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reviewer1975398 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software QA Manager at a security firm with 201-500 employees
Real User
Oct 2, 2022
Good community support and easy installation, but the scripts require a lot of maintenance
Pros and Cons
  • "Some of the most valuable features of this solution are open-source, they have good support, good community support, and it supports multiple languages whether you use C-Sharp or not. These are some of the most important benefits."
  • "Katalon has built a UI on top of Selenium to make it more user-friendly, as well as repository options and the ability to create repositories for objects, among other things. It would be helpful if this type of information could be included in the Selenium tool itself, so people wouldn't have to do filing testing."

What is our primary use case?

We use Selenium HQ for the web application we developed here.

What is most valuable?

Some of the most valuable features of this solution are open-source, they have good support, good community support, and it supports multiple languages whether you use C-Sharp or not. These are some of the most important benefits.

What needs improvement?

Katalon has built a UI on top of Selenium to make it more user-friendly, as well as repository options and the ability to create repositories for objects, among other things.

It would be helpful if this type of information could be included in the Selenium tool itself, so people wouldn't have to do filing testing.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have only been with my current company for a short time. It has not been a long time since I have been working with Selenium HQ.

We worked with the open-source version of Selenium HQ.

Buyer's Guide
Selenium HQ
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Selenium HQ. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Selenium HQ is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Selenium HQ is scalable.

There are approximately ten people who are automation engineers from level one to level four using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

We have community support because it is open-source. There is no paid or dedicated support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We're just getting started with Katalon, and it's our first time using it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple.

Maintenance is required. 

The scripts we must maintain require a significant amount of upkeep.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It was open-source.

It's a free solution, we don't pay for anything.

It is an open-source product, it is free for anyone to use.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We were doing a proof of concept to see which tools we could start using for our team.

What other advice do I have?

If it is not a large project or application, Selenium HQ is a good choice; however, if the application is large and you want to maximize coverage, I believe you should look into tools like Katalon or Ranorex, or something that allows you to do more scripting with less coding.

I would rate Selenium HQ a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jun 16, 2022
You can also connect to a database using your JVC to read and write the data, but it doesn't support Windows-based applications
Pros and Cons
  • "Selenium HQ lets you create your customized functions with whatever language you want to use, like Python, Java, .NET, etc. You can integrate with Selenium and write."
  • "Selenium HQ doesn't support Windows-based applications, so we need to integrate with the third-party vendor. It would be great if Selenium could include Windows-based automation. You need to integrate it with a third-party tool if you want to upload any files. When we interact with a Windows application, we usually use Tosca."

What is our primary use case?

The bank uses Selenium HQ for web application automation. We write functions in Java with the TestNG framework. Working with a reusable library, we develop classes for the login, homepage, and remaining components. Once you create everything for the web application, we run scripts in Jenkins overnight, and then come back to our framework if there are issues. Finally, we use Eclipse to debug the code.

What is most valuable?

Selenium HQ lets you create your customized functions with whatever language you want to use, like Python, Java, .NET, etc. You can integrate with Selenium and write. 

You can also connect to a database using your JVC to read and write the data. This is the best feature. You can create your functions here, so it's scalable in that sense. You can make any custom function. You need to write the code.

What needs improvement?

Selenium HQ doesn't support Windows-based applications, so we need to integrate with the third-party vendor. It would be great if Selenium could include Windows-based automation. You need to integrate it with a third-party tool if you want to upload any files. When we interact with a Windows application, we usually use Tosca.

It also doesn't support dynamic capture, graphical presentation, or cloud functionality. We need to integrate with multiple things.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Selenium HQ for four or five years. 

How are customer service and support?

Support team? No. We actually made a request ... actually, there is no such support, but we extended the Selenium, whatever, we have it, we extended in our COE team, center of excellence. So wherever we are facing the issue, we just contact them. So they try to resolve our issue.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is effortless. We only need to download Selenium HQ from the Oracle site and follow some steps, then it's installed. You install the correct version for Java and configure Selenium. It's complex compared to Tosca, but if you have some knowledge on the programming side, you can easily do it.

