In this era of the ever-changing software industry, software development companies are moving towards CICD along with frequent releases, while also maintaining the software quality. This requires using really efficient automation testing tools.
There is no dearth of free as well as paid automated tools in the market. But finding the right automation tool that perfectly suits your project is not an easy task.
In this article, we will explore some of the most widely used automation testing tools. We will analyze each tool and also recommend the best one suited for your needs. So, let’s get started.
Automation Testing Tools
Selenium
Selenium WebDriver started as an internal project for in-house usage by ThoughtWorks for web application automation. But within no time became the leading test automation tool with the largest market share.
- It is a free and open-source tool with a very active community. Because of its demand and the market share, there are tons of Selenium tutorials that you can easily find online and offline.
- It supports almost all the major programming languages – Java, Python, C#, Javascript, Ruby, etc.
- It works seamlessly with all the operating systems – Windows, Linux, and Mac.
- It supports the automation of web applications on all the major web browsers – Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge, Opera, etc.
- Download Link – Selenium.dev.
- Our recommendation – Highly recommended, its free and has good career opportunities. The only downside is people from non-programming backgrounds might find it difficult to work with initially.
Ranorex
Ranorex is a commercial UI automation tool introduced in the year 2007 by Ranorex GmbH.
- It can be used to automate web, mobile and desktop applications.
- It provides record and playback features as well as programming using C# and VB scripts. So, both programmers and non-programmers can use it for scripting.
- It supports cross-browser testing on all major web browsers.
- Download Link – You can download the trial version from Ranorex website.
- Our recommendation – Definitely recommended, unlike Selenium, using Ranorex we can automate desktop and mobile applications as well. And with its drag & drop and keyword-driven features, we can create codeless test scripts as well.
UFT One
UFT one (formerly known as UFT) is an automated functional testing tool by MicroFocus.
- It is used for automating both Web and Windows applications.
- It supports scripting in VBScript only.
- Download link – A 30 days trial version can be downloaded from here – Microfocus.
Our recommendation – It is comparatively easier to do scripting in QTP as compared to Selenium but its high licensing cost limits its usage to large enterprises only. Also if your company is already using HP ALM for Test Management Tool or LoadRunner for performance testing then it can be easily integrated with the two.
TestComplete
TestComplete is a paid tool provided by Smartbear for GUI automation.
- It can automate Web, Mobile as well as Desktop applications.
- It has got the record and playback features along with a graphical interface for scripting which makes it easier for non-programmers to understand and work with.
- Link – For pricing and other details, refer to Smartbear’s official site.
Our recommendation – Its a paid tool but scripting is easy in TestComplete, so if pricing is not an issue and the majority of stakeholders are from the non-programming background then this tool can be used.
Tosca
Tosca is a paid test automation tool developed by Tricentis to automate web applications, mobile apps, and APIs.
- It supports codeless automation and it is very easy to learn and create automated tests using Tosca.
- It has a rich dashboard and reporting features.
- The existing Selenium scripts can also be integrated with Tosca.
- It provides its own query language called TQL, using which we can update and manage many test cases together.
- Download link – Tricentis Tosca.
Our recommendations – If you are looking for a paid tool that would completely eliminate the need for scripting and provide your analytics and reporting features then Tosca is the tool for you.
TestSigma
TestSigma is an AI-driven test automation tool developed by Testsigma Technologies using which we can develop automated tests in simple English language.
- It has cross-browser testing support using which the test scripts can be executed on 800+ OS/Browser/Version combinations and 2000+ mobile devices.
- Its video logging feature helps in debugging and pin-pointing of any issue during test script execution.
- It has a rich analytics dashboard and drill-down reporting feature.
- It can be easily integrated with tools like Slack, JIRA, GitHub, Jenkins, BrowserStack, Sauce Labs.
- Download link – TestSigma.
Our recommendation – If you are looking for a complete test automation suite for web and mobile applications over thousands of combinations of browsers, iOS, and Android devices in simple English then TestSigma is the ideal tool for you.
Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is free test automation tool (with paid enterprise version as well) using which we can automate websites, APIs – SOAP & Rest as well as mobile applications.
- It supports both manual as well as scripting mode for automated test case creation.
- Using manual mode, scripts can be created easily by non-programmers.
- It supports scripting in Groovy language using its script-mode for creating automated tests.
- It can be easily integrated with tools like – Jira, TestLink, Jenkins, TeamCity, Slack, etc.
- Download link – Katalon can be downloaded from Katalon Studios Official website.
Our recommendation – Its free version provides a rich set of features for automated test case creation and reporting. So, if you are looking for a tool with most of the features of a paid tool than Katalon Studio is the right tool for you.
Rational Functional Tester
Rational Functional Tester is a commercial test automation tool developed by IBM.
- It can be used to automate .Net, Java, SAP, Siebel, PowerBuilder, Flex, etc applications.
- It supports scripting in Java and VB.Net.
- It is based on ScriptAssure technology that learns Ui characteristics and implements them in test scripts saving time in script creation.
- It has a storyboarding feature that allows automated testing using screenshots.
- Download link – IBM RFT.
Our recommendation – Its storyboarding feature particularly helps non-programmers to contribute to test automation using screenshots. If your company is already using the test management tool – IBM Rational Quality Manager then you can go for RFT as the two can be easily integrated.
TestProject
TestProject is a free and community-powered test automation framework provided by Tricentis.
- It can be used to automate both web and mobile applications.
- It is built over Selenium, so it supports all the major web browsers.
- With its cloud-based recorder, no coding skills are required to develop test scripts in TestProject automation suits.
- Unlike Selenium, it provides a detailed reporting dashboard with drill-down reports.
- It is easier to integrate TestProject tests with CICD tools like Jenkins.
- Download link – TestProject.io
Our recommendation – If you are looking for a free tool that provides recording capabilities along with extensive reporting then TestProject is the solution for you.
Watir
Watir pronounced as ‘water’ stands for Web Application Testing In Ruby. It is an open-source Ruby library for automating web applications.
- Watir supports most of the popular browsers – Chrome, Firefox, IE, Opera, Safari, etc.
- It supports scripting in Ruby only.
- Its watir-webdriver component is based on Selenium.
- Installation – watir can be installed as a ruby gem.
Our recommendation – It’s open-source with good community support. Companies like Facebook, Yahoo, Wikimedia, Slack uses it for UI automation.
This completes our list of top automation testing tools in the market (not necessarily in the same order). If you feel, we have missed any of the popular tools then do let us know in comments.