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Life & fun · December 16, 2013

Helium - Simple web automation

Hi everyone, I'm working for a startup called BugFree Software and would love to hear your feedback on a new product we are launching today. Helium is a library that wraps around Selenium to simplify web automation. It does away with many of the technicalities involved with web scripting. For example: Here is a Selenium script. Can you guess what it does? >>> ff = Firefox() ... >>> text_area = ff.find_element_by_id("u_0_1q") >>> text_area.send_keys("Hello World!") >>> button = ff.find_element_by_class_name("_42g-") >>> button.click() Here is the same script rewritten using Helium: >>>…

Helium - Simple web automation launched on December 16, 2013 with 48 votes, #389 of 927 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 12 years on.

Visit heliumhq.com ↗Alternatives

In plain words

Helium is a Python library that simplifies web automation by wrapping Selenium and removing technical complexity. It allows developers to write browser automation scripts using plain, readable commands instead of low-level element selectors and methods. For example, instead of finding elements by ID and class name, users can directly write text into named fields and click buttons. The tool is designed for developers and testers who need to automate web interactions with cleaner, more maintainable code.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Lighter web automation with Python. Contribute to mherrmann/helium development by creating an account on GitHub.

In the maker’s words, at launch

Hi everyone, I'm working for a startup called BugFree Software and would love to hear your feedback on a new product we are launching today. Helium is a library that wraps around Selenium to simplify web automation. It does away with many of the technicalities involved with web scripting. For example: Here is a…

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