimited support for no-code automation
AI capabilities	No	No
Business Workflow Automation support	Business workflow test automation like Salesforce, Workday, SAP, etc are not supported.	Business workflow test automation like Salesforce, Workday, SAP, etc are not supported.

Though Nightwatch and Playwright provide many capabilities, they don’t support no-code scripting, both of them don’t have AI capabilities, and they require good technical knowledge to automate the test cases. Considering the limitation, Testsigma is the best alternative tool. It has many AI-capabilities to lower the maintenance effort of test scripts. Additionally, it is a no-code tool that encourages non-technical people to contribute to automation. As it is a budget-friendly tool, organizations can save a lot of cost during the design and development phase.

Nightwatch vs Playwright – Which is Better?

Both NightwatchJS and Playwright have many similarities and they also have unique capabilities to serve the customer needs. Playwright is aggressive in releasing new features. It is faster and more reliable. Playwright overcomes many challenges that are in Selenium. 

Nightwatch vs Playwright, both of these frameworks are extensible and customizable. However, the right tool depends on your organization’s requirements. The major trade-off of these tools is that they don’t support no-code automation. 

No-code automation saves a lot of time and effort during the design and development phase. It also helps organizations to increase their ROI. 

Though these are modern test automation tools, they lack AI and ML capabilities. Considering their trade-offs, organizations can explore advanced tools like Testsigma.

Conclusion

NightwatchJS and Playwright both are good automation tools. These tools are known for user-friendliness. These tools are a good fit for the organization having highly skilled resources. They demand more maintenance and skills. Though it is an open-source tool, because of the high skill set demand, organizations may see less ROI. Testsigma is the best alternative to NightwatchJS and Playwright. It is an all-in-one platform for your automation requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Nightwatch so popular?

Nightwatch is built with NodeJS, it’s easy to learn for those who are familiar with Selenium. It is also actively maintained hence it is the most popular.

Know about – Selenium vs Testsigma

What is the difference between Selenium and Nightwatch?

Selenium is a library that provides only browser simulation libraries; testers need to build the framework using these libraries by integrating the required capabilities. NightwatchJS framework ready tool built on top of Selenium. NightwatchJS reduces the time and effort required to build the framework.

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