Playwright vs Cypress vs Selenium for UK Test Automation — Honest Comparison (2025)
Playwright is the right default for UK test automation in 2025: fastest execution, built-in parallel test support, excellent TypeScript integration, and first-class accessibility testing (critical for UK WCAG 2.1 AA and NHS DTAC). Cypress is still excellent for developer-friendly E2E testing on single-domain apps. Selenium is legacy — avoid for new UK projects. Test automation framework choice affects developer productivity, CI/CD pipeline speed, and UK-specific requirements including accessibility testing (WCAG 2.1 AA for PSBAR) and FCA test evidence quality.
| Factor | Playwright | Cypress | Selenium WebDriver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language support | TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, C# | JavaScript/TypeScript only | All major languages |
| Parallel execution | ✅ Built-in — fast CI pipelines | Limited (paid Cypress Cloud) | Selenium Grid (complex) |
| WCAG accessibility testing | ✅ axe-core + ARIA assertions native | Via plugin | Via plugin (complex setup) |
| Cross-browser (Chrome/FF/Safari/Edge) | ✅ All four — native | Chrome + Edge only (limited Firefox) | All (driver-dependent) |
| NHS DTAC Domain 5 evidence | ✅ Strong — accessibility + usability tests | Good | Weak — complex reporting |
| FCA test evidence reports | ✅ Built-in HTML/JSON reports | Good reports | Manual configuration |
| Component testing | Via Playwright experimental | ✅ Excellent Cypress component testing | Not applicable |
| CI/CD speed | ✅ Fast — parallel, no Selenium Grid | Medium | Slow — Grid overhead |
| ClickMasters default | ✅ All projects | Legacy or dev-friendly E2E | Not recommended |
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