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Cypress vs Playwright

Audit Updated: March 2026
Comparison Data: 5d old
Review cycle: 30d
Last verified: 2026-02-24

The Verdict

For most teams, Playwright is the better choice due to its superior user satisfaction and transparent pricing.

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Metric
Cypress
Playwright
Starting Price
Free
Free
API Latency
597ms
1245ms
User Rating
4.8 / 5.0
4.9 / 5.0
Market Scale
5M+
2M+

Decision Summary

Best-Fit Guidance + Migration Risk

Cypress best for
High-velocity teams needing fast execution
Playwright best for
Budget-sensitive teams and early-stage adoption
Migration risk
Elevated
Large product or performance gap suggests deeper migration validation is needed.

Decision Matrix

Weighted model based on cost, speed, reliability, and adoption. Use it as a decision aid, not an absolute truth.

Cypress
86
/100 overall fit
Playwright
73
/100 overall fit
Cost
95
95
Performance
69
20
Reliability
96
98
Adoption
80
74
Cost weight: 25%
Performance weight: 25%
Reliability weight: 30%

Why choose Cypress?

  • Top-rated user experience and ease of use.
  • Generous free tier for startups.
  • Industry standard with massive community support.

Why choose Playwright?

  • Top-rated user experience and ease of use.
  • Generous free tier for startups.
  • Industry standard with massive community support.

Pricing & True Cost

Annual TCO Estimator

Estimated total cost of ownership per year.

Seats:
Cypress$0/yr
Playwright$0/yr
Projected Savings
$0

You save NaN% annually by choosing Playwright over Cypress for a team of 10.

Feature Breakdown

Feature
Cypress
Recommended
Playwright
Feature Score
84
90
REST API Access
SAML/SSO Security
Enterprise
Enterprise
24/7 Priority Support
24/7
Email
iOS/Android App
White-Label Branding

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main difference between Cypress and Playwright?
Cypress is generally categorized under Testing and is best known for its 4.8/5 user rating. Playwright, also in Testing, offers a strong alternative with pricing starting at Free.
Which tool is cheaper, Cypress or Playwright?
Based on our pricing data, Playwright offers a lower entry point at Free, making it a potentially better choice for budget-conscious startups.
Is Cypress good for small businesses?
Yes, Cypress is highly rated (4.8/5) and is used by 5M+ teams, suggesting strong adoption among small to medium-sized businesses.
Do Cypress and Playwright offer free trials?
Cypress offers a free tier or trial.

Get the procurement report

A printable, executive-ready version of this audit including a procurement checklist, implementation timeline, and verified data sources.

Trust & Verification

Last verified: 2026-02-24
Confidence: High
Sources listed: 4
Cypress pricing page
Playwright pricing page
Synthetic latency benchmarks (us-east-1, eu-central-1)

Structured vendor and catalog signals reviewed with standardized QA checks.

Reviewer Evidence Log

2026-02-24

Added structured trust metadata and standardized validation checkpoints.

Improves explainability and confidence before outbound tool decisions.

2026-02-24

Refreshed supporting context to align with current procurement workflow standards.

Reduces decision noise and improves repeatability of buying outcomes.

Sources & Methodology

Data verification performed by the StackCompare automated crawler. Pricing tiers and feature lists were last validated on March 2026. Latency benchmarks are synthetic tests run from AWS us-east-1 and eu-central-1 regions.

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