Puppeteer by Google: Development History, Chrome Integration, and Its Place in Web Automation

Puppeteer is a Node.js library developed by Google's Chrome DevTools team to provide precise control over Chrome and Chromium browsers. It’s widely used for web automation tasks like scraping, and generating PDFs or screenshots. Released in 2017, Puppeteer is fast, reliable, and integrates directly with the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP), making it a popular choice among developers.

Headless Browser is widely used by professionals and automation enthusiasts on Latenode. Below, we explain and show who might need it, how it works, and how exactly you can simplify and improve your work with this tool on Latenode. Let's go!

Key Features:

Browser Control: Automate navigation and interactions.
DOM Manipulation: Extract and modify web content.
Network Handling: Intercept and optimize requests.
Page Rendering: Generate PDFs and screenshots.

Modern Web Automation with Puppeteer on Latenode

Check out Puppeteer-based Headless Browser on Latenode! Add code to automate data scraping from websites, taking screenshots of web pages, and performing any functions that Puppeteer allows. There is no need to install anything on your system!

Headless Browser offer a range of capabilities that you can control, including:

Search the Web using a Headless Browser: Just like how ChatGPT can browse the web, you can create a headless browser that conducts web searches automatically.
Parse Data from Webpages with a Headless Browser: Extract specific data from web pages, such as titles and headers.
Fill out Forms Using a Headless Browser: Automate the process of filling out web forms.
Make Screenshots with a Headless Browser: Capture screenshots of dynamic content on web pages.
Connect Headless Browser with any integrations on Latenode to simplify, speed up, and enhance your work!

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Why Puppeteer Stands Out:

Faster than Selenium in many tasks (e.g., scraping: 849ms vs. 1,009ms).
Supports headless mode for efficient, UI-free automation.
Integration with WebDriver BiDi enables cross-browser testing (Chrome and Firefox).

Comparisons:

Feature	Puppeteer	Selenium	Playwright	Cypress
Release Year	2017	2004	2020	2015
Programming	JavaScript	Multiple languages	Multiple languages	JavaScript
Browser Support	Chrome, Firefox	Chrome, Firefox, more	Chrome, Firefox, WebKit	Chrome, Firefox, Electron
Speed	Faster	Slower	Comparable	Slower
Best For	Scraping, automation	Cross-browser testing	Advanced testing	End-to-end testing

Puppeteer is ideal for fast and precise browser automation, though tools like Selenium, Playwright, and Cypress may be better for broader compatibility or specialized testing needs. It continues to evolve, with features like AI-driven testing and expanded browser support, shaping the future of web automation.

How Google Created Puppeteer

In 2017, Google's Chrome DevTools team introduced Puppeteer, a Node.js library designed for browser automation. The goal was to create a high-performance tool for automated browser testing, built around clear objectives.

Why Google Built Puppeteer

The Chrome Browser Automation team developed Puppeteer with these four main goals:

Objective	Description
Reference Implementation	Highlight the capabilities of Chrome DevTools and WebDriver BiDi protocols
Cross-browser Testing	Promote automated testing across multiple browsers
Feature Testing	Evaluate new DevTools Protocol and WebDriver BiDi features
Automation Research	Solve common issues in automated browser testing

"Provide a reference implementation that highlights the capabilities of the Chrome DevTools and WebDriver BiDi protocols."

Chrome Browser Automation team [4]

Performance was a top priority, resulting in a tool with minimal overhead [4]. This makes Puppeteer especially useful for large-scale testing and automation tasks.

Key Updates and Changes

Since its launch, Puppeteer has achieved several milestones. The library now boasts over 4.5 million weekly downloads for the main package [6] and 6.6 million weekly downloads for puppeteer-core [7], showing its strong adoption among developers.

In 2019, Puppeteer added support for Firefox [8]. Starting with version 23, it offers full Firefox support using WebDriver BiDi [5]. However, Firefox plans to phase out CDP support, with removal expected by the end of 2024 [8].

Puppeteer remains an open-source project with contributions from developers worldwide [9]. While Google's Chrome Browser Automation team oversees the core library, most contributions come from independent developers [9]. This collaborative approach has strengthened Puppeteer as a leading tool for browser automation, fostering a diverse community that tackles real-world automation needs.

