Quick Guide On Software Testing Tools

Irrespective of programming languages, development platforms, databases, and devices, no product or application has ever been created without software testing. It is recognized as the most important step in the Software Testing Life Cycle.

With millions of software applications being developed today, and each application having its own requirements, the amount of testing that is required is humungous!

How do software testers handle this load? The answer is Software Testing Tools.

There are separate testing tools for every requirement and purpose. So the specific tool to be used is the choice every tester needs to make according to the planned testing activities. Let’s examine some of the most popular software testing tools now.

Broadly speaking, software testing tools can be categorized as Static and Dynamic depending on the testing processes being used.

Static Test Tools adopt a fixed or static approach to analyze such parameters as the data flow, code path, code consistency, code coverage, and interfacing. They do not really get into the input/output or real execution of the program.

Dynamic Test Tools on the other hand use test drivers to provide input data, test beds to examine source code, test emulators to mimic software components, and mutation analyzers to check tolerance to errors.

Let’s look at the different testing tools that we’ll cover in this blog.

• Automated testing tools
• Mobile testing tools
• Load testing tools
• Cross-browser tools
• Test management tools

… but first, here’s some tips from SMEs to help you pick automation testing tools

Automated Testing Tools

The automated testing tool is one of the most useful tools in the testers’ arsenal and enables them to run repetitive, data-intensive tests automatically, thus greatly reducing the workload of the testing teams. Some of the popular Automated Testing Tools are:

Selenium

Selenium is one of the most widely used for web applications due to its capability to automate browsers. Its powerful capabilities make it ideal for automated testing of web-based apps. It provides a portable framework and a playback tool for authoring functional tests without requiring testers to learn a test scripting language. Beyond testing, it can be used for automating web-based administration tasks too.

Here’s a quick overview of Selenium + Python: A how-to

License Price: Selenium is an open-source testing framework, which means it is free to use.

Pros: It supports multiple programming languages, offers cross-browser compatibility, and has a large and active community for support and resources.

Cons: Requires strong programming skills for test script development and maintenance, lacks built-in reporting capabilities, and has limited support for mobile testing.

Go to Selenium

Telerik Test Studio

Telerik Test Studio is an easy-to-learn, automated testing tool used for web and desktop functional testing, performance testing, load testing, and mobile applications. It has a plugin for Visual Studio and offers “mixed element detection” to increase the stability and reliability of testing while reducing maintenance demands.

License Price: Telerik Test Studio offers various license options, including a free community edition and paid licenses with different pricing tiers.

Pros: Provides a user-friendly interface, supports both web and desktop application testing, includes powerful recording and scripting features, and offers robust test reporting and analysis.

Cons: The paid licenses can be expensive for small teams or individual users, and advanced features may require additional add-ons or licenses.

Go to Telerik Test Studio

Robotium

Robotium is an Android-based testing framework that supports both native and hybrid applications. It enables test case developers to quickly create scenarios for Functional, System, and User Acceptance Testing. Smooth integration with build automation tools like Gradle, Maven, or Ant further enhances its automation capabilities.

License Price: Robotium is an open-source testing framework, meaning it is free to use.

Pros: Designed specifically for Android application testing, offers easy test case development and execution, supports both black-box and white-box testing, and provides excellent integration with Android Studio.

Cons: Limited support for iOS testing, requires knowledge of Java programming language, and lacks official documentation and support compared to other frameworks.

Go to Robotium

Visual Studio Test Professional

It is the most complete testing tool kit for Microsoft-based desktop, mobile, tablet, and web/cloud platforms. With integrated test case management, manual and exploratory testing tools, it is designed to streamline quality and facilitate continuous delivery. As an added bonus, subscribers gain access to a variety of Microsoft tools and software.

License Price: Visual Studio Test Professional is a paid tool, and pricing details can be obtained from Microsoft’s official website.

Pros: Integration with Microsoft development tools, comprehensive testing capabilities (web, desktop, mobile), supports various programming languages, and provides robust reporting and analysis features.

Cons: Can be expensive for small teams or individual users, limited support for non-Microsoft technologies, and may have a steeper learning curve for beginners.

Go to Visual Studio

TestComplete

TestComplete is an Automated Functional Testing Tool, designed to simplify UI tests for desktop, mobile, and web applications. It gives testers the capability to develop tests for Microsoft Windows, Android, iOS, and web-based applications. It is highly scalable and uses an AI-powered object recognition engine with the flexibility for both script and scriptless testing.

