Your Selenium Tests are not Slow because of the Selenium Framework

Photo by Veri Ivanova on Unsplash

From time to time, I hear people saying that Selenium automated tests are too slow.

And they blame the Selenium WebDriver framework for this.

Then, they suggest switching the test automation from the Selenium WebDriver framework to the “new kids on the block”, Cypress.io and Puppeteer.

I have a surprise for these people.

Selenium WebDriver is not making your tests slow.

Your tests can be slow for many other reasons.

Let’s discuss them one by one.

What exactly does a Selenium test do?

A Selenium test

1. uses a local computer or virtual machine or container
2. to open in a browser a site
3. to navigate the site from the home page to the target page (page under test)
4. and to make assertions on the page under test

Computer/VM/Container hardware matters for Selenium test speed

The Selenium test is executed on your local computer, or a virtual machine or in a container.