How Puppeteer Works with Chrome DevTools Protocol

Chrome DevTools Protocol Basics

The Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) is the foundation of Puppeteer's browser automation. It allows developers to communicate directly with Chrome or Chromium browsers, unlocking a range of powerful features.

Puppeteer comes in two packages:

puppeteer-core: Focuses on handling communication with CDP APIs.
puppeteer: Builds on puppeteer-core, adding browser management tools for seamless interaction.

This separation ensures secure and efficient automation without slowing down performance. By leveraging CDP, Puppeteer provides detailed browser control.

Puppeteer's Use of CDP Features

Puppeteer uses CDP to give developers fine-tuned control over browser actions. Here's a breakdown of its key features:

Feature	Implementation	Use Case
Network Interception	Direct access to modify requests and responses	API testing and mocking responses
DOM Manipulation	Uses native browser APIs	Web scraping and extracting content
Performance Monitoring	Collects browser metrics via CDP	Optimizing page load performance
Code Coverage	Built-in instrumentation	Measuring testing efficiency
Accessibility Testing	Accesses the browser's accessibility tree	Ensuring compliance with accessibility standards

In February 2019, Jarrod Overson demonstrated CDP's traffic interception capabilities, showing how it can modify response bodies by configuring URL patterns and resource types.

Benefits of Using CDP

Puppeteer's direct integration with CDP brings several technical perks:

Faster execution with precise control over browser internals.
Enables breakpoints and detailed network analysis.
Offers granular control over browser behavior and network operations.

Unlike Selenium, which relies on the WebDriver protocol and adds an extra communication layer, Puppeteer's direct use of CDP allows quicker and more accurate browser interactions. This makes it ideal for tasks like automated testing and performance analysis.

For developers, Puppeteer simplifies complex workflows while maintaining access to advanced browser features, solidifying its place as a top choice for web automation.

Main Features and Applications

Puppeteer, tightly integrated with Chrome, serves a wide range of purposes - from data scraping to testing and creating visual reports.

Data Collection and Web Scraping

Puppeteer is highly effective for extracting data from dynamic websites. Its connection with the Chrome DevTools Protocol makes it well-suited for handling modern web applications.

Here are some tips for better web scraping:

Use custom user-agent headers to avoid bot detection.
Add delays between requests to mimic human behavior.
Rely on CSS selectors for accurate element targeting.
Include error handling to ensure smooth operation.

Community contributor Sourojit Das notes that Puppeteer offers a user-friendly API for controlling headless Chrome browsers [3].

But Puppeteer isn't just about data scraping - it also plays a key role in application testing.

Web Application Testing

Running in headless mode, Puppeteer reduces resource usage, making it ideal for testing. Here's what it can do:

Testing Type	Capabilities	Benefits
End-to-End Testing	Automates browser actions and user interactions	Validates complete user workflows
UI Testing	Compares screenshots and verifies elements	Maintains visual consistency
Form Testing	Fills out and submits forms automatically	Saves time on manual testing
Login Testing	Tests credentials and session management	Ensures security features work

These features also make Puppeteer a valuable tool for monitoring and improving website performance.

Website Speed Testing

Puppeteer provides tools to assess and optimize website performance. Using its network interception APIs, developers can serve static files locally to enhance speed and reliability [12].

Key performance metrics Puppeteer can track include:

Page load times
Resource loading speeds
JavaScript execution times
Network request patterns
Memory usage

PDF and Screenshot Creation

Puppeteer simplifies the creation of visual documentation with its PDF and screenshot tools, making it a popular choice for:

PDF Generation

Ideal for tasks like:

Automating report creation
Archiving documentation
Producing print-ready web content

Screenshot Creation

Useful for capturing:

Full-page views
Specific elements
Mobile device emulations
Custom viewport configurations

Its ability to operate efficiently in headless mode makes Puppeteer a go-to for high-volume automated tasks. Since its launch in 2017, it has gained traction among developers and QA professionals [11], offering performance advantages over older tools. Take a look at our templates to see how to use Headless Browser for scraping, data collection, and web page screenshotting on Latenode.

Puppeteer vs Alternative Tools

Let’s break down how Puppeteer stacks up against other tools to help you choose the right one for your project.

