Where Selenium still makes sense
Selenium remains viable when the team already has strong investment in it, broad browser coverage matters, and the surrounding architecture is healthy. Replacing a working system purely for trend reasons is usually a bad engineering decision.
Where Playwright creates leverage
Playwright can accelerate modern UI automation work with better built-in tooling, stronger developer ergonomics, and faster setup for teams that want a cleaner starting point. It is often attractive for new products or teams resetting their framework direction.
What leaders should compare
- Current framework debt and migration cost
- Team skill profile and onboarding speed
- Test stability and maintenance burden
- How well the framework supports the CI model
The real decision rule
The right framework is the one that improves long-term signal and maintainability for your team. Tool choice only matters if it improves the economics of delivery.