What's the Latest Version of Selenium

The Latest Versions Selenium:

Latest Version of Selenium – Stay Updated with the Newest Release

If you're working with automated testing, keeping up with the latest version of Selenium is crucial. Selenium continuously evolves with updates that enhance browser compatibility, automation capabilities, and overall performance.

What is the Latest Version of Selenium?

As of July 2026, the latest stable version of Selenium is Selenium 4.46.0, released on July 11, 2026. This release brings improvements to Selenium Manager, the BiDi protocol, WebDriver, and Selenium Grid, along with better browser support, making test automation even more efficient. Selenium keeps the same version number across all of its officially supported language bindings, so 4.46.0 is the current release for Java, Python, C#/.NET, JavaScript, and Ruby.

Latest Selenium Versions by Language Binding

Selenium ships the same version number across all of its officially supported language bindings, so whichever language you automate in, the latest stable release is 4.46.0. The table below shows each binding and the package manager you use to install or upgrade it:

You can always confirm the current release and download files directly from the official Selenium Downloads page or review the full changelog on the Selenium GitHub Releases page.

What's New in Selenium 4: Selenium Manager and Native BiDi

Beyond routine version bumps, the Selenium 4 line introduced two features that reshaped day-to-day automation:

• Selenium Manager: A built-in tool (written in Rust) that automatically discovers, downloads, and configures the correct browser drivers such as ChromeDriver and GeckoDriver. It removes the need for third-party helpers like WebDriverManager or manual driver downloads, so tests run with far less setup.
• Native BiDi (Bidirectional) support: Selenium 4 adds the W3C WebDriver BiDi protocol for two-way communication with the browser. This enables real-time monitoring of browser events, network interception, console logs, and more, complementing the earlier Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) integration.
• Relative locators and a modernized Grid: Selenium 4 also added human-friendly relative locators (above, below, near) and rebuilt Selenium Grid with Docker, Kubernetes, and observability support.

The most recent release, Selenium 4.46.0, continues this direction with a security-hardening fix in Selenium Manager and further unification of the BiDi layer across the JavaScript and Ruby bindings.

Selenium 3 vs. Selenium 4: Core Architectural Differences

The most important change from Selenium 3 to Selenium 4 is the communication protocol between your test code and the browser:

• Selenium 3 used the JSON Wire Protocol. Commands were encoded and sent through an extra translation layer, because browsers did not natively speak the same protocol Selenium used. That encoding and decoding step could introduce inconsistencies across browsers.
• Selenium 4 is fully W3C WebDriver standardized. The W3C WebDriver protocol is implemented natively by modern browsers, so Selenium 4 talks to Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari directly, without the extra translation layer.

In practice, this shift makes tests more stable and predictable across different browsers, reduces flaky behavior caused by protocol mismatches, and improves execution speed. Because the JSON Wire Protocol is deprecated, teams still running Selenium 3 should plan an upgrade to stay compatible with current browser versions.

Selenium Version Compatibility: Java 8 Support and Deprecations

If you automate with Java, one compatibility change matters more than any other: Selenium no longer supports Java 8.

• Java 8 is no longer supported. Early Selenium 4 releases still ran on Java 8, but Selenium dropped Java 8 support on September 30, 2023. This applies to both the Java bindings and Selenium Grid.
• Java 11 is the minimum. Java 11 is now the lowest supported version, mainly because Selenium moved to the native Java 11+ HTTP client. Many teams go a step further and run an LTS release such as Java 17 for longer-term support.
• Other deprecations to watch. Selenium has phased out legacy pieces across the 4.x cycle, including moving Firefox away from the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) toward the standardized WebDriver BiDi protocol.

Before upgrading to a current Selenium version, confirm your project runs on Java 11 or newer. Staying on a supported runtime keeps you eligible for fixes, security updates, and compatibility with the newest browser releases.

How to Check Your Selenium Version?

If you're not sure which Selenium version you're using, run the following command in your terminal or command prompt:

For Python:

import selenium
print(selenium.__version__)

For Java:

Check your pom.xml (Maven) or build.gradle (Gradle) file for the Selenium dependency version. If you're using an older version, it's time to upgrade!

How to Download or Upgrade to the Latest Version of Selenium?

Updating to the latest version of Selenium ensures better stability, compatibility, and performance. Here’s how you can update:

For Python (Selenium WebDriver):

pip install -U selenium

For Java (Maven Users):

Update your pom.xml file:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
    <artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
    <version>4.46.0</version>
</dependency>

For JavaScript (Node.js):

npm install selenium-webdriver@latest

Once updated, restart your test framework to ensure you're running the latest version of Selenium.

Why Should You Update to the Latest Version of Selenium?

• Faster execution and optimized WebDriver APIs.
• Compatibility with the newest browser versions.
• Enhancements in Selenium Grid, debugging tools, and automation efficiency.