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Cypress.io VS Chrome DevTools

Compare Cypress.io VS Chrome DevTools and see what are their differences

Cypress.io logo Cypress.io

Slow, difficult and unreliable testing for anything that runs in a browser. Install Cypress in seconds and take the pain out of front-end testing.

Chrome DevTools logo Chrome DevTools

Get started with Google Chrome's built-in web developer tools.
  • Cypress.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-17
  • Chrome DevTools Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-05

Cypress.io features and specs

  • Easy Setup and Configuration
    Cypress.io is known for its straightforward setup process, requiring minimal configuration to get started with writing and running tests, making it very accessible for developers new to end-to-end testing.
  • Real-time Reloads
    Cypress offers real-time reloading of tests, which improves the development experience by allowing instant feedback on test results as code changes are made.
  • Time Travel Debugging
    Cypress provides the ability to 'time travel' through tests by taking snapshots of the application state at different steps, making it easier to debug and understand failures.
  • Automatic Waiting
    Tests in Cypress automatically wait for commands and assertions, eliminating the need for manual waits and helping to avoid flaky tests due to timing issues.
  • Built-in Mocking and Stubbing
    Cypress has built-in capabilities for mocking and stubbing network requests, which simplifies testing of applications that depend on various services and APIs.
  • Rich Documentation and Community Support
    Cypress boasts comprehensive documentation and an active community, providing plenty of resources for learning and troubleshooting.
  • Cross Browser Testing
    Cypress supports testing in multiple browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, ensuring compatibility across different environments.

Possible disadvantages of Cypress.io

  • Limited Browser Support
    Although Cypress supports several major browsers, it does not support legacy browsers like Internet Explorer, which can be a disadvantage for projects that require testing across a wider range of browsers.
  • No Native Mobile App Testing
    Cypress does not natively support mobile app testing, limiting its use for projects that need end-to-end testing on mobile platforms.
  • Heavy Memory Usage
    Cypress can consume significant system resources, particularly memory, which may impact performance during large or complex test runs.
  • Limited Parallelism
    By default, Cypress's parallel execution capabilities are limited, which can slow down the test suite execution for larger projects, although this can be mitigated with the Dashboard Service (a paid feature).
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic tests are easy to set up, leveraging advanced features like custom commands, plugins, and complex test setups can require a steeper learning curve.
  • Incompatibility with Some Testing Ecosystems
    Cypress's architecture and testing approach can sometimes cause compatibility issues with certain testing frameworks and libraries, particularly those that are tightly coupled with traditional WebDriver-based tools.

Chrome DevTools features and specs

  • Comprehensive Debugging
    Chrome DevTools offers a range of debugging tools, including breakpoints, watch expressions, and call stack analysis, facilitating efficient error detection and correction.
  • Performance Profiling
    It provides tools like the Performance panel, which helps developers analyze rendering performance and identify bottlenecks in code execution and resource loading.
  • Network Monitoring
    The Network panel allows developers to monitor resource requests, inspect headers, and analyze network performance to optimize loading times.
  • Responsive Design Mode
    DevTools includes a responsive design mode that makes it easy to test and ensure website functionality across different screen sizes and resolutions.
  • Integrated Console
    The integrated JavaScript console allows for the execution of JavaScript code snippets, inspection of variables, and logging, which aids in dynamic testing and debugging.

Possible disadvantages of Chrome DevTools

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, the vast array of tools and features available in Chrome DevTools can be overwhelming and challenging to master.
  • Performance Overheads
    Running DevTools, particularly the performance and memory profiling tools, can sometimes add overhead to the application, affecting real-time performance assessment.
  • Browser Dependency
    Since Chrome DevTools is specific to the Chrome browser, developers may need to learn other tools for compatible debugging across different browsers.
  • Limited Automation
    While DevTools is excellent for manual debugging, it lacks extensive built-in capabilities for automated testing and scripting, often requiring additional tools.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running DevTools can be resource-intensive, potentially affecting system performance, especially on lower-end hardware.

