3.5Choosing the Right Tool

Scenario	Recommended Tool	Rationale
Already using Playwright	Playwright built-in	Zero additional dependencies
Storybook-heavy workflow	Chromatic (commercial) or Loki (OSS)	Component-level testing
Simple project, quick setup	BackstopJS	Configuration-driven, no code needed
Next.js project	Lost Pixel	Built for Next.js + Storybook
Custom pipeline, self-hosted	reg-suit	Flexible storage backends
Need AI-powered diffing	Chromatic or Percy (commercial)	OSS tools use pixel diff only

The open-source tools all share the same fundamental limitation: pixel-diff comparison. They will produce false positives on font rendering differences, anti-aliasing, and sub-pixel positioning. Commercial tools (Percy, Chromatic, Applitools) layer AI on top to reduce this noise. For most teams, starting with Playwright's built-in screenshots and upgrading to a commercial tool when false positives become painful is the right progression.