Ranorex vs. Selenium WebDriver
Compare leading solutions for automated web application testing.
Get the best of both with Ranorex Studio
You don’t have to choose between them: Selenium WebDriver is built into the Ranorex core API.
Selenium WebDriver is a leading open-source solution for automating web application testing. Selenium WebDriver consists of an API for automating browser actions, language-specific bindings, and a series of browser-specific drivers. The Selenium project also includes an IDE to perform capture-and-replay in your browser. The Selenium IDE was briefly deprecated by Firefox release 55, but has been resurrected with support for both the Firefox and Chrome browsers.
By comparison, Ranorex Studio is a full-featured automation framework for desktop and mobile applications as well as web applications. It provides all of the tools you need for web test automation, including capture-and-replay, a full IDE, built-in reporting capabilities — with the full power of Selenium Webdriver built into the Ranorex core API. Are you wondering why you should pay for a commercial tool instead of using a free one? Check out the comparison below to see in detail how Selenium WebDriver and Ranorex Studio differ.
Test automation tool comparison
See the differences between Selenium WebDriver and Ranorex Studio
Selenium
Ranorex Studio
Built-in platform support
Web applications
Desktop applications
Mobile applications
Non-HTML web elements such as Java applets
Scalability
Selenium Grid for distributed testing
Parallel test execution
Test Automation Tools
Easy setup and configuration
Capture and replay tool
Easy setup and configuration
Create tests without programming
Full IDE included
Modular & reusable test structure
Create conditional, parameter-driven or data-driven test cases
Easy test maintenance
Imaged-based comparison
Built-in reporting
UI Element Identification and Management
Robust object identification
Shareable object repository
UI Object map editor
Support for dynamic IDs
Support for Xpath expressions
Automatic UI object synchronization
“Click & Go” Xpath editor
Customizable rule set supporting several web development frameworks
Xpath only on code level
Integration
Executable test files for simple integration with CI servers
Integration with Visual Studio
Automatic creation of JUnit compatible reports
Professional Support Services
Ramp-up support and training on the project implementation
Individual and personal assistance
License
Built-in platform support
Simplify test automation with a tool that supports all the technologies you need.
Selenium WebDriver was developed as a handy tool to automate web browsers, but it was never intended as a solution for testing desktop or mobile applications. As a complete testing framework, Ranorex Studio includesbuilt-in supportfor testing desktop, web and mobile applications. In addition, some web applications include non-HTML/HTML5 components like Flash, embedded Java, and MS Silverlight controls, which Selenium may not be able to recognize. Ranorexsupports all of these technologies, even when these technologies are mixed with standard HTML pages.
Scalability
Get results faster with distributed testing on a Selenium Grid.
A Selenium Grid distributes web application tests from a central hub across multiple physical or virtual servers. Each server can be configured with a different set of capabilities, including O/S version and browser version. However, Selenium does not provide a mechanism to execute distributed tests in parallel. Ranorex Studio includes the Ranorex Parallel Runner, which supports running tests across multiple capability sets on a Selenium Grid through WebDriver endpoints in parallel.
Test automation tools
Automate faster with a full IDE and powerful tools for code-free scripting.
Installing and configuring Selenium WebDriver is a complex process. The Selenium IDE, developed as a rapid prototyping tool and browser add-on for FireFox, is no longer supported as of Firefox version 55 and above. So, in order to use Selenium WebDriver, you must select a programming language to use with WebDriver, set up an IDE for it, and download and configure the correct language bindings. Configuring endpoints for WebDriver is a separate process.
With Ranorex Studio, you get a simple installation and setup process that includes everything you need to conduct web testing. In addition, Ranorex Studio provides a best-in-class capture-and-replay tool to help you rapidly automate test cases without writing any code: easily perform complex validations, set up data tables or Excel files for data-driven testing, perform conditional testing, and more. Ranorex Studio makes it simple to generate images and perform automatic image-based comparison testing. Ranorex Studio’s easy-to-understand built-in report can be viewed right in the Studio interface, saved as a PDF or sent as an email attachment. Ranorex Studio also includes a full IDE for test development in C# or VB.NET, with tools for debugging and refactoring, predictive code completion, and automation helpers. Read more about how Ranorex Studio test automation tools help you achieve instant productivity.
Object identification
Build reliable element locators — the key to stable automated tests.
One of the biggest challenges in automating web tests is having a reliable way to locate UI elements such as buttons and text boxes. Web elements can be located by attributes such as ID, name, Xpath, CSS selector or link text. While both Selenium and Ranorex use an Xpath expression to navigate through an HTML object tree. Within Selenium you can only use the Xpath on the code level, which makes maintenance much more difficult. Ranorex Studio offers a dedicated UI object repository to arrange and organize all UI elements needed during automation. To improve maintainability, object identification is always separated from the automated test steps.
Additionally, the Ranorex Spy tool simplifies creating and editing Xpath expressions using a dedicated path editor. Although using Xpath on a code level is possible with Ranorex as well, the visual nature of using Ranorex UI repository elements instead helps to keep your code clean and easy to read. Because many applications are built with web development kits, an additional challenge for Selenium users is to address UI elements with dynamic IDs that change every time the object is loaded. Ranorex handles this challenge by offering distinct rule sets for all well-known web UI frameworks like GWT. These rules automatically recognize the use of 3rd party frameworks when working with Ranorex Recorder or Ranorex Spy tool, and allow you to construct robust Xpath expressions that are reliable and repeatable.
Integration
Ranorex Studio generates an external executable file for test cases, which gives everyone on the team – testers, developers, managers, CI server administrators, etc. – the ability not only to execute Ranorex tests, but also to review the results quickly in a separate report file. Ranorex also integrates well with Team Foundation Server and Visual Studio projects, test management tools such as Atlassian JIRA, source control systems such as Git, and defect tracking applications such as Bugzilla.
Professional Support Services
Every test automation project has unique challenges. While Selenium WebDriver itself does not cost anything to download, there can be significant implementation and maintenance costs to make it usable in a production environment. A Ranorex Studio license includes product maintenance and access to our dedicated support team whose sole focus is assisting testers facing automation challenges. In addition to the professional support provided by Ranorex directly, local partners can help you with consulting, training or mentoring on the implementation of your Ranorex test automation project.
Get the power of Selenium WebDriver with the ease of Ranorex tools.
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Selenium WebDriver can be a powerful tool for developers who want the convenience of Ranorex Studio with the features of Selenium. To test out Selenium WebDriver for yourself and see how Ranorex Studio can transform your automated testing, contact us for your free trial today.