OpenAdaptOpenAdapt vs hand-written scripts
A script written with Playwright, Selenium or AutoHotkey is free, precise and under your control; if a developer owns it and it works, keep it. OpenAdapt fits when non-developers need to show the task instead of coding it, or when each save should be read back and a mismatch should stop. Its engine is open source too.
Updated 2026-10-18
Where scripts are stronger
- The whole stack is open source, with no license cost or vendor.
- Exact control over every step, wait and check.
- Large communities and years of answers.
- For a developer who owns one task, a small script is often the simplest answer.
By tool
- Playwright: the tool we'd use first for developer-owned browser automation.
- Selenium: the standards-based browser driver, with Grid for remote runs.
- AutoHotkey: fast Windows macros on one machine.
What OpenAdapt adds
- A program learned from a demonstration, so the person who does the task can show it.
- It reads the saved record back another way, where your system allows a second read, and says so when it can't.
- It stops on a mismatch or a look-alike record instead of guessing, and never retries a save it couldn't confirm.
- A plain result for every run, and a run record kept on your computer.
Which to choose
Keep the script when it works, a developer owns it and its failures are understood. Choose OpenAdapt when scripts have become unowned upkeep, or when a wrong save needs to be caught.
Related: API or screen automation · Start · How it works · All comparisons
See it on your process
Bring one task your team types every day. We'll tell you whether it fits, and what a test on your own system would cover.