Best Web Application Testing Tools Shortlist
Here’s the list of the best tools that I’ll cover in this article.
Web application testing is imperative for your application development lifecycle. I’m sure whenever you’ve used applications yourself, you will have found at some point that some functionality doesn’t work, which I know is incredibly frustrating. But it is also easily avoided. In this article, I aim to inform you of the best application testing tools, so you can ensure that your application is being tried and tested, thus avoiding any hiccups when it is live.
Here are the best app testing tools on the market, an overview of each, some use cases and examples, as well as pricing and free trial information.
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How I Selected the Best Web Application Testing Tools
If you're wondering how I selected the best web application testing tools, here's where I'll break it all down for you. First of all, I started with web application testing tools that have high user review and satisfaction ratings. Then, using my experience in QA, I discerned what key criteria were most important for application testing tools and compared how each of them stacked up against the rest.
If you have more general questions about web application testing tools, you can skip to our FAQ at the bottom of the page. Or, you can jump right to the best web app testing tools overviews if you're ready to start comparing.
Selection Criteria
After careful consideration, I've determined that these are the most important criteria when selecting the best web application testing tools. Here's a brief list outlining the whats and whys of my selection.
User Interface (UI):
When testing web apps, there will be two user interfaces I’m concerned about. 1) The testing process should be easy to navigate and well-designed for your testers; 2) the web testing tool should be easy to navigate for you, the developer: Test results should be easy to find and interpret, different operating systems should have UI that suites them best, and it should be easy to simple to find and tweak software configurations.
Usability:
I look for software testing tools with the best user experience for testing web applications. It should be easy to source testers, design tests, review results, and organize data.
Integrations:
Compatibility with other software development tools is ideal. I look for test management tools that offer plugins for additional functionality, third-party integrations with other cloud-based platforms, and open API for additional connectivity options.
Value for Pricing:
I look for the most comprehensive options, or robust features, for a fair price. Free web application testing tools are great but may not have all the functionality you need.
Overviews Of The 10 Best Application Testing Tools
Here’s a brief description of each application testing tool to showcase each one’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
Tricentis Testim
AI-based locators to identify and lock-in elements
Testim is an automated testing platform for fast authoring of AI-powered stable tests and tools to help you scale quality. The tool uses AI to identify and lock-in visual elements, allowing you to increase test stability of UI functional tests. Your tests can be extended with custom JavaScript that can run in or out of the browser.
Testim tests are recorded and then edited in its visual editor, allowing you to better organize your test cases. The tool offers AI-based locators that automatically lock-in elements, and test steps are discrete objects that can be configured, shared, grouped and parameterized, providing you and your team with the means to streamline your processes within your application lifecycle. Testim also helps keep tests clean by identifying duplicate test steps to be replaced by shared objects.
The cost of Testim begins at $1000 per month. The tool also offers a free version with up to 1000 test runs per month.
BugBug
Best for fostering test collaboration
BugBug is a web application testing tool that provides automated checks for security vulnerabilities, functional problems, and performance issues. It can detect bugs in any web application written in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
The tool offers collaboration support, making it easier for teams to work on projects efficiently and effectively. With its integrated chat feature, team members can easily communicate while working on a project and share progress updates automatically via email notifications. Furthermore, BugBug has an AI-powered smart scan feature that identifies potential points of failure in a codebase quickly and accurately.
BugBug supports multiple types of tests, including unit, integration, end-to-end, and performance tests. Users can also generate API tests using pre-defined scenarios and assertions, which can be executed directly from within the tool or exported as code for further customization if needed. They can simulate real-world traffic scenarios and analyze results in real-time to quickly identify and address any potential bottlenecks or performance issues before going live. The platform also allows users to create custom test scenarios for specific needs and environments, making it easy to tailor tests according to specific requirements.
BugHerd
Best for its robust dashboard features
BugHerd is a web-based bug-tracking tool that helps developers manage and track bugs found in web applications. It allows testers to log bugs directly on the website, providing users with all the necessary information to fix them. The software has an intuitive user interface that is easy to use, and its features are accessible from any device or browser. It operates using a feedback system that allows users to send bug reports to a designated dashboard. The dashboard is a central communication hub that enables team members to collaborate, prioritize bugs, and track progress. BugHerd creates an annotated screenshot that shows the bug’s details and records them in the user’s issue tracker.
