Cucumber.js vs Poku

Cucumber.js checks software against executable specifications written as plain-text scenarios, reporting whether each scenario passes or fails. It is the JavaScript implementation of Cucumber and runs on Node.js. Scenarios use Gherkin syntax and are usually kept in `.feature` files alongside the software in source control. Step definitions connect each Gherkin step to code that carries out its described action; expressions can use Cucumber Expressions or regular expressions, but not both syntaxes in a single expression.

The tool runs feature files from the command line and can run in continuous integration, including parallel execution. Reporter plugins can produce results, and reports can be published to Cucumber Reports with `--publish`. Published reports are public and deleted after 24 hours. Cucumber.js is available as the `@cucumber/cucumber` npm module, installed as a development dependency with npm or Yarn. The setup requires Node.js and one of those package managers. It is free and open source, with Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted platforms listed. It works with browser automation tools, but is not itself one.

Poku is a free, open-source JavaScript test runner for Node.js, Bun, and Deno. It runs ESM and CommonJS tests, with TypeScript usage documented, and isolates test files. An assertion API based on Node.js assert methods provides human-readable output. Helpers start services and scripts, manage processes and ports, and handle containers during tests. Official coverage plugins support c8, Monocart, Istanbul, and one-double-zero. React and Vue plugins add component testing with DOM environments and Testing Library helpers. The Multi Suite plugin runs separately configured suites sequentially and creates a consolidated report. Shared Resources can expose stateful resources such as database connections across files and processes. Custom plugins and reporters are supported. Poku documents running one suite across all three runtimes for compatibility checks. It is licensed under MIT.