Needle vs reg-suit
Needle
github.com
reg-suit
reg-viz.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | Needle | reg-suit |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Visual Regression Testing Software | 8.1 (#9) | 6.8 (#22) |
| Integrations | The README demonstrates a nose test case using Selenium to open a web page and check an element screenshot. | Listed plugins support S3, Google Cloud Storage, GitHub, GitLab, Slack, and Chatwork. |
| Intended users | The package metadata classifies Needle for developers and as a Python testing library. | The site presents reg-suit for projects that need image-based visual regression testing, including example projects using Puppeteer, React, Angular, Vue, Storybook, and Sketch previews. |
| License | The package metadata classifies Needle under the OSI-approved BSD License. | The repository identifies the project as MIT licensed. |
| Purpose | Needle tests CSS and other web visuals by comparing screenshots with known good screenshots. | reg-suit is a command-line tool for visual regression testing that compares current images with previous images and creates an HTML report of differences. |
| Security | GitHub reports that the project has no SECURITY.md policy and no published security advisories. | The repository page links to a security policy; the opened page does not state specific certifications or compliance claims. |
Plans
In their own words
Needle
Needle is an open-source Python testing library for checking rendered website visuals and layout. It captures selected page areas and compares them with baseline screenshots, helping identify visual changes in CSS, fonts, images, and SVGs. It also tests calculated CSS values and HTML element positions. Needle works with Selenium and nose, and documentation describes installing it with pip after Selenium. Browser-driver options include remote, PhantomJS, Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari; NeedleFirefox is the default. PIL is the default screenshot engine, with PerceptualDiff and ImageMagick available as alternatives. PerceptualDiff and ImageMagick can create a diff PNG when comparisons fail. Tests can set viewport dimensions for responsive-site checks. Screenshot cleanup after successful tests is optional and disabled by default, while failed-comparison screenshots remain available. Package metadata describes the project as operating-system independent and for developers, while the listed platform is Linux. The repository uses a BSD license. PyPI lists version 0.5.0, released April 2, 2017, as the latest release. Needle is free and has no paid plan.
reg-suit
reg-suit has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.