Top 15 Automation Testing Tools In Demand In 2024

Getting started with automated testing can be a challenging task. After you’ve set up the platform for the transition from manual to automated testing, the next step is hiring or up-skilling the right test automation engineers. Whether you employ an in-house engineer or partner with an outside vendor, the success of the test automation exercise will depend on the automated testing tools you choose and skilled personnel to get the best out of it.

At Zuci, our tech lead shares a few criteria that you should consider before picking up a automated testing tool.

• Automation tools should be easy to use and develop scripts, easy maintenance of scripts.
• The tool should be easy for a non-technical person to run the scripts.
• Report generation should be easy and straightforward.
• Should have a proper support team for assistance
• If it’s a GUI based tool, then the non-technical developer should be able to use it for automation purposes (more of record and playback)

Now let’s dive into the list of top automation testing tools that are high in demand and the ones we use at Zuci Systems. The tools cater to different testing requirements and once you have read the entire article, we believe that you will be in a good place to make an informed decision. 

1. Selenium (Web-based automation):

It is one of the most popular open-source test automation frameworks for apps and websites across different browsers and operating systems. Selenium provides high tester flexibility to write advanced and complex test cases. 

Features:

• Selenium allows you to opt for a new and easier language for testing if the legacy language used is obsolete. 
• Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera, Edge, Chrome, and Firefox, are compatible with Selenium test automation scripts. 
• With Selenium, the test engineers can write the scripts without having to worry about the platform since it supports all.
• Selenium can be integrated with TestNG and JUnit for managing test scripts and generating reports. 
• Selenium scripts can be reused in multiple browsers and operating systems.
• With Selenium, multiple test scripts can be executed in parallel to reduce the test execution time. 
• It has an active community that releases constant updates and upgrades. 

License: 

Since it is an open-source testing suite, Selenium is free. Selenium is one of the best automated testing tools since it helps you test web applications across a variety of browsers. It can execute test cases better than most other tools and is capable of communicating directly with the browser. 

2.Appium Mobile testing- Android/iOS:

This open-source testing framework can be used for native, hybrid, and mobile web apps. Appium is built on the philosophy that testing native apps shouldn’t require the inclusion of an SDK or recompilation of the app. Since it supports cross-platform testing, you can run the same test cases on different mobile platforms.

Features:

• It has a built-in UI Automator which produces a detailed information log and reporting structure. 
• With Appium, you can use any WebDriver-compatible language to write the tests. 
• Since it uses standard automation APIs on all platforms, you don’t have to modify or recompile the app under test. 
• It has a large and thriving community of users who will help you with your queries. 
• Appium supports automation testing on physical devices, simulators, and emulators. 
• It can be integrated with most CI tools to enable the automated triggering of tests during release cycles.

License: 

Appium is open-source. Appium is a favorite for mobile app automation testing. Since it leverages the Selenium WebDriver API, it has complete control over devices and interacts with the applications.

3.Protractor:

Protractor is an automated testing tool that is specially designed for angular applications. Its framework acts like a combination of different solutions that integrates several technology pieces together, such as Jasmine, Selenium, NodeJS, Mocha, etc. This end-to-end behavior-driven testing framework runs on top of the Selenium WebDriver.

Features:

• It supports parallel testing through the same and cross-browser testing. Because of the parallel testing feature, it allows the execution of test cases in multiple instances of the browser at the same time. 
• It supports cloud testing platforms like SauceLabs and CrossBrowserTesting.
• Most AngularJS applications have HTML elements like ng-model and ng-controller. Selenium isn’t capable of tracing these elements, but Protractor can easily trace and control the web application attributes.
• You can run automation scripts on multiple machines with ease using Protractor. 
• It is easy to work with packages when you use Protractor.

License: 

Protractor is an open-source framework. Protractor can serve as a replacement for the existing Angular JS E2E testing framework. The open-source testing framework writes automated regression tests for normal web applications.

4.TestCafe:

The open-source testing tool is extensively used to automate web testing. It can be installed using a single command and works on any operating system. TestCafe is a NodeJS-based tool that supports CoffeeScript, TypeScript, and JavaScript. Distributed under an open-source MIT license, it is managed by DevExpress.

Features:

• TestCafe is easy to install, configure, and get started. You don’t have to download separate drivers for each browser. 
• It has an active community of users who are quick to respond to GitHub queries and StackOverflow questions.
• It supports all major browsers like Edge, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and IE.
• Since the tests are executed inside a browser, they are faster than other frameworks. The tests are also stable since they are simulated internally using JavaScript.
• It has built-in screenshot support that helps you take screenshots. 
• TestCafe has a feature called Live Mode which helps visualize each and every action on the browser, and it makes debugging easier.

