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Choosing a Test Automation Framework Is a Product Decision, Not Just a Technical One

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As test automation options have expanded beyond Selenium to include Playwright, AI-generated tests, and managed platforms, teams risk optimizing for speed of setup rather than long-term maintainability. Open-source tools may appear nearly free, but the real costs are hidden in engineering time spent managing infrastructure, fixing flaky tests, and maintaining shared code. AI coding assistants can rapidly generate test scripts, yet someone still must understand the logic, locators, and assumptions embedded in that generated code. The right choice between a code-first framework and a managed testing platform ultimately depends on a team's actual size, skill set, and capacity to own ongoing maintenance. As AI also accelerates frontend development and increases UI churn, the sustainability of whichever testing approach a team selects becomes even more critical.

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