Highest Python Frameworks for Test Automation & CI/CD

When it comes to automating front-end tests, selecting the right programming language is key. Python is a top choice due to its simplicity and strong community support. Python frameworks for automation testing enable you to take advantage of popular libraries and frameworks, such as Selenium, pytest, and Robot, among others.

Integrating Selenium with Python allows you to combine Selenium’s robust browser automation features with Python’s ease of use and flexibility. As a result, Python automation testing has become a go-to solution for many QA professionals, mainly when using Selenium WebDriver for web application testing.

One key reason for Python’s popularity is its extensive support for test automation frameworks. Many widely used Python automation frameworks are fully compatible with the Selenium test automation framework, making them ideal for Selenium Python testing and cross-browser testing.

Here’s a list of the top Python frameworks in 2025 to help you achieve your Selenium test automation goals.

What Is Python Automation Testing?

Python automation testing is the process of using Python scripts to automate tests. It is one of the most sought-after programming languages for automating manual and repetitive tasks.

A simple example of Python automation testing involves leveraging the pytest framework with Selenium to automate front-end tests on an eCommerce platform.

New to Selenium? Check out this guide on what is Selenium?

You can verify the registration functionality of an eCommerce website and use the same session to navigate through the site and add required items to the shopping cart. By the end of this test, you will have verified the registration, login, and cart functionalities of the eCommerce website.

Lastly, you can also harness Python for automating system administration, automating emails, and data processing tasks.

Why Python for Automated Testing?

Now that we know why testers prefer Selenium to Python, let’s look at some of the essential reasons to choose Python for automation testing:

• Wide Range of Libraries and Frameworks: PyUnit (or unittest) is the default test framework for performing unit testing with Python. Though PyUnit is available out of the box, Python supports other popular frameworks like pytest, Behave, Robot, Lettuce, and Nose2.

All of them can be used exhaustively with Selenium and Playwright frameworks for automating web browser tests.

• Super Easy Parallel Test Execution: Parallel testing in Selenium and Python can be used extensively to perform web browser automation tests across different combinations of browsers and platforms. Though all Selenium-supported languages support parallel test execution, it is darn easy to use with Python.
  

  

• Multi-Paradigm Programming Language: Python is a multi-paradigm programming language. Hence, it fully supports object-oriented and structured programming. Most of its features support functional and aspect-oriented programming. Python, along with Selenium, can also be used for functional testing of websites and web applications.

• Dynamic Typing: The Python language uses dynamic typing and late binding (or dynamic name resolution) to bind the methods and variable names during execution. This feature is super handy for Python test automation.

Python also offers options like Pyre (a performant type checker for Python 3) and Mypy, which are popular static type checkers. With these checkers, Python lets you combine the power of dynamic and static typing.

• Web Scraping: Web scraping with Python is the process of extracting meaningful and useful information/data from websites. It is primarily used for academic research, competitor analysis, content aggregation, and more.

Python offers a number of libraries and frameworks, namely – BeautifulSoup (bs4), Selenium, Puppeteer, and Pyppeteer, that ease the task of scraping content from websites.

• Powerful and Hassle-Free Reporting: Reporting in test automation provides greater visibility into the nuances of test execution (i.e., percentage of tests passed/failed, test environment, screenshots, etc.). Powerful reports that give the right information in a concise and understandable form can be sent to necessary stakeholders (in the team) so that they know the progress on the testing front.

Python frameworks like pytest, Behave, and Robot Framework are widely used for test automation due to their flexibility, scalability, and ease of integration with various tools.

When combined with LambdaTest, an AI-native testing platform, these frameworks enable efficient cross-browser and cross-device testing. LambdaTest supports Selenium and Playwright, allowing testers to execute their Python-based automation scripts on a vast grid of real browsers and operating systems. Additionally, LambdaTest provides features like parallel test execution, geolocation testing, and AI-powered test insights, making it a powerful choice for enhancing test coverage and reducing execution time.

Highest Python Frameworks for Test Automation & CI/CD

Here are the top Python testing frameworks in 2025 to realize your Selenium test automation and CI/CD needs.

1. pytest

pytest is an open-source Python web automation framework that is primarily used for unit testing. This particular Python testing framework in 2025 is scalable as it is useful for writing simple automation tests and complex functional tests for applications & libraries. It is easy to get started with pytest. It is compatible with Python 3.5+ and PyPy 3.

Test suites written using pytest are more compact as a lot of boiler-plate code is not required, and tests are not required to be included in large test classes. Unlike the default Python testing framework 2025, which mandates tests to start with test_ (or end with _test), there is no fixed test case nomenclature in pytest. This is because pytest has built-in features that support auto-discovery of test modules and functions.

There is no need to remember self.assert* names due to the introduction of the useful feature of assert rewriting that helps provide detailed information on failing assert statements.

Pros of pytest

There are a number of pros of the pytest framework; the major ones are below:

• Along with simple tests, pytest can also create complex functional test cases.
• Porting existing implementations using other Python testing frameworks to pytest requires less effort.
• pytest can be used for projects that practice Test Driven Development (TDD) and open-source projects.
• pytest is instrumental in creating effective test cases (and test suites) as it supports parameterization. Using parameterization, test cases can be executed with different input configurations, thereby resulting in minimal code repetition.
  

