What is the difference between Cypress and Selenium?

Cypress:

• Architecture: Runs inside the browser
• Language: JavaScript/TypeScript only
• Browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Electron
• Speed: Faster execution
• Setup: Easier setup, less configuration
• Debugging: Excellent debugging with time-travel
• Waits: Automatic waiting built-in
• Screenshots/Videos: Automatic on failure
• Limitations: No Safari support, single tab only, same-origin policy restrictions

Selenium:

• Architecture: Communicates with browser via WebDriver
• Language: Java, Python, C#, JavaScript, Ruby, etc.
• Browsers: All major browsers including Safari
• Speed: Slower than Cypress
• Setup: More complex setup
• Debugging: More challenging
• Waits: Manual wait configuration needed
• Screenshots/Videos: Requires additional setup
• Advantages: Multi-tab support, cross-domain testing, mobile testing (Appium)

Cypress Example

describe('Login Test', () => {
  it('should login successfully', () => {
    cy.visit('https://example.com/login')
    cy.get('#username').type('testuser')
    cy.get('#password').type('password123')
    cy.get('#login-btn').click()
    cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard')
    cy.contains('Welcome').should('be.visible')
  })
})

When to Use

• Cypress: Modern web apps, JavaScript/TypeScript teams, fast feedback, excellent debugging needed
• Selenium: Multi-browser support needed, multiple languages, mobile testing, legacy applications