Currents

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Introduction

Currents records CI test runs and shows them in a hosted dashboard. The product is aimed at Playwright: traces, tags, annotations, shard progress, and flake detection are first-class. A reporter plugin sends results from the test process; Currents stores the run, the trace, and the history. It can also orchestrate which tests each CI machine executes so a sharded Playwright suite does not rely only on Playwright’s built-in split.

Currents grew out of the same problem Sorry Cypress tackled, an open-source stand-in for the old Cypress Dashboard. Sorry Cypress remains a separate MIT project. Currents is the commercial service. It still accepts Cypress results, but only through Cypress 12.17.4. The company is not publishing a permanent free tier on the current pricing page.

Features

1. Playwright reporter: The plugin uploads results and traces. You open a failed test in the dashboard and get the trace without downloading CI artifacts.
2. Tags and annotations: Playwright tags and annotations are searchable and filterable on the run.
3. Sharding and orchestration: Tests can be split across CI machines. The dashboard shows build progress while shards are still running.
4. Flake detection: A test that passes on retry, or that flips across runs, is called out so it is not treated as a one-off failure.
5. Other reporters: Jest from 29.5.0, and JUnit-style output from Vitest, WebdriverIO, Postman, and the Node.js test runner. Cypress is supported from 6.7.0 through 12.17.4.
6. Actions and integrations: Currents Actions and notification integrations sit on top of the recorded runs. The pricing page lists SOC 2 Type 2.
7. AI fix assist: The Scale plan includes an “fix tests with AI” feature. Treat generated patches as a suggestion and review the diff.
8. Retention and seats: Listed plans include 50 users, unlimited projects, and up to one year of data retention. Read-only guests are free and do not consume a user seat.

Pros

1. Playwright traces are the useful artifact: A dashboard that already stored the trace saves a trip through CI logs.
2. Shard progress is visible: You can see which machine is still running instead of waiting for every job to finish before any report exists.
3. Flakes get a name: Retries that hide a red build still show up as flakes, which is the data you need before deleting a test.
4. More than one framework: A repo that is mid-migration can send Playwright and older Cypress, or Jest, into one project.
5. Overage matches the plan rate: Currents bills extra test results at the same per-test price as the plan, not a higher penalty rate. Annual plans pool the year’s allowance and are listed as two months free.

Cons

1. There is no free plan on the current price page: Scale starts at $49 per month for 10,000 test results. A hobby suite still pays or stays on local reporters.
2. Cypress support is frozen: Cypress 13 and later are outside the stated range (v6.7.0 to v12.17.4). New Cypress work should not assume Currents will record it.
3. It is not the test runner: Playwright still executes the tests. Currents is blind if the reporter is not configured or the token is missing.
4. Volume is easy to underestimate: A result is a passed or failed test; retries of that test count once. A matrix of shards times projects still adds up, and the meter is monthly unless you are on an annual pool.
5. Vendor storage: Traces that include request bodies and DOM snapshots leave your CI system. Enterprise is the tier that lists self-host and bring-your-own storage.

Usage and Links (Example)

For Playwright, install the Currents reporter and point playwright.config at it with the project id and a CI key. The exact package name and config keys are in the Currents docs and change with reporter versions; do not copy a stale snippet from a blog. The shape is:

npm install --save-dev @currents/playwright

// playwright.config excerpt
reporter: [
  ["@currents/playwright", { ciBuildId: process.env.CURRENTS_CI_BUILD_ID }],
],

Set the record key in CI secrets. Run the suite as you already do. The reporter uploads when the key is present.

Resources:

• Currents website
• Pricing
• Plans and pricing docs

Pricing

From currents.dev/pricing (the July 2026 redesign that renamed Team to Scale):

1. Scale: $49 per month for 10,000 test results, then $4.90 per extra 1,000. 50 users, unlimited projects, up to one year retention. Includes orchestration, flake detection, and the listed integrations. Higher self-serve tiers go up to 500,000 results a month at a lower per-test rate.
2. Business: $99 per month for the same 10,000 results, then $9.90 per extra 1,000. Adds SAML SSO, SCIM, and priority support.
3. Enterprise: Custom volume. Adds custom terms, a security review, an SLA, data redaction, self-host, bring-your-own storage, and dedicated Slack support.
4. Annual: Listed as two months free, with the year’s results pooled instead of resetting each month.

A test result is one passed or failed test. Retries of that test count as a single result. Guest users with read-only access are not billed as users.

Recommended for?

1. Playwright suites in CI that already hurt to debug from logs alone.
2. Sharded pipelines that need a single progress view and a deliberate split of tests across machines.
3. Teams measuring flakes before they invest in rewriting waits.
4. Cypress 12 holdouts who still record to a dashboard. Do not pick Currents for a new Cypress 13+ suite without checking that support has moved.

Conclusion

Currents is a paid Playwright reporting and orchestration service with a clear meter: results in, traces and flake data out. Start from the $49 Scale plan only if the suite is large enough that CI artifacts are failing you. Keep Sorry Cypress in mind if you wanted the old open-source Cypress dashboard; it is not the same product, and Currents will not record current Cypress majors until the docs say so.