License: 

There are different licensing methods: seat and concurrent. TestCafe is excellent for testing complex and security-sensitive web applications. It doesn’t depend on any third-party libraries, and can be installed using a single command. You can start testing with TestCafe immediately.

5.Unified Function Test (UFT):

Created by Micro Focus, it is used to automate functional and regression testing of software applications. UFT supports several technologies and platforms, such as Java, .NET, Oracle, SAP, etc. It can manage and report tests and integrate them with other testing tools.

Features:

• Since UFT is a keyword-driven framework, it enables testers to run tests without coding knowledge.
• You can reuse components and scripts, thereby reducing the testing times and increasing the test coverage.
• It supports more than 200 apps and environments.
• UFT provides intelligent test automation for web, mobile, SAP, API, hybrid, enterprise, etc.
• It understands third-party controls and objects with the help of advanced AI and image-based tools.
• The platform integrates with several development tools, including source control management, lifecycle management, continuous integration, etc. 
• It offers flexibility in test execution since it allows testers to perform tests on multiple browsers, devices, and operating systems.

License: 

With UFT, you can seamlessly test every aspect of the application and automate user actions on the application and even test the same for different users. You can get more details here. UFT  helps you make better business decisions since you get a 360-degree view of your business needs, testing-wise.

6.RPA- Automation Anywhere:

Automation Anywhere is one of the most popular RPA tools that can handle complex tasks. With its combination of conventional RPA elements with natural language understanding, it has the ability to automate end-to-end business operations.

Features:

• Automation Anywhere has a scalable architecture, wherein you will be able to meet your growing requisites as it can deploy more bots when required.
• It helps you make faster and smarter data-driven decisions as it helps you capture real-time data.
• It offers an enterprise-grade solution that has world-class bots that are trained to work on your business requirements. 
• There is no requirement for any programming knowledge.
• It has in-built governance and compliance controls that are a part of the enterprise-level security that it offers. 
• Users can generate tasks using its task editor which has more than 380 actions, including Database Actions, Conditional Actions, Internet Actions, Clipboard Actions, etc. 
• Enterprises can record, save, and test their actions. 

License: 

Their pricing depends on the number of bots and the number of bot utility licenses. The Cloud Starter Pack, its offering for small businesses, is priced at $750/month for 1 bot creator, 1 control room, and one unattended bot runner. Automation Anywhere helps enterprises automate business processes with its data-driven approach. It offers powerful features for developing extremely complex automation solutions.

Read more: Zuci Systems enters into partnership with Global RPA leader, Automation Anywhere

7.RPA- UiPath:

UiPath is a low-code robotic process automation tool that helps with automating repetitive tasks using its drag-and-drop functionality. The UiPath bots view the interface in the same way that humans do. It can be integrated into your business without making any changes to your legacy systems.

Features:

• Since the UiPath bots are programmed to perform repetitive tasks, they can never make mistakes unless the instructions are wrong. 
• It can execute several processes parallelly. Even additional bots can be deployed to scale the testing operations.
• The Record and Playback function records actions and transforms them into a series of automated processes.
• UiPath offers auto-login functionality to run the bots and operates them with a locked screen, and allows automated processes to run with complete privacy.
• Its scraping solution works perfectly with any program and includes .NET, Java, Flash, PDF, SAP, and Legacy.

License: 

UiPath’s pricing depends on the package, the number of bots, and the level of support offered. The Pro package starts at $420/month. The Enterprise package offers a comprehensive suite of services and requires you to get in touch with their sales team. UiPath is one of the best RPA tools for end-to-end automation, especially for large-scale use cases. Instead of writing tedious codes, you can fasten your business processes with it. 

Read more: Zuci Systems and UiPath Join Forces to Deliver Cognitive Automation

RPA- Power Automate:

Power Automate creates automated workflows between apps and services to synchronize files, collect data, get notifications, etc. Microsoft’s Power Automate helps your organization rapidly create attended and unattended automation. It has an extended list of capabilities ranging from hundreds of pre-built connectors to data loss prevention mechanisms. 

