Top 3 Selenium IDE alternatives for Firefox & Chrome

TL;DR

Top Selenium IDE alternatives for Firefox & Chrome:

1. Katalon Recorder (The best successor, compatible with Selenium test scripts)
2. UI.Vision RPA
3. iMacros

Why do people seek Selenium IDE alternatives?

The whole testing community might not forget the 2017 event when Mozilla confirmed Selenium IDE would be discontinued from Firefox 55 and onwards.  

The reason was expectable: as an open-source project, Selenium IDE is maintained by nothing but the goodwill of developers elsewhere, which in turn explains why its latest update was on … March 17, 2020.

Although Selenium IDE is one of the most popular browser automation tools ever, its instability has concerned many users and made them search for more robust and reliable Selenium IDE alternatives.

Selenium IDE alternatives refer to browser automation tools that outweigh Selenium IDE in terms of features, usability, learning curve, and costs. Read on for the top three Selenium IDE alternatives and detailed explanations of their key features.

Top list of Selenium IDE alternatives 

Katalon Recorder

As a Selenium-compatible web extension, Katalon Recorder offers a more straightforward user experience and reduces all the frictions of browser tasks:

• Fast time-to-value: Unlike Selenium IDE, Katalon Recorder allows you to create test cases immediately on the active tab without a new or existing project.  
• Usability: The lean UI offers great convenience in capturing all web elements, recording web application actions, and generating test cases. You can edit, debug, or execute test cases and test suites with ease. 

Amazing use-case with Katalon Recorder – Automated Form Filling

• Test Script Migration: You can import Selenium IDE-generated scripts directly to Katalon Recorder with a myriad of export options, including C# (NUnit), Java (TestNG and JUnit), Python (unittest), Ruby (RSpec), Groovy (Katalon Studio), and Robot Framework. 
• Test Management: Katalon Recorder’s integration with TestOps – a centralized reporting system where your team can collaboratively review tests and share results simultaneously with stakeholders. 
• Browser Compatibility: The latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. 
• Product Enhancements and User Support: Backed by a professional development team, Katalon Recorder releases regular updates, introduces new features, and provides timely support for all users. 
• Cost: As a free web extension belonging to the Katalon ecosystem (Katalon Studio, Katalon TestOps, etc.), Katalon Recorder is the go-to option for teams to kickstart and transition to automation testing smoothly.

UI.Vision RPA

UI.Vision RPA (formerly Kantu) is a record and replay tool for web automation, UI, and desktop testing:

• Visual Web Automation and UI Testing: The computer-vision visual UI testing commands (a.k.a. “eyes”) allows you to write automated visual test scripts for multiple elements within one visual assertion. This helps web designers and developers to test web layouts and the visualization of mobile, web, or native apps.
• Visual Desktop Automation: UI.Vision RPA can also “read” everything on your desktop: images, text, mouse clicks, or even keyboard input. This feature requires the installation of UI.Vision RPA XModules. 
• Usability: Besides standard Selenium IDE commands, UI.Vision RPA has added more advanced web automation features such as automated file uploads, screen scraping, automated form-filling. 
• Browser Compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge
• Cost: UI.Vision RPA is a free browser extension. Users can upgrade to Personal, Pro, Enterprise plans by installing UI.Vision RPA XModules. 

iMacros

iMacros is a web extension for browser automation, performance testing, web regression testing, and web transaction monitoring: 

• Automation of Repetitive Tasks: You can automate tedious tasks such as filling out forms, typing passwords, adding hours to companies’ timesheets, scraping (get data) websites, etc. iMacros records and automates everything in your subsequent execution with just a mouse click.
• Usability: The tool captures and replays a wide range of web activities, including uploading/downloading text and images, form testing, and importing/exporting CSV & XML files, databases, or any other sources from web applications.
• Product development: Updates come out regularly to keep up with the evolving HTML space. However, many users claim that the UI hasn’t changed much over the years. 
• Browser Compatibility: Firefox, Edge, and Chrome
• Code line capacity: iMacros has a code line limit of up to 50,000 lines. 
• Cost: The tool is available as a free web extension. For more advanced automation features, users can opt for a paid desktop version.

It’s time for a change

There’s no doubt that Selenium IDE held a critical position in the browser automation history. However, with more advanced features and professional maintenance from dedicated development teams, Selenium IDE alternatives like Katalon Recorder are gradually becoming the go-to options of many users. 

If you still need to use Selenium IDE, make sure your Firefox version is 54 or lower, or head to the Chrome store to add the extension to your browser.