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WebdriverIO vs Codedeception comparison of testing frameworks
What are the differences between WebdriverIO and Codedeception?

WebdriverIO

https://webdriver.io/

Codedeception

https://codeception.com/
Programming language

JavaScript

PHP

Category

Browser Automation, Unit Testing, Functional Testing

Unit Testing, Acceptance Testing/Functional Testing

General info

WebdriverIO is the next-gen WebDriver test framework for Node.js made upon Selenium

WebdriverIO is written in JavaScript and uses Selenium under the hood. It also comes with its own inbuilt test runner and supports other testing frameworks like Jasmine, Cucumber, and Mocha

Codeception is a full-stack testing framework for PHP

It is inspired by BDD and provides a way of writing acceptance, functional and even unit tests. It is powered by PHPUnit.
xUnit
Set of frameworks originating from SUnit (Smalltalk's testing framework). They share similar structure and functionality.

Yes

No

Client-side
Allows testing code execution on the client, such as a web browser

Yes

WebdriverIO allows the use of advanced CSS selectors and makes it easy to find elements for front-end testing

Yes

One is able to write acceptance tests which are used to look at functionality from a user's perspective. It is able to look at pages in browser (Chrome, Firefox or PhpBrowser)
Server-side
Allows testing the bahovior of a server-side code

Yes

It can be used to test server side behaviour and functionality

Yes

It supports back-end tests, by writing functionaltests one can be able to test server behaviour
Fixtures
Allows defining a fixed, specific states of data (fixtures) that are test-local. This ensures specific environment for a single test

Yes

WebdriverIO supports the creation of fixtures

Yes

One can define a fixture and write the test with Codedeception, use the yii2-codedeceptionextention which will autoload fixtures for you
Group fixtures
Allows defining a fixed, specific states of data for a group of tests (group-fixtures). This ensures specific environment for a given group of tests.

Yes

WebdriverIO supports the creation of group fixtures

Yes

One can define group fixtures
Generators
Supports data generators for tests. Data generators generate input data for test. The test is then run for each input data produced in this way.

N/A

N/A

Licence
Licence type governing the use and redistribution of the software

MIT License

MIT License

Mocks
Mocks are objects that simulate the behavior of real objects. Using mocks allows testing some part of the code in isolation (with other parts mocked when needed)

Yes

It contains a mocking service called 'wdio-wiremock-service'

Yes

Codeception provides Codeception\Stub library for building mocks and stubs for tests
Grouping
Allows organizing tests in groups

Yes

WebdriverIO allows one to build test suites, you can run these test in parallel and organize them by adjusting the 'maxInstances' property in your config file

Yes

Codeception consists of three so-called “suites”: A “unit suite” for all unit tests, a “functional suite” for all functional tests, and an “acceptance suite” for all acceptance tests.
Other
Other useful information about the testing framework