Softwr

APIs · head to head

Convoy vs Selenium

Convoy logo

Convoy

APIs

Open source webhooks gateway you self-host, handling both sending and receiving

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Selenium logo

Selenium

Testing

Browser automation framework and the W3C WebDriver standard

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Convoy the default deployment is self-hosted, so you operate Convoy plus Postgres and Redis and carry the on-call burden for the system that delivers your customers' events.; Selenium flaky tests are the standing complaint: explicit waits and synchronisation are the tester’s job, where newer tools handle it automatically
  • They diverge on capability: Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Selenium covers W3C WebDriver.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Convoy and Selenium actually diverge.

Attributes where Convoy and Selenium differ
AttributeConvoySelenium
Pricing modelPer month, flat rate regardless of volumeOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudLinux, macOS, Windows, Web
CategoryAPIsTesting

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Convoy

  • Inbound and outbound
  • Broker-driven ingestion
  • Payload transformation
  • Portal links
  • Circuit breaking
  • Retry policies
  • OpenTelemetry export
  • Role-based access control

Only in Selenium

  • W3C WebDriver
  • Many language bindings
  • Selenium Grid
  • Broad browser support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Convoy

  • A fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party SaaS for compliance reasonsnot Selenium
  • A high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licencenot Selenium
  • A team that also receives webhooks from many providers and wants ingestion, verification and deduplication in the same gatewaynot Selenium
  • An engineering group that wants webhook delivery driven directly from an existing Kafka or SQS topicnot Selenium

Selenium

  • Cross-browser testing where Safari and legacy browsers must be coverednot Convoy
  • Teams whose test suites are written in Java or C# rather than JavaScriptnot Convoy
  • Distributing a large suite across a grid of machinesnot Convoy

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Convoy

  • The default deployment is self-hosted, so you operate Convoy plus Postgres and Redis and carry the on-call burden for the system that delivers your customers' events.
  • Frain Technologies is a small startup, and putting customer-facing delivery infrastructure on it means accepting real vendor continuity risk on a component that is hard to swap out quickly.
  • The premium tier at a flat 999 US dollars a month is poor value below substantial volume, while the community edition omits the portal, transformations and RBAC that most production deployments end up wanting.
  • The hosted cloud trial is capped at one project and 100 events a day, which is too small to properly evaluate the service before committing.
  • Documentation and the third-party ecosystem are thinner than the established webhook services, so unusual configurations often mean reading the Go source.

Selenium

  • Flaky tests are the standing complaint: explicit waits and synchronisation are the tester’s job, where newer tools handle it automatically
  • Setup involves drivers, versions and grid infrastructure that Playwright and Cypress bundle away
  • Slower to run than tools that talk to browsers over a debugging protocol rather than WebDriver

Pricing, plan by plan

Convoy

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Self-hosted open source gateway
    • Inbound and outbound webhooks
    • Automatic retries and message broker support
  • Premium$999/month
    • Flat rate irrespective of message volume
    • Portal links and payload transformation
    • RBAC, circuit breaking and white labelling
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • SAML SSO
    • Dedicated support with SLA
    • On-premises deployment assistance
  • Cloud$undefined/month
    • Hosted by Convoy
    • 14 day trial limited to one project and 100 events a day
    • Usage-based tiers above the trial

Selenium

Free
  • SeleniumFree
    • Full functionality
    • Unlimited tests
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Convoy if

  • You need inbound and outbound.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want broker-driven ingestion.
Convoy review

Choose Selenium if

  • You need w3c webdriver.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Web.
  • You also want many language bindings.
Selenium review

Questions people ask

Is Convoy or Selenium better?
Neither clearly leads. Convoy starts at Free and Selenium at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Convoy or Selenium?
Convoy starts at Free and Selenium at Free.
Does Convoy or Selenium run on more platforms?
Convoy runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Selenium runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Web.
Can I use Convoy for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Convoy best used for?
Convoy is most often used for a fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party saas for compliance reasons, a high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licence, a team that also receives webhooks from many providers and wants ingestion, verification and deduplication in the same gateway, an engineering group that wants webhook delivery driven directly from an existing kafka or sqs topic. Of those, a fintech that cannot route customer webhook traffic through a third-party saas for compliance reasons and a high-volume platform for which per-message webhook pricing costs more than the flat premium licence are not what Selenium is typically brought in for.
What can Convoy do that Selenium cannot?
Convoy covers Inbound and outbound, Broker-driven ingestion, Payload transformation, Portal links. Selenium covers W3C WebDriver, Many language bindings, Selenium Grid, Broad browser support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Convoy: Is Convoy really open source?

Yes, the community edition is open source and self-hostable, covering both inbound and outbound webhooks with retries.

Selenium: Is Selenium free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee. Paid costs come from grid infrastructure or services like BrowserStack.

Convoy: What does premium cost?

A flat 999 US dollars a month, self-hosted, regardless of message volume.

Selenium: Selenium or Playwright?

Playwright handles waiting automatically and is faster to set up, which removes most flakiness complaints. Selenium wins on language breadth, browser coverage including Safari, and existing suites you already have.

Convoy: Does it receive webhooks as well as send them?

Yes, inbound ingestion with verification and deduplication is a first-class feature, unlike most webhook services.

Selenium: Is Selenium still relevant?

Yes. Its WebDriver protocol is a W3C standard implemented by every major browser, and very large existing suites are not rewritten cheaply.

Convoy: Do I have to self-host?

No, there is a hosted cloud, but the trial is capped at 100 events a day and self-hosting is the primary model.

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