8 Selenium IDE Alternatives for Chrome and Firefox in 2026

What is Selenium IDE, and where does it stand in 2026?

Selenium IDE is the record-and-playback tool from the Selenium project. You click through a web app, it records each step as a Selenium command, and you replay the steps as a test. It records several locators for each element, supports control flow commands such as if, while, and times, and can be extended with plugins. It can also export tests as code, including C# NUnit, Java JUnit, JavaScript Mocha, and Python pytest.

For years it was a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox. That has changed:

• The v3 extension is no longer maintained. Selenium's downloads page says it is no longer available in the Chrome Web Store. It can still be installed for Firefox or Edge.
• The new Selenium IDE is a desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux, installed from GitHub releases or with npm install -g selenium-ide. As of November 2026, the 4.x releases are published as beta builds.
• Selenium itself is active. The current stable Selenium release is 4.52.0 (October 29, 2026). The change affects the recorder, not WebDriver.

So a search for "Selenium IDE for Chrome" now leads to an extension you can't install from the Chrome store, or to a beta desktop app.

Why do teams look for a Selenium IDE alternative?

• Chrome access: most teams record in Chrome, and the extension is gone from its store.
• Beta status: some teams can't approve beta software for daily test work.
• Brittle recordings: Selenium IDE saves several locators per element and tries the fallbacks during playback, but when none of them match after a UI change, you edit the step by hand. There is no shared object repository, so one change can mean fixing many tests.
• Growing past record and playback: as a suite grows, teams want reusable objects, test data, reports, and CI runs. Selenium IDE covers some of this (a command-line runner, code export), but exported code becomes a separate project you maintain by hand.
• Mixed-skill teams: testers who record and engineers who code often want to work on the same tests, not export once and fork.

Selenium IDE alternatives at a glance (as of November 2026)

Prices are from each vendor's pricing page on November 11, 2026, and Katalon's from Katalon pricing.

1. Katalon Studio

Katalon Studio is a desktop IDE for web, API, mobile, and desktop tests, built on Selenium for web and Appium for mobile. For a Selenium IDE user, the useful part is that a recording becomes a normal test case: steps you can edit, objects saved in an Object Repository you can reuse, and a Groovy script view when you want code.

How recording works in Studio:

• Record Web opens a new Chrome, Firefox, or Edge Chromium window and turns your actions into test steps, then saves the captured objects with the test case.
• Web Recorder Plus adds support for Flutter apps, HTML5 canvas elements, and closed shadow DOM, plus actions such as hover and mouse-down. You can review and edit each captured object's attributes before saving, and it flags duplicate or unused objects so the repository stays clean.
• AI recording (Beta) in Web Recorder Plus generates steps from a plain-language prompt and runs each step live in the app. It needs a paid plan (Professional or Enterprise) and your own API key for a vision-capable model, and Katalon describes it as for evaluation, not production use.

Bringing Selenium IDE tests with you: Studio imports Selenium IDE 3.x projects. Select File > Import Selenium IDE Project, choose the .side file, and Studio creates test cases and test suites from it. It imports tests and suites only, so check any flows that relied on other IDE features.

Extending recorded tests: each test case has a manual view of keyword steps and a script view in Groovy. Studio ships built-in keywords for common web actions, such as click, set text, verify element, and wait, so testers can build steps without writing WebDriver code, and engineers can add custom keywords in code.

Plans and limits: the Free plan covers basic record and playback for web and mobile, local execution, and up to 40 static test suites. Professional costs $1,800 per seat per year (about $150 a month), billed annually, and adds the native Windows desktop recorder, parallel execution, AI self-healing that retries alternative locators when the UI changes, and BDD with Cucumber. From Studio 11.7.0, data-driven execution needs a paid plan. Command-line and CI runs use Katalon Runtime Engine (KRE), and cloud runs use TestCloud; both are add-ons. Studio writes local HTML reports, and results can be sent to Katalon TestOps for shared reporting. Enterprise is custom, and there is a 30-day free trial. See Katalon pricing for the full table.

