Automation Testing Tools
In our last blog, we talked at length about automation testing and how it contributes largely to the software development. However, one of the biggest challenges in automation testing is choosing the right automation tool. In this blog we will discuss in detail about various types of automation tools available in the market. We will discuss how these tools can be classified and how you should choose the best tool for you. At the end, we will also present a list of most commonly used and useful test-automation available in the market.
Different Types of Test Automation Tools
Test automation tools can be classified into many categories as discussed below:
Codeless vs. code-based vs. hybrid tools
Few test automation tools require coding skills, and few don’t. There are also hybrid tools that bring together the best of both worlds. They allow testers and other professionals with no coding skills to create test cases with the use of some visual tool and then can enhance those test cases with the use of a language such as JavaScript.
Commercial vs. open source
When it comes to pricing schemes and licenses there are variety of test automation tools. Few tools are completely free/open source and others are closed source but offer free versions or at least a free trial. Additionally, it’s been increasingly common for test automation tools to be offered in a SaaS model, in which the client pays a monthly or an annual subscription.
Desktop vs web vs mobile
Test automation tools also differ when it comes to the different types of software they support. You can have tools that target desktop applications for example windows-based tools. On the other hand, few tools are specifically designed to target handheld devices. Nowadays, it’s more common to immediately think of web and mobile apps when testing tools come up and choose a tool that fits the requirement better.
Production vs. non-production testing
Nowadays it is common and beneficial to perform some kinds of testing on the application after it is in production. Techniques such as synthetic and non-synthetic monitoring, chaos engineering, A/B testing, canary releases, load testing and performance testing in production are a few that come to mind.
Select the Right Automation Testing Tool
Selecting the right tool is essential for test automation. There are a lot of automation testing tools on the market, and it is important to choose the automated testing tool that best suits your overall requirements.
You can consider the following key points when selecting an automated testing tool:
- Support of platforms and technology– Are you testing .Net, C# or WPF applications and on what operating systems? Are you going to test web applications? Do you need support for mobile application testing? Do you work with Android or iOS, or do you work with both operating systems?
- Feature-rich but also easy to create automated tests– Check the supported features such as record-and-playback test creation, manual creation of automated tests, implementing checkpoints to verify values, databases, or key functionality of your application?
- Create automated tests that are reusable, maintainable, and resistant to changes in the application’s UI.
- Integrate with your existing ecosystem- Does your tool integrate with your CI/CD pipeline such as Jenkins or Azure DevOps? Or your test management framework such as Zephyr?
- Ability to test enterprise applications Does your tool offer out-of-the box support to test packaged applications such as SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, and Workday?
Top automation testing tools
Here is a comprehensive list of the best Test Automation tools for your convenience. You can research and finalize the best fit for your project.
Selenium
Selenium is a popular open-source web automation tool. It is one of the best QA automation tools that can automate across multiple OS Like Windows, Mac, and Linux and browsers like Firefox, Chrome, IE, as well as headless browsers. Selenium test script can be written in programming languages like Python, Java, C#, Scala, Groovy, Ruby, Perl, PHP, and JavaScript.
Selenium is often used for regression testing. It offers testers a playback tool that allows them to record and playback regression tests. In fact, Selenium is not a single tool but rather a suite of software that includes various tools (or components):
- Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
- Selenium WebDriver
- Selenium client API
- Selenium Remote Control
- Selenium Grid
Pros
- Selenium is an open-Source Software.
- Selenium supports various programming languages to write Test scripts
- Selenium supports various operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Macintosh etc.
- Selenium supports various Browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, IE, Opera, Safari etc…
- Selenium supports Parallel Test Execution.
- Selenium uses fewer Hardware resources.
- Quickly identifies the elements with their id, name, X-path, etc.
Cons
- No reliable technical Support from anybody.
- It supports Web-based applications only.
- Selenium does not have any inbuilt reporting feature.
Website: https://www.selenium.dev/
Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is an open-source automation tool for individual testers and paid for an enterprise license it is a comprehensive tool that covers from API, Web, Desktop to mobile testing. It works on top of Selenium and Appium, thereby simplifying iOS and Android apps, web applications on all modern browsers, and API services. It can be integrated with a variety of other tools such as JIRA, qTest, Kobiton, Git, Slack, and more.