The time needed for deployment depends on the code, the complexity of the application, and the number of restrictions you have. Deployment takes around 30 minutes to an hour.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is no license. It's open-source and there are no additional costs.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The bank chose Selenium HQ because it's open-source. It's scalable and we can extend it as needed. That's why we decided to use it.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Selenium six out of 10. If you want to use Selenium, you need basic programming skills in Java, .NET, or Python as well as knowledge of the TestNG framework. You should know how to identify the object from the application and use the developer tool. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Selenium HQ
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Selenium HQ. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Harold Rios - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 20
Mar 31, 2022
Good documentation, with the ability to optimize resources and lower the cost of regression tests
Pros and Cons
  • "The main characteristic that is useful is that the tool is completely free."
  • "If the test scenarios are not subdivided correctly, it is very likely that maintenance will become very expensive and re-use is unlikely."

What is our primary use case?

I have led regression testing projects involving CRM, employee registration, and eCommerce. In each of these test cases, we have used the automation tool which has brought us benefits in time savings, shortening schedules, or recovering lost time - all of this leading to money savings. 

It's very useful when there are constant changes in the back-end. If the changes are constant in the source end it is not a good idea to use it. It is very important to previously evaluate the use of the tool depending on the characteristics.

How has it helped my organization?

The main improvement is the lower cost of regression tests. It will probably be more expensive in the first iteration (more or less 30%), however, we can save up to 40% or 50% in the next runs. 

Another benefit is that, once the test scripts have been built, it is not necessary for the person executing the test processes to be an expert, allowing resources and costs to be optimized with lower costs in human talent. 

In addition, the barrier of functional knowledge is eliminated; specialization is not necessary during the life cycle of the tests.

What is most valuable?

The main characteristic that is useful is that the tool is completely free.

Additionally, currently, you can find resources that handle the characteristics of the tool very well. 

The range of web platforms it supports is also wide, including the operating system platforms. It is possible to reuse the test scenarios that have been built in iterations after the first one or in the improvements of the systems that are part of the normal maintenance and updating that must be done periodically and that imply an investment in tests.

What needs improvement?

A great improvement could be in the user experience which is necessary as it does not have much. The use is too technical; it is not designed for the end-user. The best way to maintain the test scenarios over time should be considered. If the test scenarios are not subdivided correctly, it is very likely that maintenance will become very expensive and re-use is unlikely. This would ultimately mean that it would reflect the possible benefits in the projects and, on the contrary, the use of the solution ends up being more expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Selenium for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The latest version should always be treated with care. Being open-source it can be unstable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability will depend on where the tool is installed.

How are customer service and support?

Until now, I have not used the support service. Everything has been done using the documentation that is registered in the forums.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

In the past, I used a very good solution. However, it had a high cost and had to be used by more than one resource.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup can be very complex.

What about the implementation team?

In my case, the initial setup was done internally.

What was our ROI?

The ROI can be between 20% to 50% in the testing process in the medium and long term. In the short term, it can be 10% or less.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

As for the license, there is not much to say. It is free, however, the configuration must be done correctly or it can be very expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Other options that I evaluated were TestComplete, Kathalon, and IBM.

What other advice do I have?

It must be evaluated very well before being used. In my case, we implemented a front-end that facilitates the use. If you want to use it in the future I can give you some access.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
QA Automation Engineer at a logistics company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Aug 6, 2021
Highly customizable and the best tool out there to do automated testing
Pros and Cons
  • "Its biggest advantage is that it is very customizable."
  • "We use X path for our selectors, and sometimes, it is difficult to create locators for elements. It is very time-consuming because they're embedded deeply. A lot of that comes from the way that you architect your page. If devs are putting the IDs on their elements, it is great, and it allows you to get those elements super fast, but that's not necessarily the case. So, Selenium should be able to get your elements a lot quicker. Currently, it is time-consuming to get your selectors, locate your locators, and get to the elements."

What is our primary use case?

We basically use Selenium for smoke testing and regression testing. We don't use it much for functional testing because you can easily and manually use a bunch of tests and make them a Zephyr. We use Zephyr as our test case management tool, which is a kind of a plugin for JIRA. So, we create our test cases in Zephyr, and then they are tagged to be automated. After that, we put them into our regression suite. Each team has its own independent regression suite. Currently, my team has a couple hundred, but I know some teams have 500 or 600 in their suite. We also have a suite of smoke tests that we run through Selenium.

All the code is on-prem. We're currently just running the tests through the Jenkins pipeline, but we want to be able to run them in parallel in the cloud and a lot quicker. We are not quite there yet. 

How has it helped my organization?

