Selenium vs Playwright: Why Teams Are Migrating in 2025

Selenium vs Playwright: Why Modern Teams Are Making the Switch

For over a decade, Selenium was the go-to framework for end-to-end (E2E) testing. It offered cross-browser support, wide language compatibility, and became a cornerstone of QA automation in many organizations. But as development speed accelerated and app complexity increased, many teams began to feel Selenium's limitations.

Enter Microsoft Playwright.

In this article, we explore the shift happening across engineering teams when it comes to Selenium vs Playwright. We'll share what we've learned at Checksum by helping dozens of teams migrate their test suites, along with deep dives into real-world case studies. By the end, you'll understand why Playwright is winning—and how to make the move confidently.

Why Engineering Teams Chose Selenium

Selenium has been around since 2004 (over 2 decades) and became popular because:

• It supports multiple languages: Java, Python, C#, Ruby, etc.

• It works across major browsers.

• It integrates with popular CI tools.

• It has a massive user base and documentation.

But it also comes with trade-offs:

• It's relatively slow.

• Test scripts are often brittle and verbose.

• Parallelization requires custom setup.

• Maintenance becomes a challenge as your app grows.

For many teams, Selenium worked … until it didn’t. You’re probably reading this because you are in the “until it didn’t” phase.

Why Playwright Is Replacing Selenium

Launched by Microsoft in 2020, Playwright is a Node.js-based E2E testing framework designed with modern apps in mind.

Here’s why Playright is becoming the new default:

1. Speed and Parallelism

Playwright runs tests in parallel out of the box. No additional configuration, no plugins. In our benchmarking, Playwright often runs tests 4-5x faster than Selenium.

2. Better Cross-Browser Support

Unlike Selenium, which uses external drivers (like chromedriver), Playwright integrates tightly with Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit. It even allows running the same test across multiple browsers in parallel.

3. Flake Resistance

Playwright automatically waits for elements to become visible, actionable, or detached. This dramatically reduces flakiness in dynamic UIs, especially SPAs.

4. First-Class Developer Experience

• Simple, consistent APIs

• Built-in test runner and reporter

• Rich CLI tools and debugging utilities

• Easily record and play back user flows

Comparison Table

Migrating from Selenium to Playwright with Checksum

Checksum helps teams automate the migration with:

• AI-generated Playwright tests for existing Selenium coverage.

• Auto-healing selectors after UI changes.

• Seamless integration into your CI/CD environment.

Teams using Checksum to transition off Selenium have seen:

• 80-90% reductions in test flakiness

• 5-10x improvements in test suite speed

• Cost savings of $200K+ per year in QA/dev overhead

Selenium vs Playwright script comparison:

Selenium (Python):

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
# Set up Chrome WebDriver
options = Options()
options.add_argument("--headless")
driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=Service(), options=options)
# Navigate and assert title
driver.get("https://example.com")
assert driver.title == "Example Domain"
# Clean up
driver.quit()

Playwright (Javascript/Typescript)

import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
test('Check page title', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  await expect(page).toHaveTitle('Example Domain');
});

FAQ: Selenium vs Playwright

Q: Is Playwright really faster than Selenium? 
A: Yes. Because Playwright runs tests in parallel and communicates directly with browser engines, it’s significantly faster than Selenium, which relies on WebDriver and often serial execution.

Q: Can I use Playwright if my team is on Java or Python?
A: Playwright is officially a Node.js framework. But teams have adopted Playwright in polyglot environments by building thin wrappers or using it alongside other stacks.

Q:How hard is it to migrate from Selenium to Playwright?
A: Manual migration can take weeks or months. But with Checksum, teams automate this process. We often see full migrations completed in under 3 weeks.

Q: What browsers does Playwright support? 
A: Chromium (Chrome/Edge), Firefox, and WebKit (Safari) — all with built-in support.

Q: Does Playwright support mobile viewports? 
A: Yes. Playwright includes device emulation for popular smartphones and tablets.

Q: Will my Playwright tests be flaky like my Selenium ones? No. Playwright’s auto-waiting, powerful selector engine, and test isolation reduce common sources of flakiness.

Q: Can I run Playwright tests in CI/CD?
A: Absolutely. Playwright is designed with CI pipelines in mind and integrates easily with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, and others.

Q: What about test reporting and dashboards?
A: Playwright has built-in reporting tools. With Checksum, your tests can automatically push results to any dashboard, Slack channel, or artifact store you choose.

Final Thoughts: The Future Is Playwright

Selenium has served the engineering world well. But for fast-moving teams, it’s become a bottleneck. Playwright offers a better path forward: modern APIs, better performance, and less flakiness.

When paired with a tool like Checksum, you can modernize your test strategy without the heavy lift. Migrations that once took quarters now take weeks. Broken selectors auto-heal. And your team gets back to shipping features instead of debugging tests.

Ready to make the move from Selenium to Playwright? Talk to us about Checksum