License Price: TestComplete offers paid licenses with different pricing options, including perpetual licenses and subscription-based models.

Pros: Supports a wide range of application types (web, desktop, mobile), provides record-and-playback functionality, offers a user-friendly IDE, and includes extensive built-in test reporting and analysis capabilities.

Cons: The cost of licenses can be high for small teams or individual users, and some advanced features may require additional add-ons or licenses.

Go to TestComplete

UFT (QTP)

Unified Functional Testing, formerly known as Quick Test Professional, is an Automated Functional and Regression Testing Tool that can be used to identify defects in software applications. With support for VB scripts as well as an easy-to-use GUI, it is suitable for enterprise QA initiatives.

License Price: UFT (Unified Functional Testing), previously known as QTP (QuickTest Professional), is a commercial tool with licensing costs.

Pros: Offers a comprehensive feature set for various testing types (functional, regression, API, etc.), supports multiple technologies and platforms, provides a visual scripting interface, and includes powerful reporting and analysis capabilities.

Cons: The cost of licenses can be high, especially for small teams or individual users, and may require additional licenses for certain advanced features and integrations.

Go to UFT(QTP)

Mobile Testing Tools

If there’s any industry that’s booming way ahead of the rest, it’s the mobile industry! Literally millions of apps are developed every month and needless to add, Mobile Testing Tools have to keep pace. Finding the right tool is essential for successful testing. It needs you to evaluate capabilities to support a variety of scripting languages, operating systems, scriptless testing, as well as Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery.

TestComplete

Once again, TestComplete makes it to our list, this time as a Mobile Testing Tool of choice. It enables testers to develop and refine test scripts with ease across desktop, mobile, and web platforms, resulting in top-notch products. It saves time with its “record once, use anywhere “ keyword-based test scripts. It has AI-driven visual recognition capabilities and provides real-time, single-window updates on your testing progress. Pretty impressive, huh?

Kobiton

Kobiton is more of a seamless “mobile experience” platform with instant, enterprise-wide access to multiple devices on demand. Works with both iOS and Android, so take your pick! It enables centralized logging, cloud access, real device access, and actionable insights. Sounds good right!

License Price: Kobiton offers various pricing plans based on usage, with free trial options available.

Pros: Supports real device testing on a cloud-based platform, provides extensive device and browser coverage, offers advanced testing capabilities, and integrates with popular testing frameworks.

Cons: The cost can be high for certain usage levels, some features may require additional add-ons, and advanced configuration may have a learning curve.

Go to Kobiton

Calabash

It is a framework to enable automated mobile testing with zero coding skills. How cool is that? Calabash too works with both iOS and Android, so that’s one thing going for it. Extremely easy to understand—even by non-technical folks—it allows programmatic interaction between test code and native/hybrid apps through libraries. Last but not the least, being open source, it’s free and unbeatable on price!

License Price: Calabash is an open-source tool and is available for free.

Pros: Designed specifically for mobile app testing, supports behavior-driven development (BDD) approach, offers cross-platform compatibility (iOS and Android), and integrates well with various testing frameworks.

Cons: Limited community support compared to other tools, can be challenging to set up and configure initially, and some features may require additional libraries.

Go to Calabash

Appium

Appium is another free, automated testing tool for anything related to mobile. It works across a variety of Linux flavours as well as Mac and Windows. It can be used as a single-window solution for native, hybrid, or web applications. It’s easy to set up and can be integrated with an array of frameworks and tools.

Pros: Supports automated testing for both Android and iOS platforms, offers cross-platform compatibility, supports multiple programming languages, and integrates well with popular testing frameworks.

Cons: Setting up and configuring Appium can be complex, requires additional tools and drivers for certain features, and may have challenges with device-specific drivers.

Go to Appium

Testdroid

A cloud-based Mobile Testing Tool, Testdroid is designed for speed and cost-efficiency. It specializes in mobile game testing on both Android and iOS platforms with real device access to hundreds of devices.

License Price: Testdroid offers various pricing plans based on usage, with free trial options available.

Pros: Provides real device testing on a cloud-based platform, supports a wide range of devices and operating systems, offers powerful automation capabilities, and integrates with popular testing frameworks.

Cons: The cost can be high for certain usage levels, advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and complex test scenarios may require additional customization.

Go to Testdroid

Load Testing Tools

Like the proof of a pudding is in eating, the proof of an application is in performance! The main things to watch out for are speed, reliability, stability, and scalability. What Load Testing Tools can deliver results? Check out our list!

