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Last updated on : 09 Jan 2026

Using Selenium 4 on Pcloudy

Overview

Selenium 4 is the latest major release of Selenium that brings improved performance, better W3C compliance, enhanced browser support, and a modern WebDriver architecture.

Pcloudy fully supports Selenium 4, allowing you to run your web automation tests on real browsers and operating systems without managing any infrastructure.

Why Selenium 4 on Pcloudy?

• Fully W3C WebDriver compliant
• Supports latest Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari
• Better browser stability and performance
• Seamless execution on real desktop browsers
• Easy integration with existing Selenium 4 scripts

New Features in Selenium 4

Selenium 4 introduces several improvements that enhance usability, stability, and performance for modern web test automation.

1. Improved User Experience

Selenium 4 comes with a more refined and responsive user interface, making test execution and management smoother and more intuitive for testers.

Benefit:
Easier navigation and better overall testing experience.

2. Enhanced Scripting Capabilities

New locator strategies and stronger support for modern web technologies such as Angular and React allow testers to create more reliable and maintainable automation scripts.

Benefit:
Improved script stability for dynamic web applications.

3. Better Debugging and Diagnostics

Selenium 4 provides enhanced logging, screenshot capture, and error reporting, helping testers quickly identify and resolve issues during test execution.

Benefit:
Faster troubleshooting and reduced debugging time.

4. Reliable Cross-Browser Testing

By fully adopting W3C WebDriver standards, Selenium 4 ensures consistent behavior across all major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari.

Benefit:
More predictable and consistent cross-browser test results.

5. Backward Compatibility

Existing Selenium 3 test scripts continue to work with Selenium 4 with minimal or no changes, allowing teams to upgrade smoothly.

Benefit:
No major rework required for existing automation suites.

6. Improved Grid and WebDriver Performance

Selenium 4 introduces a redesigned Selenium Grid and optimized WebDriver communication, improving execution speed and stability—especially for complex test scenarios across multiple browsers and operating systems.

Benefit:
Better performance and scalability for parallel and large-scale test executions.

Prerequisites

Before running Selenium 4 tests on Pcloudy, ensure:

• Selenium version 4.x
• Pcloudy account
• API Access Key from PCloudy
• Supported programming language (Java, Python, JS, C#)

Getting API Access Key

1. Log in to Pcloudy

2. Open Quick Actions (bottom-left corner)

3. Copy your API Access Key

4. To regenerate:

   1. Go to Profile → Generate new API key

Important Note for Selenium 4

Selenium 4 uses W3C WebDriver protocol by default.
Pcloudy is fully compatible, so no additional configuration is required.

How to Run Selenium 4 Tests on Pcloudy

You only need to:

1. Set Pcloudy Selenium 4 capabilities

Example

Java

package com.Pcloudy.testNg;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.time.Duration;
import java.util.HashMap;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.http.ClientConfig;

public class Driver {
RemoteWebDriver driver;
public RemoteWebDriver createDriver() throws IOException{

String cloudBaseUrl= "https://browser.device.pcloudy.com";
String seleniumHub= "/seleniumcloud/wd/hub";

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setCapability("browserName", "chrome");

HashMap<String, Object> pcloudyOptions = new HashMap<String, Object>();
pcloudyOptions.put("userName", "Enter - Email");
pcloudyOptions.put("accessKey", "Enter-API-Key");
pcloudyOptions.put("clientName", "Enter-Client-Name");
pcloudyOptions.put("os", "MAC");
pcloudyOptions.put("osVersion", "Ventura");
pcloudyOptions.put("browserVersion", "120");
pcloudyOptions.put("local", false);
pcloudyOptions.put("seleniumVersion", "4.18.1");

capabilities.setCapability("pcloudy:options", pcloudyOptions);
System.out.println(capabilities);
driver= new RemoteWebDriver(new URL(cloudBaseUrl+ seleniumHub), capabilities);
System.out.println("Driver created" + driver);
return driver;
}
}

Summary

Selenium 4 delivers a more stable, scalable, and future-ready automation framework by improving user experience, debugging capabilities, cross-browser consistency, and performance—while maintaining backward compatibility with existing tests.