We examine per action energy consumption across four web user interface (UI) automation testing frameworks to determine whether consistent tendencies can guide energy-aware test design. Using a controlled client-server setup with external power metering, we repeat each UI action (refresh, click variants, checkbox, drag&drop, input-text, scroll) 35 times. Across each of the actions, energy costs vary by both framework and action. Puppeteer is the most efficient for left-click, right-click, double-click, checkbox, and input-text; Selenium is the most efficient for refresh and scroll; Nightwatch is generally the least energy efficient. The energy cost of performing the same action varied by up to a factor of six depending on the framework. This indicates that providing transparency of energy consumption for UI automation testing frameworks allows developers to make informed, energy-aware decisions when testing a specific UI action.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2511.17303,
title = {Framework Matters: Energy Efficiency of UI Automation Testing Frameworks},
author = {Timmie M. R. Lagermann and Kristina Sophia Carter and Su Mei Gwen Ho and Luís Cruz and Kerstin Eder and Maja H. Kirkeby},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.17303},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
10 pages, 6 figures, submitted to The 41st ACM/SIGAPP Symposium On Applied Computing (SAC2026)