Cypress is a browser-based end-to-end testing framework that runs tests in the same event loop as the application under test — which sounds esoteric but means tests can intercept network requests, manipulate cookies, and assert on DOM state without the timing flakiness Selenium became famous for. Cypress 13.x added component testing for React, Vue, and Angular, plus parallel test execution.
For most projects in 2026, Playwright has overtaken Cypress for new browser-test work because it handles multiple tabs, workers, and cross-browser coverage more cleanly. Cypress still has a strong developer experience, particularly for component testing and for teams whose existing test suite is already invested in the platform.