A Cypress alternative for web and native mobile apps
mini vs Cypress.
Cypress runs your front-end team’s browser tests. mini adds native apps and writes its own.
| Capability | Cypress | mini |
|---|---|---|
| Writes the tests itself | With cy.prompt, in beta | A scenario and its acceptance criteria |
| Keeps them current as the app changes | cy.prompt self-heals steps, in beta | Automatic with GitHub; via your coding agent otherwise |
| Flags issues no test asked about | UI/UX suggestions, never blocking | |
| iOS, Android and web | Web only | No desktop Safari or Edge |
| Physical phones | Runs in browsers | iPhones (TestFlight) and Android phones, on request |
| Hundreds of device models | Few models: simulators, emulators, some phones | |
| Video, repro steps and fix prompt by default | Time travel, screenshots and Test Replay | Plus steps to reproduce |
| Same path on every run | Path varies; criteria stay fixed | |
| Open source, free to self-host | A hosted service |
Same release. Different hands.
One pull request renames Pay, with a new test ID. Your team edits the Cypress test; mini edits its own.
Pick the one that fits.
Checked against Cypress’s public docs on 5 October 2026.
Pick Cypress if…
- Your front-end team lives in Cypress and its interactive runner.
- You want component tests beside your end-to-end tests.
- Your product is web only, and will stay that way.
Pick mini if…
- You ship native iOS and Android apps beside the web app.
- Keeping selectors current takes time your team doesn’t have.
- Your journeys leave the browser: another app, a second phone.
Keep components. Give mini the journeys.
Keep component tests
They belong in Cypress, next to the code.
Hand mini the journeys
Sign-up, checkout and the flows across apps and phones.
Retire by upkeep
Once mini covers a journey, retire the test you edit most.
Can mini run alongside Cypress?
Yes. mini doesn’t touch your Cypress setup. Run both on the same builds, and retire a Cypress test only once mini covers it.
Is an agent less predictable than a script?
Yes, the path can vary: mini picks each action from the screen. The acceptance criteria stay fixed; an ungradable run is marked Unprocessable, never guessed.
Does mini do component testing?
No. mini tests the running app from the outside, like a user. Keep component tests in Cypress.
Which browsers does mini test?
Chrome and Firefox at desktop, tablet and mobile sizes, Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android. Not Edge.
Keep Cypress. Add your mobile apps.
Bring a build of your app. We’ll show you mini’s report on it.