Playwright vs Cypress: Which Testing Skills Should You Install?

Playwright and Cypress take fundamentally different approaches to browser automation. Understanding these architectural differences is crucial because they affect how your AI agent writes tests with each framework.

Playwright uses the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) and similar protocols for Firefox and WebKit to control browsers from outside the browser process. This out-of-process architecture means Playwright can control multiple browser contexts, tabs, and even different browser types simultaneously. It can intercept network requests at the protocol level, emulate mobile devices, test across different browser engines, and handle complex scenarios like multi-tab workflows or authentication across origins.

Cypress runs inside the browser alongside your application. This in-process architecture gives Cypress direct access to the DOM, window object, and application state — which enables its signature time-travel debugging and automatic waiting. However, it also means Cypress is limited to a single browser tab, cannot natively handle multiple origins (though cross-origin support has improved in recent versions), and historically had limited browser support beyond Chromium.

When an AI agent writes Playwright tests, it naturally produces code that leverages multiple browser contexts, parallel test execution, and cross-browser assertions. When writing Cypress tests, the agent focuses on Cypress's command chain syntax, custom commands, and its unique approach to asynchronous handling. This is exactly why framework-specific skills matter — they teach the agent the idiomatic patterns for each framework.

End-to-End Testing: Both frameworks excel at E2E testing. Playwright's auto-waiting is built into every action (click, fill, navigation), making tests naturally stable. Cypress's retry-ability mechanism automatically retries assertions until they pass or time out. Both approaches dramatically reduce flaky tests compared to older tools like Selenium.

API Testing: Playwright has a first-class API testing module (request context) that lets you make HTTP calls alongside browser tests, seed data, or test APIs independently. Cypress provides cy.request() andcy.intercept() for API testing and network stubbing, which is particularly useful for mocking backend responses during E2E tests.

Visual Testing: Playwright includes built-in screenshot comparison with toHaveScreenshot(), making visual regression testing a native feature. Cypress requires a plugin like Percy or cypress-image-snapshot for visual testing, though these integrations are mature and widely used.

Component Testing: Both frameworks support component testing. Playwright's component testing works with React, Vue, and Svelte. Cypress Component Testing is well-established and supports React, Vue, Angular, and Svelte with dedicated mount commands and component-level isolation.

This is where QASkills.sh skills make the biggest difference. Without a testing skill, your AI agent will generate generic test code based on its training data — which may use outdated patterns, incorrect selectors, or miss framework-specific best practices. With the right skill installed, the agent writes tests that follow the exact patterns your team expects.

The Playwright E2E skill teaches your AI agent to use Page Object Model (POM) patterns, Playwright fixtures for test setup and teardown, proper locator strategies (role-based, text-based, test-id), built-in assertions, trace collection for debugging, and parallel execution configuration. It also covers advanced patterns like authentication state reuse, visual comparison, and network mocking.

The Cypress E2E skill teaches agents Cypress's command chain syntax, custom commands for reusable actions, proper use of cy.intercept() for network mocking, fixture-based test data, the beforeEach /afterEach lifecycle, and Cypress-specific assertion patterns. The skill ensures the agent avoids common Cypress antipatterns like unnecessary waits, direct DOM manipulation, and conditional testing.

Playwright is generally faster for large test suites. Its built-in parallel execution distributes tests across multiple worker processes by default, and each worker can run tests in isolated browser contexts without launching separate browser instances. A suite of 100 tests can run across 4 workers simultaneously, cutting total execution time significantly.

Cypress tests run serially by default within a single browser instance. While Cypress Cloud offers parallelization across CI machines, local development typically runs tests one at a time. Cypress compensates with fast startup time and real-time feedback through its interactive test runner — you see each command execute in the browser as it happens, which is invaluable during test development and debugging.

For CI/CD pipelines where execution time directly impacts developer productivity, Playwright's native parallelism is a clear advantage. For local development where you are iterating on individual tests, Cypress's interactive runner provides a superior developer experience.

Yes, and many teams do. A common pattern is to use Cypress for component testing and developer-facing integration tests (leveraging its excellent interactive debugger), while using Playwright for full E2E regression suites that need to run across multiple browsers in CI. You can install both the Playwright and Cypress skills into your AI agent — the agent will use the appropriate framework patterns based on the context of your project and the files you are working with.

QASkills.sh also offers skill packs that bundle related testing skills together. The Web Testing Starter Pack includes both Playwright and Cypress skills along with accessibility and visual testing patterns, giving your AI agent comprehensive knowledge across the testing spectrum.

Both Playwright and Cypress are excellent testing frameworks, and the right choice depends on your team's needs. Playwright offers broader browser coverage, faster parallel execution, multi-language support, and more flexibility for complex testing scenarios. Cypress provides a smoother onboarding experience, an unmatched interactive debugger, and a mature ecosystem of plugins.

Regardless of which framework you choose, installing the corresponding QASkills.sh skill into your AI agent ensures it writes tests using the right patterns, proper assertions, and framework-specific best practices. No more generic test code — your agent becomes a testing expert for your chosen framework.