In the world of software testing, tools like Selenium and Playwright are often the first names that come to mind. They are open source, widely used, and offer a strong foundation for test automation, particularly for web applications. Yet, many enterprises discover too late that relying solely on these frameworks leaves major gaps in their testing strategies. These gaps don’t just affect test coverage but also delay releases, inflate costs, and sometimes even break critical business workflows.
The issue is not that Selenium or Playwright are ineffective—they excel at what they were designed to do. The real problem is that enterprises often assume these tools are enough to handle end-to-end enterprise testing, when in reality, they were never built for that purpose.
So, what happens when companies put all their eggs in the Selenium or Playwright basket? And what could they achieve if they broaden their approach with platforms like Avo Assure that address enterprise complexities head-on?
The Hidden Limitations of Open-Source Frameworks
At first glance, Selenium and Playwright tick the boxes for automated UI testing. They provide the flexibility developers love and can be customized to fit different workflows. But enterprises rarely run simple applications. Their environments are sprawling, stitched together with legacy systems, third-party integrations, and critical compliance requirements.
When teams lean only on Selenium or Playwright for their test automation strategy, they often encounter bottlenecks that grow more pronounced as their systems expand. Selenium, for example, remains one of the most widely adopted frameworks in the world—over 51% of developers still rely on it for automation—but widespread use doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best fit for every enterprise scenario. Playwright, while newer and increasingly popular, primarily shines in modern web apps and browser-based testing, leaving gaps in coverage when dealing with complex, enterprise-grade systems that span desktop, APIs, legacy applications, and integrations.
In such settings, relying solely on open-source frameworks becomes risky. Maintenance costs balloon as test scripts needs constant updating. Coverage gaps emerge when teams attempt to test across mobile, desktop, and web in a unified manner. And while frameworks are great at simulating clicks and inputs, they are not designed to manage the broader lifecycle of enterprise testing.
The result? Teams spend more time fixing automation than benefiting from it. Tests become brittle, integrations break unnoticed, and quality becomes a moving target.
The Stakes for Enterprises
For small projects, breaking a few tests might not be catastrophic. But for enterprises, the stakes are higher. An error in regression testing could mean a compliance breach, a failed customer transaction, or millions in lost revenue.
Selenium and Playwright rely heavily on engineering teams to script, maintain, and adapt tests. In fast-moving enterprise environments, that dependency slows delivery cycles and shifts focus away from innovation. Worse, it creates risk blind spots. While one integration is thoroughly tested, the other slips through with minimal coverage.
What enterprises often miss is not the capability of Selenium or Playwright—it’s the lack of scalability and governance required at the enterprise level. Automation needs to go beyond “does the button click work?” It must answer, “does the entire ecosystem function reliably when we release at scale?”
A Fortune 500 Bank’s Real-World Turnaround
The best way to illustrate this gap is through a real-world example. A large Fortune 500 bank, deeply dependent on customer trust and regulatory compliance, relied heavily on open-source testing frameworks for its digital platforms. Initially, the approach seemed practical. The teams were skilled in coding, and the frameworks provided flexibility. But over time, cracks appeared.
- High maintenance burden: Every update to the bank’s customer-facing systems required test scripts to be rewritten or debugged, delaying releases.
- Escalating costs: While open-source tools were free to download, the hidden expenses of engineering hours and script rework quickly piled up.
- Coverage gaps: Integration-heavy processes like payments and loan approvals often broke in production because they weren’t fully validated in regression cycles.
- Regulatory pressure: Compliance audits highlighted inconsistencies in test documentation, creating risks the bank couldn’t afford.
Faced with mounting delays and rising operational risks, the bank shifted to a platform-driven automation approach with Avo Assure. The results were striking. Within months, regression cycles that once took weeks were reduced to days. Script maintenance dropped sharply thanks to no-code automation, freeing engineering bandwidth. Most importantly, the bank achieved a 63% reduction in testing costs, proving that scalable automation delivers measurable returns far beyond what open-source tools could manage. Read the full case study here.
Why Selenium and Playwright Alone Can’t Deliver
The bank’s story is not unique. Many enterprises assume that layering more engineers onto Selenium or Playwright will solve scaling issues. In reality, the effort compounds the problem. Every new integration, every regulatory demand, every platform shift adds complexity that open-source frameworks were never built to handle.
Enterprise-grade automation requires more than just scripting. It needs:
- Cross-platform coverage across web, mobile, desktop, APIs, and legacy systems.
- Self-healing capabilities to reduce brittle test maintenance.
- Governance and audit readiness, particularly for regulated industries.
- Collaboration across business and IT, not just developer-heavy teams.
Without these capabilities, automation becomes a treadmill—lots of effort, little progress. Enterprises may think they’re saving money by sticking with open source, but the hidden costs in delays, risks, and rework tell a different story.
Enterprises don’t need to abandon Selenium or Playwright altogether. Instead, the goal should be to integrate them into a broader, platform-driven automation strategy. Avo Assure, for example, complements existing frameworks while providing the enterprise-grade features that open-source lacks. See how Church & Dwight simplified and streamlined their testing operations using no-code AI-powered Avo Assure.
The World Quality Report 2024 also highlights that 70% of enterprises now prioritize no-code test automation to improve efficiency and reduce dependency on scarce coding talent. Explore the report here.
To maximize ROI from automation, enterprises should:
- Define testing beyond UI clicks—focus on validating entire business processes.
- Reduce coding dependencies to make automation accessible to business teams.
- Build governance into test design to meet compliance requirements.
- Ensure scalability so regression cycles shrink, not expand, as applications grow.
By reframing test automation as a business enabler rather than a developer exercise, organizations can accelerate releases, safeguard quality, and reduce costs.