Playwright vs Selenium

Side-by-side open-source comparison for 2026. Playwright currently leads on GitHub stars (86.1k) over Selenium (32.8k). Both tools list each other as alternatives in this directory.

Quick comparison

Playwright vs Selenium, ranked by GitHub stars
#ToolStarsLanguageLicense
1Playwright

A comprehensive framework for Web Testing and Automation, enabling robust testing of Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit through a unified API.

86.1kTypeScriptApache License 2.0
2Selenium

Selenium is a powerful browser automation framework and ecosystem, enabling developers to automate web browsers for testing and other tasks.

32.8kJavaApache License 2.0

Overview

Playwright

A comprehensive framework for Web Testing and Automation, enabling robust testing of Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit through a unified API.

TypeScript ยท Apache License 2.0 ยท 86.1k GitHub stars

Selenium

Selenium is a powerful browser automation framework and ecosystem, enabling developers to automate web browsers for testing and other tasks.

Java ยท Apache License 2.0 ยท 32.8k GitHub stars

Explore both tools

Frequently asked questions

Which is more popular, Playwright or Selenium?

Playwright currently has more GitHub stars (86.1k) than Selenium (32.8k). Star counts are a proxy for community adoption.

Are Playwright and Selenium free?

Yes. Both are open source and free to use in your own projects.

How does this comparison work?

Pages only exist for mutual alternatives โ€” each tool lists the other in its alternatives metadata. Stats come from the canonical tool records in this directory.

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