BackstopJS

BackstopJS vs Argos

Choose Argos if you want baselines from your Git history, a review on the pull request and stable captures from the tests you already have. Choose BackstopJS if everything must stay on your machines and you are fine maintaining it yourself; its last release dates from September 2024.

Read the migration guide

Choose Argos if

  • You want baselines picked from your Git history instead of committed images.
  • You want a team review on the pull request, with approvals and a GitHub check.
  • You want your Playwright or Cypress tests to take the screenshots, instead of separate scenario files.
  • You want a tool that ships updates: the last BackstopJS release is from September 2024.

Choose BackstopJS if

  • Nothing may leave your machines, so a hosted service is not an option.
  • Your suite is a list of URLs and selectors, and backstop.json covers it.
  • You don't need a team review workflow.
ArgosBackstopJS
Snapshot testing for any file
Diff Markdown, JSON, HTML and more, not just images		YesNo
Deployments & PR previews
Host Storybook or any static build on a live URL		YesNo
Collaborative reviews
Pinned comments, threads, reactions, real-time presence		YesNo
Agent-ready CLI & API
Agents inspect and review builds from the CLI and REST API		YesNo
Cloud baselines
Selected from Git history, not a local folder		YesNo
Pull request review & approval
Shared review, not backstop approve on one machine		YesNo
Managed infrastructure
Storage, comparison and parallel builds handled
YesNo
Playwright debugging
Playwright trace viewer and failure screenshots		YesNo
Playwright test retries
Separate test retries to have a clear overview		YesNo
GitHub SSO
Synchronize your GitHub users with Argos		YesNo
Spend Management
Control your spendings by setting a budget limit		YesNo
Open Source
SDK and platform code available		YesYes
GitHub integration without code access
Offer a mode without content permission required		YesNo
Sensitivity threshold per screenshot
Set a threshold by screenshot to reduce flakiness		YesGlobal only
GitHub Actions partial re-runs
Save time and resources with partial re-runs		YesNo
Monitoring mode
Run periodic checks on your website		YesNo

Sources for BackstopJS: BackstopJS on GitHub, BackstopJS releases on npm. Checked October 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between BackstopJS and Argos?

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, visit a page, screenshot it, diff it, 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.

Do I have to rewrite my backstop.json scenarios?

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.

Where do baselines and approvals live?

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.

Is Argos also open source?

Yes, under the MIT license. The difference is what you maintain: your tests still take the screenshots in CI, and Argos handles storage, comparison, parallel builds and the pull request integration.

Is BackstopJS still maintained?

Its last release, 6.3.25, came out in September 2024. It still works for what it does, but if your stack moves to newer Playwright or Node versions, you are the one keeping it running.

BackstopJS

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