When we execute our smoke test, we're able to perform them really quickly with Selenium. Currently, in our project, we have 12 smoke tests. If I have to run them sequentially, it is going to take half an hour. If I run them in parallel, each one of them takes less than two and a half minutes. So, I could do smoke tests in under three minutes and get feedback right away about whether everything is up and running. We do production deployments throughout the week, but we try to do our main deployments on Sunday. Sunday is not the best working day, but because it is a weekend, we can get our work done. We want to be able to perform these tests quickly. The same is applicable to our pre-prod environment. We can run our smoke test right away, and it will be able to tell us that all the dependencies for our applications are up and running. As compared to doing it manually, which can take a few hours, it is really quick. 

It saves time for regression testing. It takes about three people to do the regression testing manually for probably two or three hours, whereas you can do it a lot quicker if you can get them in parallel. So, you can get quick feedback about whether your application is up and running right away. You don't want to go down the road where you find a problem after four or five hours. You want to find it out as quickly as possible.

What is most valuable?

Its biggest advantage is that it is very customizable.

It saves time and enables us to execute our smoke test and regression tests really quickly.

What needs improvement?

We have a lot of inheritance going here. I've been doing it for so long, so it is pretty straightforward for me, but you have to know Java to be able to work in our framework. I know some people use Python, but you have to know Java. That's kind of the hardest thing when you're doing interviews. People just don't know Java. This is where probably Worksoft has an advantage because it is codeless. So basically, you are just pointing, clicking, and providing things like Excel spreadsheets for your test data. In that sense, if you are using Worksoft, it is a lot easier to train or onboard somebody.

We use X path for our selectors, and sometimes, it is difficult to create locators for elements. It is very time-consuming because they're embedded deeply. A lot of that comes from the way that you architect your page. If devs are putting the IDs on their elements, it is great, and it allows you to get those elements super fast, but that's not necessarily the case. So, Selenium should be able to get your elements a lot quicker. Currently, it is time-consuming to get your selectors, locate your locators, and get to the elements. You have to find the element on the page, and then you have to go to the page and the console. In the console, you can put the next path in there to locate the element manually in the JavaScript to say that this one will work, and let's use this because we'll put a string of that element. After that, we get the element based on that stream. That's probably the most time-consuming part of that. It is dependent on how well you've designed the front-end UI. We use something called Data Tests attribute through which we can locate elements super fast. If people consistently use those, that's great, but a lot of times when they go in there to fix some bugs, they're not consistent in doing that. They usually just find a way to locate the element and change that in the code. If you change something, then your code or your test is going to fail because the locator has changed the element, and you can't get it anymore. You have to manage a way to get it. So, when you're running your suite of tests and you see some failures, it takes some research to find out why did this paneling go, and then you find out that it happened because of the frontend change. Someone removed this element and changed it, and you have to change your locator, which is very time-consuming. It is kind of like a false belt. It is failing, but it is not. It is only failing because of your locator. It is not failing because the app is not functioning correctly. It is a kind of false failure. Sorting the elements quicker would be a big thing with Selenium.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for eight years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have a dozen teams at our company, and each one of them is independent. We give them a pretty extensive Selenium framework, and then they basically start building based on that architecture and create their test cases and page objects.

In terms of its usage, Selenium is our testing framework. We use Jenkins to perform our test cases. A lot of them are done through a pipeline, and a lot of them are queued on to run automatically. There are triggers in there to run something every day at 9:00 AM. We don't have to manually say that we want to test this aspect of our page. 

The excellence team now has four people, and that's just the team that manages the framework. There are 25 people who can do test automation. They do manual tests and automation. They use the same framework, and if they find some issues, they'll ask us. If they're constantly having to do a certain function and having to write the Selenium code for it, they will ask us to do that. We might create a tool inside the framework to make their life quicker. We can put it inside the common Selenium framework so that it is always available to everybody.

How are customer service and technical support?

Selenium is an open-source solution. If you have a problem, you can pretty much Google something and figure out a solution for it. There are so many people who are using it, and there is a lot of material that is available out there for you to troubleshoot any kind of problems.

You don't usually directly go to the open-source code. I don't visit it at all nowadays. In the beginning, I did do it a lot, but not so much now. We're now in a state where we are just executing test cases and creating new ones. It does everything we need and meets our needs.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

It has been Selenium for me from the get-go. I've been here at XPO for almost five years. Before that, I was more of a contractor, and I did a couple of contracts. When I went to a healthcare company, they really didn't have a great framework. So, I started one, but I doubt that they're still using it. That's because it requires a lot of knowledge to be able to create a framework.

It is something that I've been always using. I've done some research on some other tools to be able to do things, but I always come back to Selenium. 

