No. 9 of 34 ·Browser Testing Software

BackstopJS

Mac · Linux · Self-hosted

Freedom report

Two barsScore 6.4

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely2 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

BackstopJS is ranked #9 of 34 in browser testing software on Freedom251. It runs on Linux, macOS, Self-hosted. There is a free plan.

BackstopJS plans and pricing

All plans

BackstopJS Free Open-source MIT-licensed project · install with npm github.com · 3 Oct 2026

Compared on browser testing software

Free plan: Yes

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The record

Purpose: BackstopJS automates visual regression testing of web apps by comparing screenshots over time.
Reports: It provides an in-browser report with reference, test, and visual-difference inspection, plus CLI and JUnit reports.
Browser engines: It supports Puppeteer and Playwright, with Playwright supporting Chromium, Firefox, or WebKit.
Interactions: Scenarios can simulate actions such as clicks, scrolling, hovering, key presses, and cookie state through scripts.
Capture targeting: It can capture the full document, viewport, or selected DOM elements at configured viewport sizes.
Workflow: Its documented workflow uses `backstop init`, `backstop test`, and `backstop approve` to configure tests, compare screenshots, and update reference images.
Integrations: The README describes CI reporting in JUnit format and integration with build systems such as Jenkins, Travis, and gulp.
Installation: It can be installed globally or locally with npm, used as a standalone CLI, or required from a Node.js app.
Rendering consistency: A Docker option runs tests in a BackstopJS container to reduce rendering differences across environments.
Limit: The README notes that Chrome Headless in Docker needs substantial memory and may otherwise produce timeout errors.
Security: The README recommends matching the Docker container user to the local environment to improve security and avoid file ownership problems.
License: GitHub identifies the project as MIT licensed.
Maintenance: The repository README says BackstopJS needs a new maintainer or owner.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Browser Testing Software in 2026#9 of 34
Best Visual Regression Testing Software in 2026#5 of 26

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Sources

github.com/garris/BackstopJS· checked 3 Oct 2026