BackstopJS vs Watchlight
BackstopJS
github.comWatchlight
getwatchlight.comSide by side
| Figure | BackstopJS | Watchlight |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $9/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Visual Regression Testing Software | 8.0 (#11) | 7.3 (#19) |
| Purpose | BackstopJS automates visual regression testing of web apps by comparing screenshots over time. | Watchlight is a visual regression testing tool for desktop apps and games that launches an executable, captures screenshots, and compares visual changes over time. |
Plans
In their own words
BackstopJS
BackstopJS is a free, MIT-licensed tool for visual regression testing of web applications. It captures screenshots and compares them with reference images over time. An in-browser report shows reference, test and visual-difference views, with additional CLI and JUnit reports. BackstopJS supports Puppeteer and Playwright; Playwright can use Chromium, Firefox or WebKit. Scenarios can script clicks, scrolling, hovering, key presses and cookie state. Captures can cover a full document, viewport or selected DOM elements at configured viewport sizes. The documented workflow uses `backstop init`, `backstop test` and `backstop approve` to configure tests, compare captures and update references. Installation works globally or locally through npm, as a standalone CLI or from a Node.js app. CI reporting and integrations include Jenkins, Travis and gulp. Docker can reduce rendering differences, though Chrome Headless in Docker needs substantial memory.
Watchlight
Watchlight has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.