Features:

• It records and visualizes end-to-end processes with the help of its Process Advisor function. By doing so, it creates guided recommendations for creating workflows.
• It has the ability to sync data across different enterprise applications.
• Its AI Builder functionality creates user-intuitive flows by embedding powerful language models with advanced low-code AI.
• It digitizes data capture and uses the data to perform further activities.
• Power Automate’s intelligent automation platform helps you set triggers for a set of actions with the help of workflows.

License:

If you want a predictable pricing model, you can choose their subscription plans.

For businesses that are looking for a flexible plan, here’s how the pricing structure works. It is $0.60 per flow run for each cloud flow run. The same pricing applies for each desktop flow (attended mode) run. For each desktop flow run in unattended mode, it is $3 per flow run. 

Using Power Automate, users can automate tasks between 500+ applications. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to automate several tasks and processes.

8.Kinesis:

With the help of Amazon Kinesis, you can get real-time data like video, audio, application logs, machine learning, clickstreams for websites, and other applications. It is a serverless streaming data service that simplifies the capture, processing, and storage of data streams at scale.

Features:

• It lets you receive, store, and process data in real time. Kinesis delivers insights within seconds. 
• Kinesis can easily run streaming services without any infrastructure management requirement. 
• Using this, you don’t have to go to a traditional database; it can run various processes and machine learning models on the data live when it is flowing through your system. 
• It elastically scales your application to accommodate the data. 
• Since it has a pay-as-you-go model, you don’t waste resources.

License:

You can use the AWS pricing calculator to calculate your Kinesis pricing based on your requirements. 

Amazon Kinesis helps businesses process and analyze streaming data at any scale, as a fully managed service, that too in a cost-effective manner. It is capable of running real-time metrics and analytics.

9.Informatica:

Informatica is a data integration platform that helps organizations access, transform, and integrate data from several systems and delivers information to other transactional systems, business processes, and users.

Features:

• Integrating data, it provides business users with holistic access to enterprise data.
• Informatica delivers data in a secure, scalable environment and provides immediate data access to all disparate sources. 
• In terms of security, it provides complete user authentication, privacy management, and secure transfer of data.
• It communicates with a wide range of data sources and moves data between different sources effectively.
• You can reuse objects across teams and projects. 
• The platform can capture every change made to the data, and it helps you track when, how, where, by whom, and how the changes were made.

License:

You will only have to pay for the Microsoft Azure services used while running the Informatica deployment. Informatica’s data integration software and services are used across several industries, including healthcare, finance, insurance, and government organizations. It is primarily used in the data warehouse, business intelligence, and data integration between business applications.

10.Katalon Studio:

It is one of the most-opted testing tools by engineers across the globe. Katalon Studio runs automated tests for APIs, web interfaces, windows desktop, iOS and Android mobile apps, and even allows you to create analysis reports. Powered by a Selenium-based engine, it’s designed to create and reuse automated test scripts for UI without coding.

Features:

• It supports local and remote testing, including parallel and sequential executions. 
• You don’t require additional extensions since it offers a wide range of integrations with CI, DevOps workflow, and other tools.
• The analytics dashboards present the data in a visually appealing manner, and the built-in reports can be exported in PDF, HTML, Excel, or CSV. 
• Katalon Studio supports the following test types– API-testing, cross-browser, keyword-driven, and data-driven. 
• The tool’s interface is simple, convenient, and user-friendly, even for non-technical users.

License:

There are two types of licenses– KRE floating and KSE per-user. The licenses can be purchased based on your business requirements. Even though there is a free version of Katalon Studio, the licensed versions offer more features and access to all its plugins. Since Katalon Studio is a comprehensive quality management platform, it helps teams of all sizes to get the highest quality digital experiences.

11.Cucumber: 

This framework uses Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) that results in better agility and increased collaboration. The Cucumber testing tool helps unify the development, testing, and documentation of feature specifications for testers and engineers. One thing to note is that Cucumber supports only web environments. 

Features:

• It results in greater collaboration and creates test cases in simple English.
• Cucumber can be easily configured with IEDs like Eclipse and IntelliJ.
• It can perform functional testing of high-level features with multiple scenarios.
• Even though it was built on Ruby, it supports multiple languages, including Java, JavaScript, Scala, Perl, Net C#, PHP, Python, etc. 
• Thanks to its simple test script architecture, Cucumber provides code reusability. 
• It can be easily integrated with other frameworks like JUnit, NUnit, Selenium, TestNG, etc. 
• You will find a well-established community that helps you get solutions for your queries with ease.

License:

Since Cucumber is an open-source framework, it does not require licensing. Cucumber can help you improve your product, reduce the go-to-market time, and help scale efficiently. It serves the purpose of an end-to-end test framework, unlike most other tools.

