Herd vs Selenium: A More Efficient Browser Automation Alternative

Selenium has been the industry standard for browser automation for many years, but its architecture presents significant challenges for modern development workflows. Herd offers a compelling alternative that addresses many of Selenium’s pain points while providing a more intuitive experience.

Quick Comparison

Key Differences in Depth

Driver and Infrastructure Requirements

Selenium:

• Requires installation and management of WebDrivers for each browser
• WebDrivers must be kept in sync with browser versions
• Separate browser instances for automation
• Complex setup in CI/CD environments
• High resource usage (separate process for each browser)

Herd:

• No WebDrivers or separate drivers needed
• Works directly with your installed browser
• No version synchronization issues
• Simple setup in any environment
• Low resource usage (shares existing browser process)

Setup and Installation Process

# JavaScript
npm install @monitoro/herd

# Python
pip install herd-client

# Then install the browser extension and connect your browser
# That's it! No WebDrivers or browser drivers to manage

Browser Support and Consistency

Selenium:

• Supports all major browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and IE
• Requires separate WebDriver configurations for each browser
• May exhibit inconsistent behavior across different browsers
• Requires updates when browsers update

Herd:

• Supports Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera
• Uniform behavior across supported Chromium-based browsers
• No additional configuration needed for different browsers

Authentication and Session Handling

Selenium:

• Sessions are isolated and temporary
• Requires manually handling authentication steps
• Session storage is cleared between runs
• Difficult to use existing authenticated sessions

Herd:

• Uses your browser’s existing authenticated sessions
• Access sites you’re already logged into
• Persistent cookies and storage
• Access to browser extensions that manage authentication

Use Case Comparisons

Web Testing

// JavaScript
import { HerdClient } from '@monitoro/herd';

async function runTest() {
  // Connect to your existing browser
  const client = new HerdClient('your-token');
  await client.initialize();
  const devices = await client.listDevices();
  const device = devices[0];
  
  // Create a new page for testing
  const page = await device.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  
  // Test interactions
  await page.click('.nav-item');
  await page.waitForSelector('.content-loaded');
  
  // Assert condition
  const header = await page.$('.header');
  const text = await header.getText();
  console.assert(text.includes('Expected Text'), 'Header text verification failed');
  
  // Cleanup
  await page.close();
  await client.close();
}

runTest();

Data Extraction

// JavaScript
import { HerdClient } from '@monitoro/herd';

async function extractData() {
  const client = new HerdClient('your-token');
  await client.initialize();
  const devices = await client.listDevices();
  const device = devices[0];
  
  const page = await device.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com/products');
  
  // Extract product data with a single call
  const products = await page.extract({
    items: {
      _$r: '.product-card',  // Repeat for each product card
      name: '.product-name',
      price: '.product-price',
      rating: '.product-rating',
      inStock: '.stock-status'
    }
  });
  
  console.log(products.items);
  await client.close();
}

extractData();

Migration Guide: From Selenium to Herd

Transitioning from Selenium to Herd is straightforward. Here’s a guide to help you migrate your existing code:

1. Installation

1. Install the Herd SDK:

   # JavaScript
   npm install @monitoro/herd
   
   # Python
   pip install herd-client
   

2. Install the Herd browser extension in your preferred browser

3. Register your browser as a device in the Herd dashboard

2. Code Migration

3. Handling Multiple Browsers

Selenium:

const chrome = await new Builder().forBrowser('chrome').build();
const firefox = await new Builder().forBrowser('firefox').build();

Herd:

// Connect to different browsers that are registered as devices
const chromiumDevice = devices.find(d => d.name === 'Chrome Browser');

Why Choose Herd Over Selenium?

1. No WebDriver Headaches

Herd eliminates the need for WebDrivers, solving the most common Selenium pain points:

• No driver version compatibility issues
• No driver installation or updates needed
• No broken tests due to browser updates

2. Use Existing Authentication

With Herd, you can automate tasks in your already authenticated browser:

• No need to write and maintain authentication code
• Access to sites requiring complex authentication
• Use existing cookies, local storage, and sessions

3. Simplified Setup and Maintenance

Herd significantly reduces the overhead of browser automation:

• No complex CI/CD configuration
• No driver path management
• No browser version tracking

4. Intuitive API for Modern Development

Herd provides:

• Clean, Promise-based API
• Powerful data extraction capabilities
• Better debugging experience (view automation in your browser)

Customer Testimonials

“We spent hours every month maintaining our Selenium WebDrivers across different environments. With Herd, that maintenance overhead disappeared completely.” – Michael K., QA Lead

“The biggest pain point with Selenium was always authentication flows. Herd’s ability to use our existing browser sessions eliminated that problem entirely.” – Jennifer R., Test Automation Engineer

Get Started with Herd Today

Ready to try a more efficient alternative to Selenium? Get started with Herd:

1. Create a Herd account
2. Install the browser extension
3. Connect your browser
4. Run your first automation

Discover how Herd can simplify your browser automation workflows while eliminating the most common frustrations of working with Selenium.