Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Cypress.io VS Nightwatch.js

Compare Cypress.io VS Nightwatch.js 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.

Nightwatch.js logo Nightwatch.js

Write efficient and straightforward end-to-end tests in Node.js which run against a Selenium/WebDriver server.
  • Cypress.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-17
  • Nightwatch.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-30

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.

Nightwatch.js features and specs

  • Simplicity
    Nightwatch.js is known for its simplicity and ease of use. It provides a straightforward syntax which makes it easier for developers to write and maintain test scripts.
  • Built-in Test Runner
    Nightwatch comes with a built-in test runner that is integrated into the framework, simplifying the testing setup and execution process.
  • Cross-Browser Testing
    It supports cross-browser testing by integrating with WebDriver, which allows you to run automated tests on various browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    Nightwatch.js offers comprehensive and detailed documentation which helps developers quickly understand and implement testing solutions without significant difficulty.
  • Community Support
    Nightwatch.js has an active community which can be helpful for finding solutions to common problems, sharing best practices, and staying updated with new features.
  • Integration with CI/CD Tools
    The framework can easily be integrated with continuous integration and continuous deployment tools, enhancing the automation of testing processes in development pipelines.

Possible disadvantages of Nightwatch.js

  • Dependency on Selenium
    Nightwatch.js relies on Selenium WebDriver, which can be a limitation in terms of setup complexity and potential issues related to WebDriver compatibility with browsers.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic features are simple to use, advanced configurations and custom commands require a more in-depth understanding, which may increase the learning curve for some users.
  • Less Flexibility in Command Chaining
    Compared to some other testing frameworks like Cypress, Nightwatch.js might offer less flexibility in terms of chaining commands and writing more complex assertions.
  • Performance with Large Test Suites
    Some users have reported performance issues when executing large test suites, which can slow down the testing process significantly.
  • Limited Built-In Reporting
    Nightwatch.js has limited built-in reporting capabilities, often requiring additional plugins or tools to generate comprehensive test reports.

Analysis of Cypress.io

Overall verdict

  • Cypress.io is considered a good testing tool for developers due to its efficiency, ease of use, and robust testing capabilities. Its growing community and continuous updates make it a worthwhile choice for web testing.

Why this product is good

  • Cypress.io is a powerful end-to-end testing framework for web applications. It offers a user-friendly interface, excellent documentation, and provides fast and reliable testing with real-time reloads and debugging. It also integrates well with CI/CD pipelines and supports modern JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.js.

Recommended for

  • Frontend developers who need to test web applications.
  • Teams looking for a reliable end-to-end testing solution.
  • Projects using modern JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js.
  • Developers who require a tool with extensive documentation and community support.

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

Nightwatch.js videos

De cero a héroe con Nightwatch.js - Rodrigo Godoy y Alejandra Silva

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cypress.io and Nightwatch.js)
Automated Testing
90 90%
10% 10
Browser Testing
81 81%
19% 19
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
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 Nightwatch.js

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

Nightwatch.js Reviews

Top Selenium Alternatives
Nightwatch.js simplifies the setup and use of Selenium WebDriver, providing an abstraction layer that is easier to work with for JavaScript developers. While it offers the broad compatibility and standardization of Selenium WebDriver, it aims to improve the development experience with its simplified syntax and support for the Page Object pattern, making it a middle ground...
Source: bugbug.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Cypress.io should be more popular than Nightwatch.js. It has been mentiond 28 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 (28)

  • Show HN: Quell – AI QA Agent Working Across Linear, Vercel, Jira, Netlify, Figma
    This is pretty cool - the Jira/Linear integration could save a ton of manual work. How do you handle test data setup and teardown? That's usually where these workflows get messy. For alternatives in this space, there's qawolf (https://qawolf.com) for similar automated testing workflows, or I'm actually building bug0 (https://bug0.com) which also does AI-powered test automation, still in beta. For the more... - Source: Hacker News / 26 days ago
  • 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 / 10 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: about 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
View more

Nightwatch.js mentions (13)

  • Automating Android TV app with Nightwatch
    Nightwatch which will prompt to create a boilerplate framework specifically for Mobile / TV apps. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Learn Automated Testing At Home: A Beginner's Guide
    6.NightwatchJS: NightwatchJS is a Node.js-based end-to-end testing framework. Key Features: Simplifies writing test scripts using a simple syntax. Supports parallel test execution. Integrates with Selenium WebDriver for cross-browser testing. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • CSS Selectors And XPath Locators In Selenium Test Automation Scripts
    I have shown you the examples of using selectors in the Google Chrome dev tools, but the idea is similar when you write your automation scripts. I will use the Nightwatch testing framework to write the following snippets which will navigate to some webpage, wait to ensure that an interactive element has appeared in the DOM, and finally click on it. If you want to learn using Javascript with Nightwatch framework... - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • How To Perform Automation Testing With Cucumber And Nightwatch JS?
    Nightwatch.js is a popular open-source, Selenium JavaScript-based test automation framework for automating browser-based web applications and websites. It is written in Node.js runtime and uses the W3C WebDriver API (formerly Selenium WebDriver) for interacting with various browsers to perform commands and assertions on DOM elements. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Properly Configuring Nightwatch to Run Geckodriver
    I’ll get right to it: both the stock Nightwatch configuration file (as of at least Nightwatch v. 2.0.9) and the Nightwatch docs are inaccurate for using the geckodriver web driver (specifically, v. 0.30.0) to run tests. Here is what you need to do, isolated to the firefox environment portion of the test_settings object in a nightwatch.conf.js file:. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cypress.io and Nightwatch.js, 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.

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

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.

WebdriverIO - Webdriver module for Node.js. that makes it easier to write Selenium tests

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

BrowserStack - BrowserStack is a software testing platform for developers to comprehensively test websites and mobile applications for quality.