  

• Tests using pytest are easy to understand as there is very little boiler-plate code.
• It supports fixtures and classes, which is why common test objects are available through the lifecycle of a module/class/function/session.
• pytest is extensible, and the Python testing framework already has a rich plugin architecture. There are currently 315+ external plugins with pytest.
• It supports parallel test execution through the pytest-xdist plugin.
• Asserts in pytest provide detailed information about the failure scenarios.

Cons of pytest

pytest is not compatible with other Selenium Python testing frameworks as it uses its own special routines for development. Rewriting the complete code is the only way to port an existing implementation using pytest to some other Python testing framework.

Is pytest The best Python Testing Framework For You?

You can choose pytest over the default Selenium Python framework i.e. unittest in case you are developing complex functional tests. Fixtures, Classes, and Parameterization can be extremely handy for automation test development.

2. Behave

Behave is one of the widely used Selenium Python testing frameworks for Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) testing. Behave uses the Gherkin language to develop scenarios and feature files. As Gherkin uses simply readable language for test case development, tests can also be created for non-technical personnel in the team, thus enabling a Business-Driven Development.

Using a BDD framework enables better communication between the team members as there is increased collaboration between engineers, managers, quality analysts, business development managers, and more. It is relatively easy to get started with a behavior-driven Python testing framework like Behave if you have a working knowledge of other BDD frameworks such as SpecFlow, Cucumber, Cucumber-JVM, etc.

As Behave is a BDD framework, it fundamentally differs from other Selenium Python testing frameworks such as unittest (or PyUnit), PyTest, etc. The latest version of Behave is 1.2.7.dev1

Pros Of Behave

Here are the advantages of using the Behave framework for test automation:

• It is easy to ramp up if the team has prior experience with any existing BDD framework such as SpecFlow, Cucumber, etc.
• Availability of environmental functions, configuration settings, fixtures, etc., enables easy setup & cleanup.
• Behave is supported with the PyCharm (Professional Edition).
• It supports integration with other web frameworks, such as Django and Flask.
• It has excellent support documentation and tutorials that can help start with behave framework.
• It is simpler to add newer test cases as tests consist of different scenario steps, scenario outcomes, feature files, and more.
• Apart from technical people, non-technical members can also play a vital role in developing test cases (or test scenarios).

Cons Of Behave

Below are some of the major cons of using the behave framework in Selenium test automation:

• It is not supported in the PyCharm (Community Edition).
• It is very difficult to share scenario steps (*_steps.py) between different feature files (*.feature) in Behave.
• There is no built-in support for parallel test execution, one of the primary requirements for automated browser testing.
• Behave can only be used for black-box testing.
• The plugin behave-parallel that facilitated parallel test execution with behave is now deprecated.

Is Behave The Most Python Testing Framework For You?

Behave framework is suited for web testing as test scenarios can be developed using simple English language. On the other hand, behavior is not ideal for integration testing as verbosity can lead to unnecessary complications in test scenarios.

Many developers prefer pytest-bdd, the BDD library for pytest. runner as it uses the good features available in pytest, hence suited for BDD testing.

3. Robot

Robot is another widely used Python testing framework for Selenium test automation, RPA (Robotic Process Automation), and ATDD (Acceptance Test Driven Development). It is an open-source and extensible Python testing framework. It can be easily integrated with any other tool, which makes it ideal for creating flexible automation testing solutions.

The Python testing framework is operating system and application independent i.e. the same implementation is compatible across different platforms, namely – Windows, Linux, and MacOS. The syntax of the robot framework is easy to understand as it uses human-readable keywords. The capabilities of the robot framework can be extended by libraries that are implemented in Selenium with Python. It has a rich ecosystem of libraries and tools developed as separate projects.

Pros of Robot Framework

Here are the advantages of using the Robot framework for Selenium test automation:

• You do not require programming knowledge to write test cases using the Robot framework.
• As the Python testing framework is platform and application-independent, no porting effort is required when executing code from one platform to another.
• It can be used for BDD, ATDD, and keyword-driven Selenium test automation.
• It is easy to get started with the Robot framework as the test data syntax can be used with ease.
• Robot framework has a rich library ecosystem e.g. Appium for mobile automation, database library for DB testing, etc., for testing different applications.
• It has a good built-in reporting mechanism, as an HTML log is generated after every build.

Cons of Robot

Below are some of the major cons of using the Robot framework:

• There is no in-built support for parallel test execution.
• Creating customized HTML reports is not an easy task.

Conclusion

In conclusion, selecting the right Python frameworks for test automation and CI/CD is crucial for ensuring efficient and effective software development. The top Python frameworks, such as pytest, Robot Framework, and others, provide robust solutions for automating tests, improving test coverage, and streamlining continuous integration and delivery pipelines. These frameworks help teams identify and fix bugs faster and contribute to faster development cycles and higher-quality software.

As the demand for agile and efficient testing continues to grow, leveraging the power of Python’s testing frameworks will play a pivotal role in keeping up with industry standards and delivering top-notch applications. By choosing the right tools, teams can ensure smoother, more reliable releases and stay ahead in a competitive market.