Apache JMeter

Need to perform a performance test? Just load up Apache JMeter and you’re good to go. It’s a pure Java-based tool that is mainly designed for Load Testing, though it can be used for Functional Testing as well. Part of the Apache project, it can be used to analyze and measure the performance of web applications and various other services too.

License Price: JMeter is an open-source tool and is available for free.

Pros: Supports load and performance testing for a variety of protocols and technologies, highly scalable for large-scale testing, extensive community support, and flexibility in test script development.

Cons: Requires technical expertise and scripting knowledge, can be resource-intensive for complex scenarios.

Go to Apache JMeter

WebLOAD

As the name suggests, WebLOAD is designed for Load Testing, Performance Testing, and Stress Testing of web applications. It combines performance, scalability, and integrity tests within a single process and is used to analyze complex systems and pinpoint issues. It supports a multitude of web protocols and enterprise applications and offers out-of-the-box integration with Jenkins and Selenium, among others, to enable CI/CD in a DevOps environment.

License Price: WebLOAD offers various licensing options, including a free community edition and paid licenses with different pricing tiers.

Pros: Comprehensive load and performance testing capabilities, supports a wide range of  technologies, intuitive user interface, and robust reporting and analysis features.

Cons: The paid licenses can be expensive for small teams or individual users, advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and certain configurations may require technical expertise.

Go to WebLOAD

LoadComplete

One of the simple and cost-effective Load Testing Tools available on the market, it facilitates realistic testing of web-based applications by simulating real-time loads using virtual users. It enables testers to evaluate the performance, scalability, and robustness of web servers under extremely high loads and provides detailed insights as well.

License Price: LoadComplete offers various licensing options, including perpetual licenses and subscription-based models.

Pros: Easy-to-use tool for load and performance testing, supports web, mobile, and desktop applications, provides record-and-playback functionality, and offers robust reporting and analysis capabilities.

Cons: The cost of licenses can be high for small teams or individual users, some advanced features may require additional add-ons or licenses, and may have limitations for highly complex scenarios.

Go to LoadComplete

LoadNinja

It enables testing teams to avoid the laborious tasks of test coverage without compromising on the end result. You can quickly create scriptless tests with real browsers at scale and gain actionable insights within a very short time—true Ninja performance! It enables testers to identify client interactions and offers real-time debugging features.

License Price: LoadNinja offers various licensing options based on usage and number of virtual users.

Pros: Cloud-based load and performance testing tool, supports web and mobile applications, offers scriptless test creation and maintenance, and provides real-time metrics and insights.

 Cons: The cost can vary depending on usage and virtual users, may have limitations for complex scenarios, and advanced customization may require technical expertise.

Go to LoadNinja

Cross–Browser Testing Tools

Cross-Browser Testing is one of the most tedious aspects of web development. Not only does the application being developed have to meet functional and performance requirements, it needs to meet the multiple and often disparate standards of different browsers—everything from CSS, HTML, and JavaScript validations; font sizes; page layouts; alignments; and much more. Then the same needs to be repeated across different operating systems too. Fortunately, that’s where Cross-Browser Testing Tools come in. Let’s dive in and find out more.

CrossBrowserTesting.com

Appropriately created as a website itself, CrossBrowserTesting.com enables testing of websites across more than 2000 desktop and mobile browsers. It is designed as web service for running functional and unit web tests on real mobile and desktop web browsers. It allows access to nearly the entire application through its REST API and enables single/parallel screenshots and Regression Testing. It is one of the fastest-growing cloud testing platforms with over 5 million test runs.

License Price: CrossBrowserTesting offers various licensing options, including free trial options and paid plans based on usage and features.

Pros: Broad browser and device support, real-time testing on real devices, includes both manual and automated testing capabilities, and provides robust testing features like visual testing and debugging tools.

Cons: The cost can be high for certain usage levels, some advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and certain rare browsers or devices may not be available.

Go to CrossBrowserTesting.com

LambdaTest

LambdaTest is designed for cloud-based, cross-browser testing of web applications and websites. Like CrossBrowserTesting.com, it too offers testing across more than 2000 browsers. It allows the execution of responsive tests, remote testing via SSH, and single-click bug reporting.

License Price: LambdaTest offers various licensing options, including free trial options and paid plans based on usage and features.

Pros: Wide browser and device support, real-time testing on real devices, provides both manual and automated testing capabilities, and offers additional features like visual testing, test logs, and integrations.