Best for: teams that want to keep recording but also need reusable objects, reports, and a path into code, with testers and engineers working on the same tests.

What about Katalon Recorder?

Katalon Recorder, the browser extension many Selenium IDE users tried first, is no longer actively maintained and gets no new features, updates, or security patches. Katalon recommends Web Recorder Plus and the other recorders built into Studio instead, and suggests removing the extension first, because running both can stop the Studio recorder working. The Katalon Recorder status page has the details.

2. Playwright codegen

Codegen is the recorder that ships with Playwright, Microsoft's open-source browser automation framework. Run npx playwright codegen with a URL and it opens a browser plus the Playwright Inspector, then writes test code as you click. It prefers role, text, and test ID locators, refines a locator when several elements match, and can generate assertions for visibility, text, and value. In VS Code, the Playwright extension offers "Record new" and "Record at cursor".

• Output: TypeScript or JavaScript, Python, Java, or .NET code.
• Browsers: Playwright's own Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit builds.
• Price: free and open source.

Best for: developers who want a recorder as a starting point and plan to own the code from day one. Testers who don't code will find the output harder to maintain than a recorded test case.

3. Cypress Studio

Cypress Studio records interactions inside the Cypress app and writes them into Cypress test code. Cypress Studio is labeled beta in the Cypress app as of November 2026. You can start a new test with New Test, or open an existing test and choose Edit in Studio to add steps. Studio AI, in beta, suggests assertions based on what changed in the page; it needs Cypress 15.11.0 or later and a Cypress Cloud account, and is included at no extra charge during the beta.

• Output: Cypress test code in JavaScript or TypeScript.
• Browsers: the browsers Cypress runs: Chrome-family browsers, Edge, and Firefox. Electron is deprecated and WebKit is experimental.
• Price: the Cypress App is free and open source. Cypress Cloud, used for recorded runs, parallelization, and analytics, has a free Starter tier and paid tiers.

Best for: front-end teams already on Cypress who want a faster way to write the first draft of a test.

4. Chrome DevTools Recorder

The Recorder panel is built into Chrome DevTools, so there is nothing to install. You record a user flow, replay it, and can measure its performance in the Performance panel. Exports include a JSON file you can import back, an @puppeteer/replay script, a Puppeteer script, a Puppeteer script for Firefox (via WebDriver BiDi), and a Puppeteer script with Lighthouse analysis. Export extensions add other formats.

• Browsers: Chrome, plus Microsoft Edge, which ships the same Recorder in its DevTools. Not available in Firefox or Safari.
• Price: free.

Best for: developers who need a quick recording of a single flow, for example to reproduce a bug or seed a Puppeteer script. It isn't a test manager: there are no suites, reports, or shared objects.

5. Ghost Inspector

Ghost Inspector is a hosted, codeless testing service. You record with its Chrome or Firefox extension, and tests run on Ghost Inspector's servers on a schedule or from CI. It can export tests as Selenium IDE .side files and import older Selenium IDE v1 HTML tests, but it can't import .side projects as of November 2026.

• Browsers: recording through Chrome and Firefox extensions.
• Price, as of November 2026: Starter $109 a month billed annually ($125 monthly) for 10,000 test runs and 5 team members; Growth $225 and Scale $449 a month billed annually; Enterprise custom. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

Best for: small teams that want hosted, scheduled checks of key flows without running their own test infrastructure.

6. BugBug

BugBug is a hosted codeless testing tool with a Chrome extension recorder. You record in the browser, run tests locally for free or in BugBug's cloud on paid plans, and edit steps in a web app.

• Browsers: Chromium-based browsers only (Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave). No Firefox or Safari.
• Price, as of November 2026: Free plan with 1 user, 1 project, 15 tests, and local runs only; Core $99 a month and Pro $189 a month, billed annually; Business on request. Paid plans have a 14-day trial.

