Selenium HQ Reviews

I'm currently working on automation testing using Selenium and Cucumber. 

I am using it with Java, not with as a standalone implementation. It's Selenium with Cucumber and with TestNG.

It's a dependency that I am using from SeleniumHQ. It's a couple of components.

We primarily use it for automation testing. 

The standard features are good, and I use them a lot. The framework for testing is robust with Selenium.

The integration with TestNG and Gherkin with Cucumber is great. Gherkin is a language for using for testing.

The solution is stable.

You can scale the product.

There is a supportive community around it. 

It would be awesome if there was a standalone implementation of Selenium for non-developer users. For example, for business users. If a business wants to test something and doesn't have the knowledge of coding and programming, they should still be able to.

They should offer a single setup. By that, I mean software that you don't need to set up component by component. They should make up a setup file that puts all software together in the place that it should be and it works.

I've been using the solution for six months. 

Selenium is a mature and stable software. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

Selenium is not so scalable. It's not like other software. There are a couple of dependencies where you can make it grow or shrink depending on your needs. In general, it's okay.

I haven't used support a lot. I have researched a couple of posts in the community. I've done no more than that.

The initial setup was not quite so complex and also not simple. I tried it in Eclipse, and it didn't work quite well, and then I tried it in IntelliJ. I need to look further into it if either can be used with Selenium. I didn't use it with Eclipse. I used it with IntelliJ. With IntelliJ, the implementation was pretty straightforward, pretty simple. However, with Eclipse, it's not.

We are customers. 

I'd advise users to take advantage of community posts. If the person finds any trouble, Google it. Probably someone already has found the same issue and also has found the solution or the workaround for it.

In general, I have no complaints about this product. I would rate it nine out of ten.

We don't directly use Selenium. We have built a wrapper around Selenium so other teams can consume it.

We are using version 4.0.1. We run it on a Microsoft public cloud in the CI/CD server.

There are around four teams which are currently using this solution, and we have a target of having around 10 teams.

It's easy for new people to get trained on this solution. If we are hiring new people, the resource pool in the market in test automation is largely around Selenium. It has a wider community. If there are issues, you can look around online and find a good solution.

Selenium is in continuous development. They release very stable versions. Those are the key points which helped us pick Selenium over other tools.

There are a few things we have to actually design and plan when we are building the automation. There are new tools which handle it by themselves, but that is a give and take when you actually use or choose a tool. 

Shadow DOM could be improved and the handling of single page applications. Right now, it's a bit complicated and there are a lot of additional scripts required if you want to handle a single page application in a neat way.

With these technologies, at times you have a lot of callbacks. Those aren't handled very well with Selenium. At some point of time, suppose you have entered something and the button needs to be enabled. Now, in normal terms, it seems to be a client side action, so if you enter something on the client side, JavaScript is running. It'll say, "Value is this, so I'll enable the button."

With this technology, if you enter something, it will go back to the server, get some value, and then it will enable the button. At some point of time, your project's delayed, and there is a callback happening in the background. It will not try to understand that, and it may just timeout.

I have been using this solution for about eight years.

I think it has stabilized a lot, but it's not the best tool in the market. It has a lot of room for improvement, but it has a very big community.

It is certainly scalable. It depends on how you want to use it. You can use it over a grid with multiple office machines, or you can run it standalone.

We have never used technical support because there is normally good content on the internet.

We evaluated other options but chose Selenium because of the skill sets in the market. If you use other solutions, the challenge is that if a person leaves, you won't get a second person or third person. Replacements are very difficult to come by if you are using different solutions.

It's actually complex. It's not really straightforward, but it depends on what you're actually building for your organization. We have built a wrapper around it for other teams that are actually consuming it.

Initially, you build a solution around it, which is a challenge. If you are trying to build a standalone automation with Selenium, it will be a challenge.

There isn't a set deployment. If a team wants to use it, they can start using it from day one.

It's open-source, so it's free.

I would rate this solution 8 out of 10. 

Learning is easy. Implementation is not as easy, but it is still better than other tools in the market right now. I'm giving it an eight because there are a lot of things Selenium is not supporting. The rest of technology is changing, but they are not changing along with it. Normally, if we are writing a complex test, we have to do a lot of workarounds, which isn't good when we are writing scripts.

I think it's very easy to screw up with Selenium if you're using it for the first time. If you are getting it for a large organization or large project, it makes sense to have some professional help.

Depending upon the functionality, I use Selenium to prepare the scenarios I'm doing. I start by writing automation scripts in Java. From there, we execute the scripts if there are any changes in the product. Then we upgrade this overnight along with Jenkins to make sure our application is running as expected. They feature continuous deployment and continuous integration with the help of our teams, so our product will be applied to more users once it's adequately tested.