Cons: The cost can be high for certain usage levels, some advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and occasional platform or device availability limitations may occur.

Go to LambdaTest

Sauce Labs

Sauce Labs is  used for cross-browser and cross-device testing of web and mobile applications. Its cloud-based infrastructure allows users to test their applications on a wide range of browsers, operating systems, and devices. Sauce Labs offers integrations with popular testing frameworks and tools. It provides real-time access to real devices and simulators/emulators, enabling teams to execute tests in parallel and accelerate their testing processes.

License Price: Sauce Labs offers various pricing plans based on usage, with different pricing tiers for individuals, teams, and enterprises.

Pros: Extensive browser and device coverage, real-time testing on real devices and simulators/emulators, supports both manual and automated testing, and integrates with popular testing frameworks and CI/CD tools.

Cons: The cost can be high for certain usage levels, advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and occasionally, there may be some platform or device availability limitations.

Go to Sauce Labs

Browser Stack

Yet another Testing Tool to offer testing on more than 2000 real devices and browsers, Browser Stack offers a seamless and user-friendly experience with no setup or maintenance requirements.

License Price: BrowserStack offers various pricing plans based on usage, with different pricing tiers for individuals, teams, and enterprises.

Pros: Wide range of browser and device coverage, real-time testing on real devices, supports both manual and automated testing, and offers integration with popular development and testing tools.

Cons: The cost can be high for certain usage levels, advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and some rare browsers or devices may have limited availability.

Go to BrowserStack

Test Management Tools

With the increasing variety and complexity of testing types and tools, Test Management Tools are a blessing for testers. They enable you to manage automated and manual tests according to predefined procedures, and there are quite a few around.

qTest

Ranked among the leading Test Management Tools, qTest provides simplicity, speed, scalability, and seamless integration with other automation tools, all in one package. It offers requirements management, test execution, defect tracking, reporting, and integration, making the entire QA process faster.

License Price: qTest offers various licensing options, including cloud-based and on-premises solutions, with pricing tailored to the specific needs and size of the organization.

Pros: Comprehensive test management capabilities, supports test planning, execution, and reporting, offers integrations with popular development and testing tools, and provides real-time visibility into testing progress.

Cons: The cost can be high for larger teams or enterprise-level usage, some advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and the learning curve may be steep for beginners.

Go to qTest

Zephyr

Zephyr is a fast-growing, scalable, end-to-end Test Management Tool with a huge customer and user base worldwide. It is known for being DevOps ready and ideal for Continuous Integration requirements.

License Price: Zephyr provides pricing details upon request, and they offer various licensing options based on user needs.

Pros: A test management tool specifically designed for Agile environments, integrates with JIRA and other popular tools, supports test planning, execution, and reporting, and provides real-time visibility into testing progress.

Cons: The cost can be high for larger teams or enterprise-level usage, advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and some customization may be required for specific workflows.

Go to Zephyr

Test Collab

Test Collab combines simplicity and speed with deeply insightful intelligence reports and trends, heatmaps, and failure rate analysis. It offers time tracking, agile processes, requirements management, and test planning, and can be easily integrated with leading bug trackers and automated testing tools.

License Price: Test Collab offers various licensing options, including self-hosted and cloud-based solutions, with pricing based on the number of users and required features.

Pros: Comprehensive test management features, supports test case management, execution, and reporting, offers integrations with popular bug tracking tools, and provides collaboration features for team collaboration.

Cons: The cost may increase for larger teams or enterprise-level usage, certain advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and customization options may be limited.

Go to Test Collab

TestRail

TestRail enables testers to quickly capture test case details through screenshots along with expected behavior details. Its dashboard allows you to track individual tests, view reports, and compare results across runs. It is highly customizable and can be integrated with various popular defect tracking and collaboration solutions.

License Price: TestRail offers various pricing tiers based on the number of users and required features.

Pros: Intuitive test management system, easy test case organization and execution, customizable reporting and dashboards, and integration with popular bug tracking tools.

Cons: The cost can increase with larger teams or enterprise-level usage, some advanced features may require higher-priced plans, and customization options may be limited.

Go to TestRail

Summary

There are quite a few Software Testing Tools out there. Some are free whereas others are quite pricey. There is a specific purpose for each tool and while the variety of choices can make the selection a difficult task, the success of testing ultimately depends a lot on carefully selecting the right one.

Looking to improve your software testing? Take a look at Zuci’s software testing services and see how you can leverage Zuci for your business needs.