Puppeteer and Selenium Differences

Puppeteer, built on the Chrome DevTools Protocol, is generally faster and easier to use compared to Selenium. For instance, in one benchmark, Puppeteer completed a scraping task in 849.46ms, while Selenium took 1,008.08ms[2]. However, Selenium supports a wider range of browsers and programming languages, making it a more versatile choice for cross-browser testing.

Feature	Puppeteer	Selenium
Release Date	2017	2004
Language	JavaScript	Multiple (e.g., Python, Java, C#, etc.)
Browsers	Chrome/Chromium, Firefox	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, IE
Mobile Testing	No	Yes
Learning Curve	Lower	Higher
Execution Speed	Faster	Slower

While Puppeteer excels in speed and simplicity, Selenium’s broader browser compatibility and multi-language support make it a go-to for diverse testing environments.

Puppeteer and Playwright Comparison

Playwright offers some additional features over Puppeteer, such as support for more browsers (Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit) and multiple programming languages like JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, .NET, Java, and C#. Although Puppeteer is about 30% faster on short scripts[13], Playwright includes built-in parallel test execution, advanced auto-wait features, and tools that streamline test creation.

Capability	Puppeteer	Playwright
Parallel Testing	Requires extra setup	Built-in support
Performance Metrics	Detailed via Chrome DevTools	Available through tracing
Auto-wait	Limited	Comprehensive
Community Size	Larger and well-established	Growing

Puppeteer is faster for smaller tasks, but Playwright’s additional features and broader browser support may make it a better fit for more complex testing needs.

What's Next for Puppeteer

With over 208,000 users and 73,000 GitHub stars [16], Puppeteer has become a go-to tool in browser automation. This strong community presence shapes newer automation frameworks, focusing on speed and an improved developer experience. These advancements also pave the way for future integrations with AI and machine learning (ML) technologies.

AI and ML Integration Potential

AI and ML are set to expand Puppeteer's functionality in several areas:

Area	Current Approach	Future Potential
Testing Strategies	Manual test creation	AI-driven adaptive testing
Visual Testing	Basic screenshot comparison	ML-powered visual regression detection
Accessibility Testing	Standard ARIA checks	AI-enhanced compliance validation
Performance Analysis	Manual metric collection	Automated optimization suggestions

The development team is actively working on improving ARIA handler functionality [14], laying the groundwork for AI-powered accessibility testing. Alongside these AI advancements, Puppeteer is broadening its browser support to increase its flexibility in automation tasks.

Advancing Multi-Browser Support

Puppeteer is also making strides in cross-browser compatibility. As of March 2025, it supports Chrome, Chromium, and Firefox [1]. Key updates include:

Stable Firefox Support: Puppeteer has transitioned from a Chrome-only tool to a more flexible, cross-browser solution.
WebDriver BiDi Integration: Improved automation capabilities for both Chrome and Firefox through enhanced WebDriver BiDi support [15].
API Standardization: The team is categorizing unsupported APIs - whether tied to CDP, pending standards, or requiring implementation - to streamline multi-browser functionality [5].

User feedback is guiding efforts to close WebDriver BiDi gaps [5]. Upcoming improvements aim to enhance geolocation features, worker script execution, and accessibility testing across all supported browsers [5]. These updates ensure Puppeteer evolves to meet the diverse needs of web automation.

With these developments, Puppeteer is transforming from a Chrome-focused tool into a flexible, cross-browser automation platform while maintaining its hallmark performance and ease of use.

Puppeteer's Impact on Web Automation

Since its release in 2017, Puppeteer has set new benchmarks for browser control and testing efficiency, reshaping the web automation landscape [11]. By leveraging the Chrome DevTools Protocol, it delivers high performance, particularly in headless environments [10].

Puppeteer’s influence goes beyond its technical capabilities. Its user-friendly API has made precise browser control more accessible, inspiring the development of new automation tools [17].

Expert opinions highlight Puppeteer’s role in transforming web automation:

"At Mozilla we see this strategy of standardizing protocols in order to remove barriers to entry, allow a diverse ecosystem of interoperable implementations to flourish, and enable users to choose those best suited to their needs as a key part of our manifesto and web vision." [5]

Use Headless Browser on Latenode without the technical configuration! Add any code you need, connect it to other apps, and automated your work! Its consistent performance, ease of use, and protocol-based design continue to influence the development of web automation tools and practices [17].