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puppeteer VS Closure Compiler

Compare puppeteer VS Closure Compiler and see what are their differences

DocRaptor
As the only API powered by the Prince HTML-to-PDF engine, DocRaptor provides the best support for complex PDFs with powerful support for headers, page breaks, page numbers, flexbox, watermarks, accessible PDFs, and much more featured
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Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

puppeteer logo puppeteer

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

Closure Compiler logo Closure Compiler

The Closure Compiler is a tool for making JavaScript download and run faster.
  • puppeteer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-02
  • Closure Compiler Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-23

puppeteer features and specs

  • Headless Browsing
    Puppeteer allows headless browsing, which means you can automate and test web applications without opening a browser user interface, resulting in faster execution and lower resource usage.
  • Full Browser Control
    Enables full control over Chrome or Chromium browsers, allowing for comprehensive browser testing and automation, including taking screenshots, generating PDFs, and capturing web pages.
  • Rich API
    Offers a rich set of APIs that can control browsers, manage cookies, intercept network requests, and handle various browser events, making it versatile for different use cases.
  • Active Community
    Highly active open-source community with regular updates and a plethora of plugins and extensions, providing robust support and continuous improvements.
  • Compatibility
    Supports the latest JavaScript features and works seamlessly with popular libraries and frameworks, providing a modern development experience.

Possible disadvantages of puppeteer

  • Restricted to Chrome/Chromium
    Puppeteer is primarily designed to work with Chrome and Chromium browsers, limiting cross-browser testing capabilities compared to other tools that support multiple browsers.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running multiple instances of headless browsers can be resource-intensive in terms of CPU and memory usage, potentially affecting performance on limited hardware.
  • Learning Curve
    Requires some learning curve for developers unfamiliar with browser automation or the Puppeteer API, making initial setup and usage potentially time-consuming.
  • Lacks JavaScript Redaction
    Unlike some other tools, Puppeteer does not natively support JavaScript error redaction, which means developers must manage error handling and debugging themselves.
  • Not Ideal for GUI Tests
    Since Puppeteer is headless by default, it might not be ideal for GUI end-to-end tests that require visual validation, requiring additional tools or configurations to enable full browser displays.

Closure Compiler features and specs

  • Advanced Optimizations
    Closure Compiler can perform aggressive optimization techniques that result in highly efficient and smaller JavaScript code. This improves load times and performance for web applications.
  • Code Minification
    The compiler reduces the size of JavaScript files by removing unnecessary whitespace, comments, and shortening variable names, which helps in reducing bandwidth usage and enhancing page load speed.
  • Dead Code Elimination
    Closure Compiler can analyze JavaScript code to eliminate dead code, which is code that is never executed or used, resulting in a cleaner and more efficient codebase.
  • Code Warnings and Checks
    It provides developers with advanced code warnings and type checking to identify potential errors, helping improve code quality and reduce bugs.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Closure Compiler can help ensure that JavaScript code behaves consistently across different browsers by transforming it into a format that's compatible with a wider range of environments.

Possible disadvantages of Closure Compiler

  • Complex Setup
    Getting started with Closure Compiler can be complex, especially for developers who are not familiar with its configuration and setup requirements.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a learning curve associated with understanding how to use the tool effectively, particularly when using advanced optimization features.
  • Debugging Challenges
    Minified and optimized code can be difficult to debug because variable names and function names are often changed to something less human-readable.
  • Integration Limitations
    Integrating Closure Compiler into existing build systems or workflows might require additional effort and adjustments, particularly if those systems are not designed to accommodate complex build tools.
  • Dependency Management
    Closure Compiler requires careful management of JavaScript dependencies, which can be cumbersome in large projects or projects lacking modular architecture.

Analysis of puppeteer

Overall verdict

  • Puppeteer is considered a strong choice for developers seeking a robust and efficient way to automate browser tasks. It is particularly favored in situations where headless browser actions are required due to its rich feature set and its solid support from both the community and its active development team. However, it may not be the best choice for those looking for cross-browser testing since it focuses specifically on Chrome or Chromium.

Why this product is good

  • Puppeteer is a Node.js library that provides a high-level API to control headless Chrome or Chromium browsers. It is widely appreciated for its speed, reliability, and comprehensive feature set that makes it easy to automate tasks like web scraping, automated testing, and taking screenshots. Users benefit from the ability to programmatically control browser actions, which can be useful for testing user interactions and rendering dynamic content.