Cypress.io videos

Introduction to automation testing with Cypress.io (Non-selenium framework)

More videos:

  • Review - Testing Angular with Cypress.io | Joe Eames | AngularConnect 2018

Chrome DevTools videos

Inspect Network Activity - Chrome DevTools 101

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cypress.io and Chrome DevTools)
Automated Testing
86 86%
14% 14
Software Development
0 0%
100% 100
Browser Testing
100 100%
0% 0
Website Testing
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Cypress.io and Chrome DevTools

Cypress.io Reviews

20 Best JavaScript Frameworks For 2023
Cypress is a holistic automation testing framework where the tester can perform unit, integration, end-to-end, and regression testing. Additionally, they may orchestrate and unify outcomes with quality measurements and useful insights that support the agile workplace by leveraging the Cypress cloud.
Top 10 Perfecto alternatives with Zebrunner on top
- is a SaaS web app for easy scaling test runs and debugging failed tests. Pairs with the open source Cypress Test Runner.
Source: zebrunner.com

Chrome DevTools Reviews

We have no reviews of Chrome DevTools yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Chrome DevTools should be more popular than Cypress.io. It has been mentiond 51 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Cypress.io mentions (27)

  • Ensuring Web Accessibility with Cypress: A Comprehensive Guide
    Feature: Web Accessibility Tests Feature: Web Accessibility Tests Scenario Outline: Verify all WCAG Violations Given I am on the "" page And Verify all Accessibility Violations Scenario Outline: Verify P1,P2 WCAG Violations Given I am on the "" page And Verify only P1, P2 issues Examples: | url | | https://google.com | | https://amazon.in | | https://agoda.com | |... - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Simulating Internet Outage and Recovery using Cypress
    In this blog post, we'll explore a Cypress test that replicates this scenario, utilizing the powerful intercept command to manipulate network requests and responses. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Scraping a site?
    Maybe something like Cypress is what you're looking for? Cypress.io. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • How to write tests in Django for JavaScript fetch
    You won't be able to test the javascript function itself from within python, but you can exercise the front-end code using something like cypress (https://cypress.io) or the older but still respectable selenium (https://selenium.dev). Source: about 2 years ago
  • What's your CI/CD flow made of?
    How are they run (services (ie. GitHub Action Runners, SauceLabs, Cypress.io, etc.), or self hosted autoscaling infrastructures)? Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Chrome DevTools mentions (51)

  • How to scrape TikTok using Python
    Let's look at what happens under the hood when we scroll a TikTok page. I recommend studying network activity in DevTools to understand what requests are going to the server. - Source: dev.to / 4 days ago
  • Most Effective Approaches for Debugging Applications
    A structured debugging process is essential for tackling bugs methodically, reducing guesswork and preventing hasty fixes that introduce new problems. The process begins with reproducing the bug under controlled conditions to understand its triggers, followed by isolating the problematic component—be it a function, API endpoint, or database query. Tools like Chrome DevTools for web applications, GDB for C/C++... - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • F45 Broke My Beloved Strava Integration So I Wrote My Own
    This is the most unorthodox part of this whole process. There is no advertised public API for Lionheart that I know of or a functional website; the only place to get the data is the F45 mobile app. I used a Proxy to see if I could intercept the app's requests to their servers to find a usable payload. This process is similar to using the Network tab in Chrome's Developer Tools. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • 🚀 Build Better Projects: 10 Online Tools for Debugging & Testing You Can’t Miss!
    ➡️ Learn more about Chrome DevTools. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • How to identify and fix memory leaks in react
    This memory leak can be detected by tracking the heap size in DevTools or using the React Developer Tools to see if the component is unmounted but still holding onto memory. On inspection of the error we get on the devTool, we see this error:. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cypress.io and Chrome DevTools, you can also consider the following products

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.

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

Katalon - Built on the top of Selenium and Appium, Katalon Studio is a free and powerful automated testing tool for web testing, mobile testing, and API testing.

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

Robot framework - Robot Framework is a generic test automation framework for acceptance testing and acceptance...

puppeteer - Puppeteer is a Node library which provides a high-level API to control headless Chrome or Chromium...