The platform allows users to make annotations and highlight specific aspects of the web page to capture a precise portrayal of the bug. The software features a highly collaborative interface that enables developers and clients to work together seamlessly. Using the tool, developers can assign bugs to team members best suited to handle the problem. This helps prevent confusion and ensures that the team distributes the workload evenly. BugHerd supports the integration of third-party tools like Slack, GitHub, Asana, and JIRA, making it possible to keep the entire workflow within a single platform.
BugHerd offers a high degree of customization, enabling development teams to tailor workflows to suit the project's specific requirements. Users may even configure which overheads are added to the bug when assigned to a developer and decide which developers will receive notifications for any updates made to the bug. Users can report bugs instantaneously by highlighting them directly on a website's interface. Project managers can see the status of all tasks and updates on their task boards, making it easier to identify issues and monitor progress.
Katalon Studio
Best for end-to-end automated testing
Katalon Studio is an all-in-one application testing platform for simplified web, mobile, API and desktop (Windows, Linux and Mac OS) test automation, and is the alternative to building traditional frameworks with open-source libraries. Katalon Studio offers built-in features such as Object Spy, Debugging UI, Test Artifact Sharing, Retry Failed Tests, Smart Wait, Self-Healing and analytics for test reporting, which provides you complete test coverage from within the toolkit alone.
Katalon Studio provides you with all critical capabilities and stability for functional and end-to-end automated testing, providing your team with a robust testing grid for your application lifecycle. The tool allows you to cycle through every step in weeks instead of months by applying low-code methods for test creation, execution, maintenance, and reporting.
Katalon offers integration with CI/CD tools such as Jenkins, BitBucket, Azure DevOps, VCS platforms such as Git, Github, Azure DevOps Repos, and DevOps tools such as Docker.
The cost of Katalon Studio starts from $69 per user per month. The tool also offers a free version, as well as a 30-day trial to test out all premium features for first-time users.
Mabl
Low-code testing platform with full AI automation
Mabl is a low-code test automation platform that allows you to create and execute test scripts from one platform. The tool doesn’t require the user to know any code, and so allows you to complete software testing using scriptless code by fetching data based on the user’s actions performed.
Mabl provides the possibility of full AI automation testing by testing the end-to-end workflow by using integrated API and UI tests through a single platform. The tool allows you to execute automated API testing using validation of status code responses, headers and body values without interacting with the UI.
Mabl offers customized pricing on request. The tool also offers a free trial.
testRigor
Best for converting existing manual test cases into automated tests
testRigor is an application testing tool that stands out when it comes to the new era of AI-based automation tools. The tool allows you to create tests in plain English, with elements being referenced from a human perspective. testRigor analyzes all possible parameters behind the scenes to use the most useful ones, which results in ultra-reliable tests.
testRigor allows you to dramatically decrease your test maintenance, by allowing you and your team to spend 95% less time on it on average. Instead, the tool allows you to seamlessly build new tests and increase test coverage. testRigor makes the process of converting existing manual test cases into automated tests very straightforward, and users can also define and customize their own wording if they desire.
The cost of testRigor starts at $300 per month and can be tailored to your specific needs. There is a free 14-day trial with no credit card information required upfront.
Xamarin.UITest
Strong cross-platform capabilities
Xamarin.UITest is a C# based application testing framework that is geared towards UI acceptance testing practices. The tool provides support for testing native apps on Java and Objective-C, and offers Xamarin Test Cloud support. Xamarin.UITest is BDD-friendly and provides you with detailed feedback on failed UI tests.
Xamarin.UITest is cross-platform compatible, and allows you to test on both iOS and Android devices. The tool provides over 2000 real devices within the cloud, all with the most recent software installed on them, providing you with a well rounded testing experience. Xamarin.UITest also provides you the ability to run automated tests within the cloud, minimizing efforts for your team.
Xamarin.UITest is fully open source and free to use.
Appium
Best for mobile application testing
Appium is an application testing tool geared specifically to mobile applications. The tool allows for automation of both iOS and Android platforms, and is easy to set up using Java and Javascript. Appium also allows you to write automation tests at low costs, which is ideal for smaller start ups and projects.
Appium provides the ability to test across multiple platforms, and allows you to automate not just mobile apps, but native and hybrid apps also. The tool allows you to reuse code between platform test suites, helping you to reduce the time spent rewriting tests. Appium also allows you to identify mobile objects easily, as well as define your desired capabilities within your application.