12.Worksoft Certify:

It is a leader in the field of software testing automation services, and many organizations across the globe term it the “gold standard” for automated testing. Worksoft Certify covers testing of simple to complex business processes. It is also easier to learn, deploys faster, and is more efficient than traditional tools.

Features:

• It can generate test data and perform functional and regression testing.
• Worksoft Certify allows businesses to run end-to-end business process tests for applications that require enterprise-level controls and reporting.
• It facilitates easier and large-scale deployments as it allows users to run tests locally and remotely in parallel. 
• With Worksoft Certify, you can document every process function, keystroke, and transaction. This results in great accuracy and reduces the timelines of projects.
• It allows testing teams to automate repetitive testing tasks, thereby freeing up time and resources for high-value tasks.

License:

It offers three categories of licenses: free, manual, and premium floating. The premium subscription costs $6,000 for every user node. By automating the test process, Worksoft Certify helps with quicker releases and faster GTM. Since it is a more comprehensive testing process, it reduces the risk of errors and improves application quality.

13.Telerik Test Studio:

It is a test automation platform for web, desktop, and responsive web applications. Telerik offers a rich .NET library using which you can write tests for complex test scenarios.

Features:

• It offers rich support for data-driven testing. Telerik has a built-in data grid using which you can create your own data source inside the test.
• It utilizes the DOM structure of the web page for identifying object properties.
• With Telerik Test Studio, the maintenance of test scripts is easy, and if there are any changes, they can be easily incorporated too.
• With Test Studio, you can run automated tests on emulators and real devices without having to write a single line of code. 
• The tool has built-in support for NUnit, MbUnit, and XUnit testing tools.

License:

There are two licenses. The Test Studio Web & Desktop plan is best for QA teams switching from manual to automated testing, which is priced at $2,499. The Test Studio Ultimate is best for agile teams and is priced at $3,499. There are other add-ons available too. Test Studio’s code-based automation capabilities ensures that your application is of high quality. It is innovative and easy-to-use, and is designed to help developers, QA testers, and managers meet quality standards and exceed user expectations.

14.SoapUI:

SoapUI is a solid functional testing tool for SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and web service testing. It helps businesses quickly create and execute automated functional, regression, and load tests. Since its interface is simple, it is an excellent choice to test for functional and non-functional testing, such as regression testing, performance testing, and load testing.

Features:

• SoapUI allows easy test creation thanks to its drag-and-drop functionality.
• Functional test cases in SoapUI can be reused as load test cases.
• The platform supports many third-party plugins like AgileTestware, TestMaker, and SOA DataPro.
• SoapUI supports standard protocols like HTTP/HTTPS, AMF, WSDL, REST, SOAP, JDBC, and JMS.
• It simulates high-volume load tests and allows end-to-end application monitoring.

License:

SoapUI is open source; therefore, you don’t have to purchase any license. In fact, it is the only open-source tool that covers the entire spectrum of testing– functional, security, load, and mocking. Even though SoapUI is open source, it has a commercial component named ReadyAPI that is perfect for companies with mission critical web services.

15.TestComplete:

With TestComplete, you can run automated desktop, web, or mobile UI tests with different sets of input data that increase coverage. Testing engineers can develop their test cases in several scripting languages, like Python, JavaScript, etc., using TestComplete.

Features:

• It accurately identifies dynamic UI elements with both property-based and AI-powered visual recognition.
• TestComplete offers real-time information on the status and progress of your tests from a single interface. It can be integrated with popular bug-tracking tools such as Bugzilla and Jira.
• The automated UI tests can be reused across projects and environments to save time, cut costs, and expand test coverage.

License:

TestComplete offers two types of licenses– fixed licenses and floating user licenses. They are priced based on the TestComplete module that you choose.

For businesses that are looking to automate the front end and API of the application, TestComplete should be your go-to platform. It is extensively used for testing different application types that include Windows, web, Android, iOS, HTML5, Flash, Flex, Silverlight, WPF, .NET, Java, VCL, etc.

Are you ready to level up your automation testing capabilities? Discover the best automation testing tools that can optimize your testing process, create a better quality software, and save your time and effort. Take your testing process to the next level with Zuci’s Automation Testing.

Related reads:

• Tips from SMEs to help you pick automation testing tools
• Most Popular CI/ CD Tools Used By Programmers In 2024
• Accessibility Testing – Checklists & Tools