Best for: startups and small teams testing Chromium-only web apps who want a free starting point.

7. Tricentis Testim

Testim, now part of Tricentis, is a hosted test platform for web, mobile, and Salesforce apps. Tests are recorded, then made more stable by smart locators that weigh many attributes of each element, so a single changed ID doesn't break the step. Engineers can add custom JavaScript steps where recording isn't enough.

• Price, as of November 2026: quote-based for Testim Web, Mobile, and Salesforce. A free trial reverts to a free Community plan with self-service support.

Best for: teams already buying from Tricentis, or teams that want AI-assisted locators in a hosted tool and are fine with quote-based pricing.

8. SmartBear TestComplete

TestComplete is a commercial UI testing tool from SmartBear that runs on Windows and covers web, desktop, and mobile apps. You record keyword tests or write scripts, and object recognition combines property-based and AI-assisted locators.

• Price, as of November 2026: quote-based; SmartBear's pricing page lists a free 14-day trial and requires Windows.

Best for: Windows-centric teams that test desktop apps alongside web apps and already use SmartBear tools.

How to choose a Selenium IDE alternative

1. Who records, and who maintains? If testers record and engineers extend, pick a tool where both work on the same test (Katalon Studio). If developers own everything, a code generator (Playwright codegen, Cypress Studio) fits.
2. Which browsers matter? BugBug and the DevTools Recorder are Chromium-only. If you need Firefox, look at Katalon Studio, Playwright, Cypress, Ghost Inspector, and TestComplete.
3. What happens to your existing .side files? Katalon Studio imports them; Ghost Inspector can export to .side but not import it. The code generators start fresh.
4. How do you handle UI change? Recorded locators break. Look for locator choice you can review, reusable objects, and self-healing (Professional and above in Studio).
5. Where do tests run? Local only, CI, or a cloud grid. Check whether CI and cloud runs are included or are add-ons.
6. What does it cost at your team size? Open-source recorders are free but come with code to maintain. Hosted tools price by runs or seats.

Looking for a Selenium alternative, not just a recorder?

Selenium IDE is the recorder; Selenium WebDriver is the library most teams mean when they say "Selenium". WebDriver drives Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari through the W3C WebDriver standard, and Selenium Manager fetches drivers automatically. If WebDriver is what you want to replace or build on, the common options are:

• Cypress: JavaScript framework that runs tests alongside the app in the browser, with automatic waiting and time-travel debugging.
• Playwright: framework for TypeScript, Python, Java, and .NET that bundles its own Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit builds.
• Puppeteer: Node.js library for automating Chrome and Firefox. It talks to Chrome through the Chrome DevTools Protocol by default, and to Firefox through WebDriver BiDi, so it isn't Chrome-only.
• Watir: open-source Ruby library built on Selenium WebDriver. Releases have been infrequent in recent years, so check its activity before adopting it.
• Katalon Studio: keeps Selenium underneath and adds recorders, an object repository, reports, and keywords for testers who don't code.

For a side-by-side of the framework route against Studio, read Katalon Studio vs Selenium. If you're staying with WebDriver, our Selenium testing tutorial covers setup and first tests.

Verdict

There is no single replacement for Selenium IDE, because teams used it for different jobs.

• Choose Playwright codegen or Cypress Studio if developers own the tests and want code from the first recording.
• Choose the Chrome DevTools Recorder for one-off flows, bug reproduction, or a quick Puppeteer script.
• Choose Ghost Inspector or BugBug if you want hosted, scheduled checks with little setup, and their browser coverage matches yours.
• Choose Testim or TestComplete if you already buy from Tricentis or SmartBear, or need their desktop and Salesforce coverage.
• Choose Katalon Studio if you want to keep recording, bring your .side projects with you, and grow the same tests into data-driven, CI-run suites on a paid plan (CI runs use the Katalon Runtime Engine add-on), with testers and engineers in one tool.

To try the Studio route, download Katalon Studio and import a Selenium IDE project on the Free plan or the 30-day trial.