Selenium is the fastest tool compared to other competitors. It can run on any language, like Java, Python, C++, and .NET. So we can test any application on Selenium, whether it's mobile or desktop. And if I build some framework on Selenium, I can give it to someone else. Then they can use it and start going further. One more thing is that you can implement any framework on it, like TestNG, Cucumber, JUnit, etc.

Selenium should implement more islands for a desktop feature. My laptop and desktop have a calibrator or some other desktop applications. We can automate those things through Selenium, so they should be adding them in the subsequent versions. For now, I guess Selenium could add some other features like object communications for easy expansion. 

I've been using Selenium HQ for about five years.

So performance-wise, Selenium is the best tool so far. It has the fastest automating tools.

We run scenarios at midnight or around that time and split this application into virtual machines. So during that time, the application is executed in panel mode. Let's say I have 10 vital missions in the Google Cloud Platform. These things will be triggered automatically and executed in each of the machines. And it has a balancing load concept, so if one machine is at capacity, it will automatically move to a second machine for the other scenarios. So there is never an issue with scalability. We have more than 1,000 employees in the company using it every day to develop scripts. 

Because Selenium HQ is open source, we don't have a customer service team or technical support, so we have to search on our own for answers. When I've had problems in the past,I've had to Google to see if it's an application issue or a Selenium issue. Without any help from vendors, it's difficult to automate some things like CAPTCHA. But still, we have a framework that is ready for this. So with the help of this framework and importing those library files, we can make our own way. 

At my previous company, we used a UFT tool called Micro Focus UFT. We used this because it was a different kind of use case where we had to transfer our publications back and forth between the mainframe and the mobile application. So we have to format that, which is why we used the UFT.

Setting up SeleniumHQ isn't that complex. We like to develop our application in Pega and have a point cloud that we deploy on Google Cloud. It is developed and tested with Jenkins, which is a continuous integration tool. Once the code is specific to Jenkins, we trigger Selenium and execute the scenarios. After this finishes, we move everything to cloud. 

Along with this docker, there is a deployment phase in Google Cloud, where the images of our application are moved to pre-production. Pre-production is something like a replica of production that allows the users to work on it. So once it is transferred to pre-production, the users will work for one week or one or two. If they are satisfied, we move on to production.

Deployment usually requires about eight to ten people. Most of the work is done by technicians who are akin to database administrators. They take this on for one month a year every year. Their job is mostly to minimize the weight of the application. In the next phase, DevOps engineers deploy the enviornment. The time for deployment depends on the teams and the tasks. If there is a small change, it may have taken between half an hour and an hour. On the other hand, if there is a significant upgrade of the application, it may take eight to ten hours. Generally, we don't need any maintenance unless a UR application has changed.

Selenium is free. Anyone can use it without paying anything.

I rate SeleniumHQ seven out of 10. When you're choosing a solution, it depends upon the type of applications you are using in your project. If you have only have desktop and mobile, go for Selenium. However, if you have multiple applications like Windows-based applications, a virtual machine-based application, or a mainframe .NET application, I suggest going with another tool, like Tosca UFT.

I use Selenium HQ to create automated scripts for automated applications.

Since Selenium HQ has multiple plug-ins, we can use it with multiple tools and multiple languages.

I rate Selenium HQ a nine out of ten for stability.

I rate Selenium HQ a nine out of ten for scalability.

The level of ease to set up Selenium HQ is medium. You need to have experience in order to do the initial setup.

Selenium HQ is a free, open-source solution.

Selenium HQ is deployed on-cloud in our organization.

Overall, I rate Selenium HQ a nine out of ten.

We use Selenium HQ for the automation of functional test cases.

The tool is easy to use and log in with respect to other tools. It is open-source. We can customize the product. I also like its security.  

When we upgrade the version, some features are missing. I want the product to include some AI capabilities. 

I have been using the product for 11 years. 

Selenium HQ is very stable. 

The solution is scalable, and we have around 9,000 users for the product. 

The tool's support is good, and they resolve issues nicely. 

Positive

I have been using the open-source version. 

You need to be aware of Selenium HQ's architecture. I rate it a ten out of ten. 

We are using Selenium for web test automation.

We are saving time with regression testing by using test automation.  

Selenium is also open source, so now we are integrating all our automation tests into the full pipeline. 

Selenium is very famous. Due to its popularity, you can find pretty much any answer in open discussions from the community. This is the power of Selenium. Whatever you need, whatever your question, you will find an answer.

The initial setup is easy.

You can integrate the solution with pretty much anything.

It's open-source and free to use.

Maybe they could improve the record and play plugin for element detection. That would be ideal. If they could build some tools above Selenium for that, I'd find it helpful. People sometimes do not have that much technical knowledge, and having something more plug-and-play would be appealing.

We have many plans in our pipeline that still need to be implemented. Maybe we will find that we need some features that need to be integrated with Selenium, for example, for a multi-browser or for implementing many machines. We haven't fully implemented this solution yet.

The drawback is the solution is not easy to learn. You need resources and technical knowledge and have to deal with the maintenance of script changes. 

