Playwright, no code

Playwright checks, without writing Playwright

Playwright is a free, open-source browser automation framework, and DontBreak runs on it under the hood. The difference is who does the work: with Playwright on its own, an engineer writes the tests and builds the scheduling and alerts around them.

Facts and prices checked 7 October 2026

Who each one is for

Playwright

Playwright is Microsoft's open-source testing framework for engineers. Tests are code in your repo. Codegen and AI test agents can draft them, and you run them in your own CI.

DontBreak

DontBreak is for product people, founders and agencies who own a checkout, signup or form and want to know when it breaks. You build each step in a live browser by choosing an action and pointing at the element, and DontBreak runs the flow on a schedule or after each deploy.

At a glance

Cost

DontBreak
From $79/mo billed annually ($99 monthly)
Playwright
Free and open source (Apache-2.0). You pay for CI runners and developer time

Who builds tests

DontBreak
Anyone on the team. In a live cloud browser: choose an action, point at the element, test the step
Playwright
Engineers, in code. Codegen records actions into code that you then improve by hand; AI agents can plan, generate and fix tests

How steps find elements

DontBreak
By how the element looks on screen, with “Use DOM locators” as a per-step fallback
Playwright
Locators in code; the docs prefer role, text and test-id locators because “Your DOM can easily change”

Browsers

DontBreak
Chrome and Firefox, at desktop and mobile sizes (emulated)
Playwright
Chromium, Firefox and WebKit, plus branded Chrome and Edge; mobile emulation

Scheduling

DontBreak
Built in: every 15 minutes up to once a month
Playwright
You set it up, for example with GitHub Actions cron: every 5 minutes at most, and runs can be delayed under load

Alerts

DontBreak
Email and Slack; Jira, GitHub Issues and Trello tickets that open on failure and close on recovery
Playwright
None built in; you wire them up through your CI or third-party reporters

Results

DontBreak
A report per run with step screenshots, video and logs
Playwright
HTML reports and traces, kept as CI artifacts

Email flows

DontBreak
Built in on every plan, with inbox addresses only your team knows
Playwright
You'll need to add an inbox service

Debugging

DontBreak
Each step is tested in the live editor as you build it
Playwright
UI Mode with time-travel debugging, traces, retries and sharding

Lock-in

DontBreak
Export a test as a Playwright script (AI Check steps aren't exported)
Playwright
None: the tests live in your repo

Which one to choose

Choose Playwright if…

  • You have engineers who write code and want tests in the repo, reviewed like everything else.
  • You need WebKit (Safari's engine) or Edge, or Playwright's debugging tools: UI Mode, traces, retries and sharding.
  • You want no licence cost. Even BugBug's pricing page calls DIY Playwright “often the right answer” for a one-engineer, code-first team.

Choose DontBreak if…

  • The people who own checkout or signup don't write code, and the engineers have other work.
  • You don't want to build scheduling, alerts and result storage, or dig through CI logs when a run fails.
  • You want a dashboard and alerts your product team reads, with an export to Playwright if engineers want the code later.

Pricing compared

Playwright itself is free. What you pay for is somewhere to run it, and the time to write and maintain the tests.

Licence

DontBreak
From $79 a month (annual billing)
Playwright
$0

8 flows checked every hour (about 5,760 runs a month)

DontBreak
Solo: $79 ($99 monthly), including scheduling, alerts and result storage
Playwright
CI minutes for every run: GitHub Free includes 2,000 minutes a month for private repos, then you pay

Writing and fixing tests

DontBreak
Point and click, by anyone on the team
Playwright
Developer time

Alerts and a results dashboard

DontBreak
Included
Playwright
Build or buy separately
  • Prices are per month with annual billing; monthly billing is in brackets. US dollars, before tax.
  • GitHub Actions minutes are free for public repositories.

Prices checked 7 October 2026 on Playwright's pricing page: Playwright codegen. DontBreak's prices are on our pricing page.

Questions

Can I use Playwright without writing code?
Partly. Codegen records your clicks into Playwright code, but that code still has to be tidied up, kept in a repo and run somewhere. DontBreak lets you build checks without code and runs them for you, and you can export them as Playwright scripts.
Is there an alternative to Playwright codegen?
If codegen isn't working for you, DontBreak is one alternative. Instead of recording a session, you build each step in a live browser by choosing an action and pointing at the element, then test it before moving on.
Does DontBreak use Playwright?
Yes. Test runs use Playwright with real Chrome and Firefox, and any test can be exported as a Playwright script, apart from AI Check steps.
Ghost Inspector or Playwright?
Ghost Inspector, like DontBreak, is for teams that don't want to write test code. Playwright is for engineers who do. Our Ghost Inspector comparison covers the no-code side.

Sources

Everything about Playwright on this page comes from its own website and docs, read on 7 October 2026. Products change; if something here is out of date, email hello@dontbreak.io and we'll fix it.

Product names are trademarks of their owners. DontBreak isn't affiliated with them.

Other comparisons

Try it on your own checkout or signup

14-day free trial with up to 500 test runs, no credit card. Or book a free call and we'll build your first flows with you.

Start free trialBook a free setup call