It has record & playback and a manual mode that help non-programmers to effectively create automation test cases. For users with programming expertise, it has script mode as well using which users can write test scripts in Java and Groovy.
Pros
- Testers need not have much coding skills to run the scripts developed
- Integrated with CI/DevOps workflow and other tools.
- Katalon supports parallel and sequential executions and can perform remote and local testing.
- Katalon allows you to re-use Selenium scripts written in Java and use directly in the tool.
- The script recorded in one browser can be made to run in any of the supported browsers, making cross browser testing fast and easy.
- Its test result reports are graphically intuitive and can be exported to pdf and CSV formats.
- It provides inherent logging mechanism and screenshot on failure feature.
Cons
- Script creation is limited to Java and Groovy only.
- As of now there is no support for distributed testing.
- It cannot automate desktop applications unlike some licensed tools like UFT and TestComplete.
Website: https://www.katalon.com/
Appium
Appium is one of the open-source automated testing tools primarily intended for mobile applications. It supports the automation of native, hybrid, and mobile web applications built for iOS and Android. Appium uses vendor-provided automation frameworks and is based on client/server architecture.
In recent years, Appium has gained immense popularity and stability, thereby emerging as one of the best mobile automation testing tools.
Pros
- Appium enables code reuse and cross-platform testing.
- Appium Desktop provides a recording feature, allowing testers to record gestures as code.
- Appium provides support for multiple development languages through Remote WebDriver language bindings (Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, C#).
- It supports simulators, emulators, and real devices simultaneously.
Cons
- Setting Appium up locally can be a challenge
- Tests can be slow due to the remote Web driver dependency, network issues, and processing commands
- Support for hybrid app testing is limited.
Website: http://appium.io
HPE Unified Functional Testing (UFT)
HPE Unified Functional Testing, formerly known as Quick Test Professional (QTP) is one of the best cross-platform automation testing tools. It is one of the top testing automation tools which can automate Web, Desktop, SAP, Delphi, Net, ActiveX, Flex, Java, Oracle, Mobile, PeopleSoft, PowerBuilder, Siebel, Stingray, Visual Basic amongst other applications. It brings developers and testers under one roof and provides excellent automation testing solutions, thereby making functional testing cost-effective and less complex.
UFT uses VBScript as the scripting language. This tool is tightly integrated with HP ALM (Test Management Tool) and HP LoadRunner (Performance Testing Tool). Business Process Testing, keyword-driven framework, XML support, robust checkpoints, test results are a few striking features of UFT.
Pros
- Easy to use since it involves VB script and not a high-level programming language.
- Support for record and playback ability.
- All automation frameworks, like Keyword-driven testing, Data-driven testing, Modular and Hybrid approaches are supported
- It can easily be integrated into Quality Centre for test execution.
- It also supports non-recording automation using descriptive programming.
Cons
- Costly solution as license and maintenance fees are considerably high.
- Support only VB script language
Website: https://www.microfocus.com/en-us/products/uft-one/overview
Cucumber
Cucumber is one of the best open-source automation tools for testing that supports languages like Ruby, Java, Scala, Groovy, etc. A cucumber is a tool based on Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) framework which is used to write acceptance tests for the web application. It allows automation of functional validation in an easily readable and understandable format like plain English to business analysts, developers, testers, etc. The focus of cucumber is the end-user experience.
Pros
- Cucumber supports different languages like Perl, PHP, Python, Net etc.
- Cucumber Testing tool focuses on end-user experience. We can accomplish this by creating a test case in plain English text called Gherkin.
- It allows the test script to be written without knowledge of any code.
- It serves the purpose of an end-to-end test framework, unlike other tools.
- Cucumber provides code reusability as it has simple test script architecture.
Cons
- Gherkin combination adds another layer of complexity.
Website: https://cucumber.io
Automation testing is a must for mid-sized or above projects these days. At the same time, it is essential to choose an automation tool that fits your requirements. Feel free to explore the tools listed above and let us know if you have any doubts, in the comments section below.