While it works well with Chrome, if you use it with other browsers, you may have issues. 

I've been using the solution for three or four years. 

We've never had any stability issues. It's reliable. The performance is good. It doesn't crash or freeze.

It is scalable. It's easy to expand. 

We have about 15 people working on the solution. 

I've never spoken to technical support per se. We tend to get help via the community if we have questions. It is quite robust and there is a lot of information about all kinds of issues publicly available. 

I have used other tools as well. Each tool has its own pros and cons. Each organization also has its own unique needs. There are budgets, resources, and other factors that would come into play as well.

The solution isn't difficult to set up. It's quite straightforward. 

I'd rate the ease of setup eight out of ten. 

I cannot recall exactly how long the deployment itself took. 

Sometimes there may be some maintenance required around upgrades. You would need to check the compatibility between the software, for example. That said, the maintenance requirements are pretty low. It's not complex to maintain the product. 

We handled the implementation ourselves, in-house. 

This is an open-source solution, which is a very positive benefit. 

I'd rate the solution six out of ten. It's not an out-of-the-box solution like Oracle or SAP. 

We primarily use the solution for normal regression tests.

I like most of it. It is possible to get a lot of help and find help on the internet since Selenium is so widespread and established. The documentation is great.  There is  a lot of help on websites like Stack Overflow.

It is very stable.

The product is open-source. 

We are thinking about codeless automation, like what ACCELQ offers. They could maybe release a similar product that would be a codeless product.

The initial setup was difficult. 

It would be nice to have it on the cloud, like ACCELQ. That way, we don't need to set up it ourselves and don't need hardware for that. That would also allow for many people at many subsidiaries or locations to work simultaneously with it.

I'd like the possibility of automatically checking the installed browser version and automatically downloading the Selenium driver that suits the installed browser. Otherwise, you have to download and set up it manually, and if you get a new browser version, you have to do it every time, and it's time-consuming.

We've been using the solution for one year. 

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

Of course, you need a lot of time to optimize your scripts so that they run stable.

This is not really scalable. 

If you consider load tests or multi-thread testing, you need very powerful hardware to start several browsers. That's why in this aspect, not very scalable if you run tests in parallel.

We just have two people leveraging the solution right now. They use it regularly, on a daily basis. 

There is a lot of documentation and general product knowledge online. We don't have direct support contact as it is an open-source solution. 

We did previously use Eggplant. It's not open-source. It's actually pretty expensive. 

One benefit of Eggplant was testing mobile apps. Also, you don't find so much information on Stack Overflow or on the internet about Eggplant; they have good support.

It was not very easy to set up. 

We needed to add a lot of plugins like TestNG and Maven. The whole configuration was not very easy. I am not sure if it is the Selenium setup or just the whole system setup.

The solution is open-source and free to use. 

I'm an end-user. 

The solution is okay, however, you need to use it together with the TestNG and with Maven and use different plugins that improve it.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

SeleniumHQ is WebDriver-related. It is a package that we can use with any language such as Java or Python.

We use Selenium for automation purposes. For example, if we need data from a website, we write code that will extract the data automatically. If there are logins or pop-ups, the code will close them, so we can extract the data. 

When we are testing a website, we use SeleniumHQ automation testing to determine if there are any bugs.  

The most valuable feature of Selenium is how easy it is to automate. For example, often when data is needed, someone will sit and copy and paste it. What we can do with SeleniumHQ is automate it so that the data is directly extracted from the tools and libraries that we use. This saves time and is much better than copying and pasting.

There are some tiny issues with SeleniumHQ. For example, with respect to the scraping tests. Sometimes, a website will have some hidden items or blockages that inhibit us from extracting data directly. It would be beneficial if Selenium could extract that information.

The other issue is browser-related. There are small bugs causing it to break automatically. Sometimes it will close automatically. 

I have been using SeleniumHQ for a year and a half.

Stability depends on how you write the code. If you handle all conditions, there will be some surprises. Suddenly, you will have pop-ups and other conditions. 

SeleniumHQ is scalable. Anyone can use it. We have approximately 30 users of the solution. 

Customer service and support with Selenium are good. If any bugs are found and brought to their attention, they will immediately help. They provide lots of documentation as well as answers on the internet. The technical support team, themselves, will answer questions within 24 hours.

We use Python, so the initial setup of SeleniumHQ was quick and simple. You can use any browser or tools like, Chrome, Firefox, or Edge to run the automation testing. 

We are using Selenium open-source, so there is no need to purchase anything.

We evaluated other options. 

For mobile scraping, non-mobile scraping, or to test anything mobile there are more applications available on the internet, like Appium for Android, which is like Selenium for browsers, or TestComplete for iOS drivers. 

However, Selenium is particularly the best for browsers or PC, operating systems.

I would recommend this solution to anyone considering implementing it into their organization. Overall, I would rate SeleniumHQ an eight out of ten.