The Selenium IDE alternative for Chrome
RowPlay turns a recording into a bulk run: do the flow once, paste your rows from Excel, and it replays once per row — with dry run, retries, a results sheet and a built-in scheduler. No code export, no CI pipeline, no plugins. Selenium IDE is excellent for QA test authoring; here’s how the two compare if your goal is getting a spreadsheet of work done.
FREE · NO ACCOUNT · NO CODE EXPORT NEEDED
Short version: Selenium IDE is a free, open-source tool for QA engineers writing browser tests. Looping over a spreadsheet or running on a schedule means a plugin, exported code, or a cron job around its command-line runner. RowPlay builds both in: paste your rows, run them, and schedule the macro — all from the extension.
One macro. Every row of your spreadsheet.
Data-driven replay with nothing to export. Record the flow, paste your rows, run.
Three steps
- 1
Record the task once. Fill in the form the way you normally would. Each click and field becomes a step, shown in plain English.
- 2
Paste your rows from Excel and link each field to a column — or drop in a .xlsx or .csv file. A normal table with headers works.
- 3
Dry run, then Run remaining. Check the first row, then RowPlay does the rest, one row at a time, in your own browser.
Test before you commit
Dry run fills just the first row. If it worked, Run remaining carries on from row 2, so nothing is entered twice.
Retry only what failed
A failed row doesn’t stop the batch. Afterwards, one click re-runs just the rows that failed.
Resume after a crash
Progress is saved after every row. If the browser closes mid-run, pick up from the first row that didn’t run.
A results sheet
Your rows come back with a status column, the reason for any failure and any values you extracted — ready to paste into Excel.
Every kind of field
Text, dropdowns (including custom menus), checkboxes from yes/no columns, and fields that only appear when a box is ticked.
Values that fill themselves
{{today}}, {{row}} and {{random}} add dates, row numbers and unique codes without a column.
Full walkthrough: auto-fill web forms from Excel.
RowPlay vs Selenium IDE
| RowPlay | Selenium IDE | |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | Active and free, for Chrome and Firefox | Active, free & open source (Selenium project), Chrome + Firefox |
| How you build a test | Click record, use the page normally, stop | Record, then edit Selenese commands directly in the IDE |
| Looping over data | Paste rows from Excel, no setup — dry run, retry and a results sheet included | No built-in CSV import — needs a community plugin or exporting to code with your own data-loading logic |
| Extracting values | Add an Extract step, no syntax to learn | store / store text / store value commands, saved as variables |
| Running many rows unattended | Bulk replay across pasted rows, built in | Command-line runner (selenium-side-runner) for CI / cross-browser batches |
| Scheduling | Built in — 15 minutes to 24 hours, or custom | None — needs your own cron job or CI schedule around the command-line runner |
| Cost | Free, one tier, everything included | Free, open source, no paid tier at all |
| Account required | No | No |
If you're coming from Selenium IDE
Selenium IDE's Selenese commands are built for test authoring, with control-flow and assertions RowPlay doesn't try to replicate. If your actual goal is simpler — repeat the same flow once per spreadsheet row — the concepts still mostly line up:
store text / store value commands→An Extract step (reads text, or the value of an input)for each / while loop wrapping a CSV read→Paste your rows on the Data tab, one replay per row automaticallyif / else if conditional branches→“Only run if” conditions (an element exists, or a column is ticked), plus per-step retriesselenium-side-runner + your own cron/CI schedule→The built-in Schedule tab, no CI pipeline neededWhen Selenium IDE might suit you better
Where each tool fits
- You’re writing tests: assertions, cross-browser runs and CI reports are Selenium’s job. RowPlay is for getting work done in a website, not verifying a build.