Question 1

What is the difference between BackstopJS and Argos?

Accepted Answer

BackstopJS is a self-hosted tool: you describe scenarios in backstop.json, capture baselines to a local folder, and diff them on your machine or CI. Argos keeps the same idea but selects baselines from your Git history in the cloud, runs the comparison consistently across machines, and turns every change into a reviewable pull request check.

Question 2

Do I have to rewrite my backstop.json scenarios?

Accepted Answer

You translate them into a small Playwright test: scenario URLs and selectors become argosScreenshot() calls, and viewports become responsive viewports. The migration guide maps every BackstopJS concept to its Argos equivalent.

Question 3

Where do baselines and approvals live?

Accepted Answer

In the cloud. BackstopJS stores baselines in a local bitmaps_reference/ folder and approves with backstop approve on one machine. Argos stores baselines from your Git history and lets your whole team review and approve changes on the pull request, with full history.

Question 4

Is Argos also open source?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Like BackstopJS, Argos is open source. The difference is you no longer maintain the infrastructure: browsers, parallelization, storage, and pull request integration are handled for you.


Snapshot testing for any file Diff Markdown, JSON, HTML and more, not just images
Deployments & PR previews Host Storybook or any static build on a live URL
Collaborative reviews Pinned comments, threads, reactions, real-time presence
Agent-ready CLI & API Agents inspect and review builds from the CLI and REST API
Cloud baselines Selected from Git history, not a local folder
Pull request review & approval Shared review, not backstop approve on one machine
Managed infrastructure Browsers, storage, and parallelization handled
Playwright debugging Playwright trace viewer and failure screenshots
Playwright test retries Separate test retries to have a clear overview
GitHub SSO Synchronize your GitHub users with Argos
Spend Management Control your spendings by setting a budget limit
Open Source SDK and platform code available
GitHub integration without code access Offer a mode without content permission required
Sensitivity threshold per screenshot Set a threshold by screenshot to reduce flakiness		Global only
GitHub Actions partial re-runs Save time and resources with partial re-runs
High screenshot quality Don’t miss any detail with enhanced quality
Monitoring mode Run periodic checks on your website
Beautiful and intuitive UI Designed to be effective		Local HTML report

BackstopJS vs Argos

Why teams choose Argos

Well-crafted UI

Community driven

Open source

Integrate with your stack

Fine-grain access control

Dedicated support

Frequently Asked Questions

Supercharge your product quality