Test frameworks and automation
Composal vs Selenium
Selenium is a flexible automation foundation that teams compose with their preferred language, runner and infrastructure. Composal is a hosted QA workspace that adds saved Scenarios and exploratory browser Findings.
Two workflows, side by side
Composal
Composal sends AI browser agents to use your running web app and check the outcomes you care about. Define journeys as plain-English Scenarios, map existing flows with Discovery, or explore for bugs with Deep Scan. Runs keep recordings and reproduction steps so your team or coding agent can investigate a Finding.
Verify documentation →Selenium
Standards-based browser automation
Selenium WebDriver is a language-neutral browser-control interface that drives browsers locally or remotely. Its project documentation describes browser-specific drivers and WebDriver BiDi for bidirectional browser events.
What each tool does
“With setup” means you supply code or configuration. “Not confirmed” means support for this workflow needs checking with the vendor.
| Workflow | Composal | Selenium |
|---|---|---|
| Run browser journeys | Yes Run saved browser Scenarios and return recordings and reproducible Findings. | Yes Runs browser journeys as authored tests; teams define and maintain the test flow. |
| Map application workflows | Yes Discovery maps key application areas and user journeys. | Not confirmed Check whether this product includes this workflow in your intended plan and setup. |
| Explore for unexpected issues | Yes Deep Scan explores the running application and reports reproducible issues. | Not confirmed Check whether this product includes this workflow in your intended plan and setup. |
| Describe checks in plain English | Yes Author Scenarios around the intended user outcome, then review the steps and expected results. | With setup Write executable tests, scripts, or structured keywords to define the steps and expected results. |
| Run or inspect from a terminal | Yes Use the CLI to start and inspect verification runs and their Findings. | With setup Run configured tests through the product’s supported developer tools or CI integration. |
Where each fits
Choose Selenium when your organization needs a standards-based foundation, language choice or existing Grid investment. Choose Composal when you want teams and agents to direct web verification without assembling the browser harness.
Try this evaluation
Take one role-based workflow already covered by Selenium. Compare the work to add a new expected outcome, inspect browser evidence and reproduce an intentionally introduced authorization regression.
- Coverage
- Which user outcomes must this release prove, and which specialist checks must stay in your existing stack?
- Setup
- Who prepares accounts, test data, permissions and access to the deployment being tested?
- Evidence
- Can the engineer reproduce a reported failure from the recording and steps, without asking the tester to investigate again?
- Ownership
- Who updates the checks when the product changes, and can the team review what a passing result actually proves?