Appium is fully open source and free to use.
Selenium
Best for using multiple programming languages
Selenium is an application test automation framework that encapsulates an array of tools and libraries that enable web browser automation. The tool offers you easy interaction and manipulation of HTML elements, allowing you to tweak and customize your tests the way you want to write them. Selenium also provides ease of infrastructure management by providing the test environment to your team.
Selenium interacts with your applications via desktop and mobile browsers, allowing you to execute Javascript code, making it easier to test the dynamic components of your DOM. In addition to Javascript, you can use multiple programming languages such as C#, Python, Ruby and Java with Selenium. This allows for easier implementation within development teams as any developer with expertise in any coding language can use the tool.
Selenium offers a variety of products you can tinker with, including Selenium IDE (development tool typically used for functional and regression tests, as well as for exploratory testing), Selenium Webdriver (open-source software used for automating web applications and testing), and Selenium Grid (powerful tool for scaling automated tests for web applications across various environments).
Selenium is fully open source and free to use.
Rainforest QA
Unified no-code QA platform with 5 hours of free testing per month
Rainforest QA is a no-code regression testing solution that provides a building block approach for creating tests and processes. The tool allows you to easily shift between parallel and sequential testing so you are able to keep pace with the development environment, and reduce time between sprints.
Rainforest QA’s intuitive and simple user interface enables you to better organize your test cases by allowing you and your team to tag cases so you can group them, as well as assign and monitor said test cases which are all managed from a single dashboard. Finally, Rainforest QA also has the results arriving as tests within a suite are still being executed.
Rainforest QA is free to use for the Professional tier, and offers customized pricing for their Enterprise tier. The tool also offers a 14-day free trial.
The 10 Best Application Testing Tools Summary
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tricentis Testim AI-based locators to identify and lock-in elements | Free plan available | From $450/month | Visit Website |
2 | BugBug Best for fostering test collaboration | 14-day free trial | From $59/month | Visit Website |
3 | BugHerd Best for its robust dashboard features | 14-day free trial | From $39/month | Visit Website |
4 | Katalon Studio Best for end-to-end automated testing | Freemium plan | From $25/month | Visit Website |
5 | Mabl Low-code testing platform with full AI automation | 14-day free trial | Pricing available upon request | Visit Website |
6 | testRigor Best for converting existing manual test cases into automated tests | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $900/Month | Visit Website |
7 | Xamarin.UITest Strong cross-platform capabilities | Not available | Free To Use | Visit Website |
8 | Appium Best for mobile application testing | Not available | Free To Use | Visit Website |
9 | Selenium Best for using multiple programming languages | Not available | Free To Use | Visit Website |
10 | Rainforest QA Unified no-code QA platform with 5 hours of free testing per month | 14-day free trial available | Pricing available upon request | Visit Website |
Other Options
- EggPlant Functional - Test automation solution with image capture and scripting
- Rainforest QA - Unified no-code QA platform with 5 hours of free testing per month
- Applitools - AI-powered testing and integrations with modern frameworks such as Selenium
- Leapwork - No-code testing with the ability to build processes visually
- SoapUI - Application testing platform with the ability to manage endpoints of URL requests
- Cerberus - Open source test automation platform with scalable parallel test execution
- Qsome - Software testing platform for digital, ERP and mobile applications
- QF-Test - Java, Web and Android test automation tool with automated GUI testing
- TAST - Integration testing system for ChromeOS, and free to use
- esChecker - Mobile application security testing tool for Android and iOS platforms updated to reflect hacking techniques
- qTest - Scalable test management and analytics solution designed to centralize testing efforts
- NeoLoad - automated testing tool geared towards performance testing
- Testcomplete - Automated testing tool used to create, maintain and execute automated tests for a range of technologies such as .NET, Java, HTML5, Android and iOS
- UFT One - Comprehensive solution with easy-to-use interface, making it suitable for even novice testers
- TestProject - Cloud-based automation test platform that helps software teams build and execute automated tests
Feel free to check out the 10 best penetration testing tools should you wish to explore options for security testing.
People Also Ask
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Application testing, be it automated or manual, ensures that your application has been fully vetted for bugs before delivery to its end user(s). Choosing the right testing platform for your application development can make all the difference to your team, and I hope you have found the one here for you.
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