Recommended for

  • Web scraping projects that need to render dynamic web pages or deal with JavaScript-heavy sites.
  • Automated testing scenarios that involve simulating user interactions and verifying UI changes.
  • Performance analysis and monitoring of JavaScript execution in a controlled environment.
  • Developers who need to generate PDFs or capture screenshots from web pages programmatically.

puppeteer videos

+ Add

Puppeteer - Video Review

More videos:

  • Review - GameSpot Reviews - Puppeteer
  • Review - CGR Undertow - PUPPETEER review for PlayStation 3

Closure Compiler videos

+ Add

Kevin Macdonald - How Closure Compiler can help protect your IP

More videos:

  • Review - Ильяс Кабиров — Google Closure Compiler — принцип работы и использование в современном фронтенде

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to puppeteer and Closure Compiler)

puppeteer

Closure Compiler

Automated Testing
100 100%
Automated Testing
0% 0
Web Application Bundler
0 0%
Web Application Bundler
100% 100
Browser Testing
100 100%
Browser Testing
0% 0
Tool
0 0%
Tool
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using puppeteer and Closure Compiler. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare puppeteer and Closure Compiler

puppeteer Reviews

Top Selenium Alternatives
Puppeteer offers more direct and tighter integration with Chrome or Chromium through the DevTools Protocol, unlike Selenium which abstracts the browser interaction through WebDriver, making it more versatile across different browsers but potentially less optimized for specific browser internals like those Puppeteer accesses in Chrome.
Source: bugbug.io
Best Data Scraping Tools
It is completely free. Puppeteer is well backed and supported by Google Chrome and hence replacing Selenium and PhantomJS. It automatically installs an efficient, compatible Chromium binary in its setup, therefore reducing the burden of keeping track on your browser.
Source: pamelaewallaceu.medium.com
Puppeteer vs Selenium
If you're looking for a better alternative, try Endtest. It has Puppeteer's speed, it supports Selenium's browsers AND it has all the features that they're missing.
Source: dev.to
Introduction to Headless Browser Testing
The Puppeteer API can be used to take screenshots, create PDFs, navigate pages, and fetch information from pages. We’ll write some example code to see Puppeteer in action.
Source: blog.logrocket.com

Closure Compiler Reviews

We have no reviews of Closure Compiler yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, puppeteer seems to be a lot more popular than Closure Compiler. While we know about 106 links to puppeteer, we've tracked only 10 mentions of Closure Compiler. 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.

puppeteer mentions (106)

  • Top React Testing Libraries in 2025
    Puppeteer is a headless browser automation tool built on Chromium. It allows developers to simulate user interactions, capture screenshots, and perform UI tests with a high degree of accuracy. Puppeteer is particularly useful for testing cross-browser compatibility and visual elements in React applications. Its robust API enables precise control over browser actions, making it a valuable tool for UI testing and... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • End-to-End SEO Testing with Playwright and Lighthouse
    Vitest is a next-generation JavaScript testing framework powered by Vite. It’s an excellent alternative to Jest, offering native TypeScript support, a fast setup, and solid performance. However, while it has an experimental headless browser, it’s not ideal for advanced scenarios like running SEO audits in CI/CD pipelines. Instead, we can pair Vitest with Pupetter, a more mature tool for headless browser automation. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • The Puppeteer Language Experiment
    This project tests how the browser language can be changed with Puppeteer. It implements multiple options to set the language of Chrome and checks each option against BrowserLeaks to see how it affected the JavaScript proeprties and HTTP headers available by the browser. For more information, see my article The Puppeteer Language Experiment on DEV.to. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Scrapy Vs. Crawlee
    In Crawlee, you can scrape JavaScript rendered websites using the built-in headless Puppeteer and Playwright browsers. It is important to note that, by default, Crawlee scrapes in headless mode. If you don't want headless, then just set headless: false. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Sometimes things simply don't work
    I am not in any way associated with the developers at puppeteer, but if you are looking for a way to contribute, they are open source. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
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Closure Compiler mentions (10)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing puppeteer and Closure Compiler, 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.

JavaScript Obfuscator - JavaScript Obfuscator is a free online tool that obfuscates your source code, preventing it from being stolen and used without permission.

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.

Terser - JavaScript parser, mangler, optimizer and beautifier toolkit for ES6+

Playwright - Playwright is automation software for Chromium, Firefox, Webkit using the Node.js library having a single API in place.

UglifyJS - JavaScript minifier, beautifier, mangler and parser toolkit.

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