We're an angular-based house, and all our pages are in angular. There are some other products that run on top of JavaScript besides Selenium. There are quite a few people out there who are using Protractor, which is an end-to-end type of test framework, but it works specifically for angular applications. We have never gone down that path. We just stuck with Selenium.

How was the initial setup?

When I first came here, the framework was in place, but it was more basic. There is a team of three guys here, and we're all pretty smart. We're the excellence team for the framework. We've done a lot to make it a lot simpler for us to create our test cases. Three people probably worked 25% of the time for a few years on it. So, a lot of time was invested into the framework, and it has come a long way. It is much more sophisticated now.

Maintaining the architecture and Selenium framework for testing requires work. It is an ongoing kind of process. We're constantly maintaining it and updating it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is all free.

What other advice do I have?

Each product has its own pros and cons. It is very customizable, but then you have to have a lot of knowledge about Java or an object-oriented programming language that works with it. They keep creating frameworks to make your life easier, and it is a very customizable framework, but you have to have the knowledge to be able to do it. There are other tools out there, such as Worksoft, for which you don't have to know Java.

If you're starting from scratch, it would be good to get a good Java developer and make him or her get everybody up and going. That Java developer can train junior test automation people. You should hold on to that person for as long as you can. Getting a good Java person is probably critical when you're creating your Selenium framework.

It is not the easiest thing because it is hard to get a quality assurance resource that is knowledgeable about Java. So, it is very difficult to get a good framework in place. Usually what happens is that you'll get QA people who start doing QA, and then they start doing test automation. Once their skills get up there in Java where they're decent, they move over to being a software developer. So, they get out of the QA world, and they go over to be a developer. So, you lose that talent. You had to do your framework, and now they're gone. Maintaining good talent is difficult. It is hard enough to maintain the Selenium framework, and when you start losing people, it makes it harder. The next person comes in line, and it is just a revolving door. 

I would rate Selenium HQ an eight out of 10 because it is not perfect, but it is the best tool out there to do automated testing.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Rajesh Chouhan - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Sep 10, 2023
The solution has multiple plug-ins and can be used to create automated scripts
Pros and Cons
  • "Since Selenium HQ has multiple plug-ins, we can use it with multiple tools and multiple languages."
  • "You need to have experience in order to do the initial setup."

What is our primary use case?

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

What is most valuable?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

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

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

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

How was the initial setup?

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

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Selenium HQ is a free, open-source solution.

What other advice do I have?

Selenium HQ is deployed on-cloud in our organization.

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

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Technical Lead at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Aug 25, 2023
An easy-to-use, customizable and open-source solution for the automation of functional test cases
Pros and Cons
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

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

What is most valuable?

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.  

What needs improvement?

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

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for 11 years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Selenium HQ is very stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

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

How are customer service and support?

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

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I have been using the open-source version. 

What other advice do I have?

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

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Gunaseelan Ramalingam - PeerSpot reviewer
QA Lead at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Apr 29, 2023
Good functionality and helps us maintain a certain quality of work
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a scalable solution."
  • "They should add more functionality to the solution."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution to perform tests and robotic process automation.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution helps us improve and maintain a specific set of work quality. Also, it saves a lot of time for us.

What is most valuable?

The solution's core functionality is excellent.

What needs improvement?

They should add more functionality to the solution. Also, they should provide technical support services.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the solution's stability a ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. I rate its scalability a ten. It is easy to deploy on any device.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used Micro Focus UFT One earlier.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup takes time. I rate the process as one. We require a specialist to download and install it manually. Later, we need to create a framework and set it for an automation process. The entire process is quite complicated for new users.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is an open-source tool.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend the solution to others. Its learning curve is very high for Java and comparatively less for Python. Apart from this, it is highly stable. A lot of documentation is available for it in case of any queries. I rate the solution a nine.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2026422 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Test Consultant at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 10
Dec 21, 2022
Open-source and easy to set up but can be challenging to learn
Pros and Cons
  • "Due to its popularity, you can find pretty much any answer in open discussions from the community."
  • "The drawback is the solution is not easy to learn."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Selenium for web test automation.

How has it helped my organization?

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. 

What is most valuable?

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.

What needs improvement?

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. 

For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

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

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. It's easy to expand. 

We have about 15 people working on the solution. 

How are customer service and support?

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. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

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.

How was the initial setup?

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. 

What about the implementation team?

We handled the implementation ourselves, in-house. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

What other advice do I have?

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

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Selenium HQ Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Selenium HQ Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.