Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

Protractor

2.2K
543
+ 1
33
WebdriverIO

417
500
+ 1
40
Add tool

Protractor vs WebdriverIO: What are the differences?

Protractor vs WebdriverIO

Key Differences

Protractor and WebdriverIO are popular automation testing frameworks used for web applications. While they both serve a similar purpose, there are several key differences between the two.

  1. Language Support: Protractor is primarily used for testing Angular applications and is written in JavaScript. On the other hand, WebdriverIO supports multiple programming languages such as JavaScript, TypeScript, and even PureScript, making it more versatile for testing different types of applications.

  2. Testing Paradigm: Protractor follows a behavior-driven development (BDD) approach that emphasizes collaboration between developers, testers, and business stakeholders. It uses a rich set of declarative statements, enhancing readability. In contrast, WebdriverIO follows a more traditional, structure-based testing approach, providing more control and flexibility to the testers.

  3. Browser Compatibility: Protractor is tightly coupled with the Selenium WebDriver library, which allows it to work seamlessly with different browsers. It provides built-in support for multiple browser environments through browser-specific drivers. WebdriverIO, however, can run tests on browsers using the WebDriver protocol or Chrome DevTools protocol, allowing it to support a wider range of browsers and devices.

  4. Speed and Performance: WebdriverIO is known for its fast execution speed and great performance. It adopts a smart execution strategy by running multiple test cases in parallel, reducing the overall test execution time. Protractor, while efficient, may be slower compared to WebdriverIO due to its additional overhead caused by Angular-specific features.

  5. Development and Community Support: Protractor was initially developed and maintained by AngularJS, resulting in strong community support and regular updates. However, with the release of Angular 2+ and the shift towards other testing frameworks, the Protractor community has somewhat diminished. WebdriverIO, on the other hand, has a growing and vibrant community, actively contributing to its development, providing support, and adding new features.

  6. Documentation and Learning Curve: Protractor has extensive documentation, making it easy for beginners to get started with Angular-specific testing. It provides a comprehensive guide and vast resources for troubleshooting common issues. WebdriverIO also has well-maintained documentation, but as it supports multiple frameworks and technologies, the learning curve might be slightly steeper for beginners.

In summary, Protractor is favored for testing Angular applications, provides BDD-style testing, and has great browser compatibility. On the other hand, WebdriverIO supports multiple programming languages, follows a structure-based testing approach, has better performance, growing community support, and supports a wider range of browsers and devices.

Advice on Protractor and WebdriverIO
Yildiz Dila
testmanager/automation tester at medicalservice · | 5 upvotes · 258.3K views
Needs advice
on
CypressCypress
and
ProtractorProtractor

In the company I will be building test automation framework and my new company develops apps mainly using AngularJS/TypeScript. I was planning to build Protractor-Jasmine framework but a friend of mine told me about Cypress and heard that its users are very satisfied with it. I am trying to understand the capabilities of Cypress and as the final goal to differentiate these two tools. Can anyone advice me on this in a nutshell pls...

See more
Replies (2)
Kevin Emery
QE Systems Engineer at Discovery, Inc. · | 4 upvotes · 157.7K views
Recommends
on
CypressCypressProtractorProtractor

I've used both Protractor and Cypress extensively. Cypress is the easier and more reliable tool, whereas Protractor is the more powerful tool. Your choice of tool should depend on your specific testing needs. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of each tool:

Cypress advantages:

  • Faster

  • More reliable (tends to throw fewer intermittent false failures)

  • Easier to read code (handles promises gracefully)

Cypress disadvantages:

  • Cannot switch between browser tabs

  • Cannot switch to iFrames

  • Cannot specify clicks or keypresses explicitly as if a real user was interacting

  • Cannot move the mouse to specific co-ordinates

  • Sometimes has trouble switching between different top-level domains, so not good for testing external links

  • Cypress is a newer tool with less extensive documentation and less community support

Protractor advantages:

  • More powerful because it is Selenium-based - it can switch between tabs, it can handle external links to other domains, it can handle iFrames, simulate keypresses and clicks, and move the mouse to specific co-ordinates within the browser.

  • More extensive community support and documentation

Protractor disadvantages:

  • Slower and more brittle - in general there is a higher likelihood of cryptic and/or intermittent errors which may cause your tests to fail even though there is nothing wrong with your application

  • For highly experienced automation engineers, the fundamental "brittle" nature of Selenium can be worked around - it can be reliable but only if you really know what you are doing

  • Less graceful handling of promises - relies on async/await or .then to manage the order of execution. Therefore it is a bit harder to read the code.

  • Harder to set up, and the method of setup impacts its reliability. For example, a hub/node configuration where the selenium jar is on a different physical machine than the browser under test will cause unreliability in your tests. Not everyone knows about this type of thing, so it's common to find Selenium frameworks that are set up poorly.

It's probably better to use Cypress if

  • you're at a smaller company and have a close relationship with developers who can help write hooks or stubs in their code to assist your testing

  • you don't need to do things like switch between tabs or test links to external top-level domains

It's probably better to use Protractor if

  • You might need to switch between tabs or test external links to other domains within the scope of your framework

  • You want to use a more accurate simulation of how a real user interacts with a browser (i.e. click at this location, type these keys)

  • You're at a company where you won't have any support from developers in writing hooks or stubs to make their code more testable in a less powerful framework like Cypress

See more
Jian Wang
Web Engineer at sentaca · | 1 upvotes · 186.5K views
Recommends

Please try Handow, the e2e tool basing on Puppeteer.

Gherkin syntax compatible

Chrome/Chromium orentied, driven by Puppeteer engine

Complete JavaScript programming

Create test suites rapidly without coding (or a little bit), basing on built-in steps library

Schedule test with plans and arrange stories with sequential stages

Fast running, execute story groups in parallel by multi-workers

Built-in single page report render

Cover page view, REST API and cookies test

https://github.com/newlifewj/handow

http://demo.shm.handow.org/reports

See more
Needs advice
on
JestJestSeleniumSelenium
and
WebdriverIOWebdriverIO
in

we are having one web application developed in Reacts.js. in the application, we have only 4 to 5 pages that we need to test. I am having experience in selenium with java. Please suggets which tool I should use. and why ............................ ............................ .............................

See more
Replies (1)
Prashanth Marappa
Senior Software Engineer at Mphasis · | 1 upvotes · 213.1K views
Recommends
on
SeleniumSelenium

with the help of selenium we can automate react js for functional testing

See more
Needs advice
on
CypressCypressSelenideSelenide
and
WebdriverIOWebdriverIO

Hi, I am starting out to test an application that is currently being developed - FE: React. BE: Node JS. I want the framework to be able to test all UI scenarios (from simple to complex) and also have the capability to test APIs. I also need to run tests across all OSs and Browsers (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS). I have also looked into react-testing-library and @TestProject.io. Any advice you can give as to which framework would be best and why would be so much appreciated! Thank you!!

See more
Replies (3)
Recommends
on
PlaywrightPlaywright

You should also definitely look into Playwright, which is a new automation tool from Microsoft building on top of the Puppeteer experience and trying to bring this experience in the cross browser space - very exciting project. Great team. Also CodeceptJS as already Playwright support which at a ton of valuable features on top of Playwright, give it a go!

See more
Jinesh Khimsaria
Test Automation Specialist at Personal · | 3 upvotes · 72.3K views
Recommends
on
WebdriverIOWebdriverIO

I'm also looking for the same, FE: React & BE: NodeJS. Cypress won't help as it lacks cross-browser testing, it doesn't support all the browsers. I'm still investigating it, but looks like WebdriverIO may fulfil what I'm looking for - Cross-browser testing, integration with CI/CD, running it as a docker service, good support on assertions & reporting of test results. Let me know if you found any information on any of the above mentioned points.

See more
Recommends
on
CodeceptJSCodeceptJS

Hi Esther, if you really need cross OS and cross device automation Cypress wont help, with WebdriverIO you can do it … and check out CodeceptJS, which is a wrapper around several frameworks (like WebdriverIO) and will support future players (currently for example upcoming Playwright) as well.

See more
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of Protractor
Pros of WebdriverIO
  • 9
    Easy setup
  • 8
    Quick tests implementation
  • 6
    Flexible
  • 5
    Open source
  • 5
    Promise support
  • 11
    Various integrations to vendors like Sauce Labs
  • 10
    Open Source
  • 8
    Great community
  • 7
    Easy to setup
  • 4
    Best solution for broad browser support

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of Protractor
Cons of WebdriverIO
  • 4
    Limited
  • 8
    High maintenance

Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

What is Protractor?

Protractor is an end-to-end test framework for Angular and AngularJS applications. Protractor runs tests against your application running in a real browser, interacting with it as a user would.

What is WebdriverIO?

WebdriverIO lets you control a browser or a mobile application with just a few lines of code. Your test code will look simple, concise and easy to read.

Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

What companies use Protractor?
What companies use WebdriverIO?
See which teams inside your own company are using Protractor or WebdriverIO.
Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

What tools integrate with Protractor?
What tools integrate with WebdriverIO?

Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

What are some alternatives to Protractor and WebdriverIO?
Selenium
Selenium automates browsers. That's it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that. Boring web-based administration tasks can (and should!) also be automated as well.
PhantomJS
PhantomJS is a headless WebKit scriptable with JavaScript. It is used by hundreds of developers and dozens of organizations for web-related development workflow.
Jasmine
Jasmine is a Behavior Driven Development testing framework for JavaScript. It does not rely on browsers, DOM, or any JavaScript framework. Thus it's suited for websites, Node.js projects, or anywhere that JavaScript can run.
Compass
The compass core framework is a design-agnostic framework that provides common code that would otherwise be duplicated across other frameworks and extensions.
Cypress
Cypress is a front end automated testing application created for the modern web. Cypress is built on a new architecture and runs in the same run-loop as the application being tested. As a result Cypress provides better, faster, and more reliable testing for anything that runs in a browser. Cypress works on any front-end framework or website.
See all alternatives