Best QA Automation Tools For Software Testing Shortlist
Here are the top 10 test automation tools I’d like to highlight out of the 30 I cover in this article:
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
Unlock the full potential of your software testing process with my in-depth review of the top 30 QA automation tools for 2023, designed to streamline your workflow, enhance accuracy, and drive operational excellence.
Far from the elusive goal of 100% automated testing (we wish!), QA automation tools are invaluable assets that significantly elevate your software quality by identifying and preventing bugs, enhancing user experience, optimizing performance, and maintaining robust security measures. These tools not only streamline the process of test creation and execution but also offer cost and time efficiency by providing comprehensive test data for informed decision-making.
In this comprehensive guide, we delve into a curated selection of QA automation tools that excel in various aspects of software development and quality assurance.
We'll explore how test automation can: revolutionize your approach to bug prevention, user experience enhancement, performance optimization, and security maintenance designed to meet the needs of modern software development teams.
Why QA Automation Tools are Essential
In today's fast-paced software development landscape, Quality Assurance (QA) is no longer a luxury—it's a necessity. As software becomes increasingly complex, the scope for errors expands, making manual testing methods both time-consuming and prone to human error. This is where QA automation tools come into play, offering a range of benefits that are crucial for any development team aiming for excellence.
- Identifying and Preventing Bugs: Automated tests can execute hundreds of scenarios in less time than manual tests, enabling early bug identification. This efficiency reduces post-launch risks and safeguards brand reputation.
- Enhancing User Experience: Automated tools simulate diverse user behaviors, offering insights for user-centric improvements. This leads to a more intuitive user experience.
- Optimizing Performance: Automated testing identifies performance bottlenecks efficiently, ensuring your software can handle peak loads and thereby enhancing overall performance.
- Maintaining Software Security: Automated security tests run regularly, identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring robust security protocols.
- Cost and Time Efficiency: Automated tests offer long-term cost and time efficiencies. According to a study by Scalac, automated tests for just four modules saved 35% of the time compared to manual tests, translating to a time yield of 14:14 minutes. The study also found that the cost of building an automation architecture was $2,700, while performing the same set of manual tests 337 times would cost $2,100. The automation architecture, once created, is reusable, offering a higher ROI in the long run.
What’s covered in this QA automation tools guide
- Comprehensive Reviews: In-depth analysis of the top 30 QA automation tools for 2023
- Expert Insights: Professional commentary on each tool's pros and cons.
- Comparison Metrics Table: A quick-reference table summarizing key features, pricing, and user ratings.
- My Selection Criteria: use this to define your own software evaluation strategy
- Actionable Recommendations: Tailored advice for various roles, from QA testers to CTOs.
Overviews Of The Best QA Automation Testing Tools
Here’s a brief description of each of the testing automation tools that are featured on the top list.
New Relic
Best for real-time performance insights for effective software testing automation
New Relic is a DevOps deployment tool that provides real-time monitoring and analytics for your software applications. It's designed to help you understand how your applications are performing, identify bottlenecks, and troubleshoot issues quickly.
What makes New Relic stand out from the crowd? For me, it's the level of detail it provides. You can drill down into data to see exactly where performance issues are happening, whether that's in the browser, the network, or your server. It's also got a great user interface that makes it easy to navigate and understand your data. Plus, it includes Apdex scores, which give you a quick snapshot of user satisfaction based on response times.
Features include backend monitoring, Kubernetes monitoring, mobile monitoring, model performance monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, log management, error tracking, network monitoring, vulnerability management, and browser monitoring.
Integrations include over 500 apps, like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, CI/CD tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, and Travis CI, communication tools like Slack and PagerDuty, and other monitoring and analytics tools like Grafana, Datadog, and Splunk. It also has an API you can use to build custom integrations.
New Relic costs from $49/user/month and offers a free plan for 1 user and 100 GB/month of data ingest.
Autify
Best AI-powered testing automation for desktop & mobile
AI-Powered Test Automation Platform Tailored to QA Teams. Autify creates, manages, executes, and reports on tests with a self-healing AI that shortens release cycles and increases QA team productivity.
With Autify’s intuitive UI, you simply interact with your browser, making QA testing an effortless no-code option for everyone while still having the option to customize your tests.
Autify works for web and mobile native applications, providing cross-browser testing, email testing, JavaScript steps, parallel execution, step groups, local replays, Salesforce ‘Lightning’ support, visual regression, terminal operation, API steps, cross-device testing, location, webhook, and more.
Every time you release, Autify’s AI monitors any UI changes and automatically updates the Test Scenario, reducing maintenance.
Autify integrates with services you already use such as your CI/CD tools, CircleCI, Jenkins, and Slack.
Autify’s pricing varies depending on your needs. They have a 14-day free trial, and a $300/month no-contract starting package.
BugBug
Best for easy and cost-effective QA automation of web apps
BugBug is different because it allows you to start automating tests faster and at a lower cost. It is suitable for startups that don’t want to be slowed down by complexity. It’s easy to learn and offers all the basic features for the entire end-to-end testing workflow.
The tool is meant to be user-friendly and simple. The interface is clean and intuitive, and test editing is done by “recording” with a Chrome extension. No additional configuration, no terminal commands or dependencies are required. You can set up automated cloud monitoring with just a click, without a dedicated engineer (unlike Cypress, where you need to adapt infrastructure and integrate with other services).
BugBug is optimized exclusively for web application testing, so it runs faster than other cross-platform solutions. BugBug creators developed a new high-performance way of executing tests in Chrome and they’ve included various tricks to make tests easier to maintain out of the box (ex. automatic scroll to element, waiting conditions, sharable components). The tool uses a Chrome extension to record and playback tests and simulate real human mouse clicks and keyboard typing. All web technologies are supported.
It’s free forever if you don’t use cloud features. You can run an unlimited number of tests in your own browser. Only schedule monitoring and CI/CD integration require a subscription starting at $49/month.
Avo Assure
Best for 100% no-code test automation
Avo Assure is a no-code test automation solution for end-to-end test automation. Avo Assure is heterogeneous and enables you to test on multiple platforms including web, mobile, desktop, ERP applications, and mainframes.
Avo Assure comes with a keyword library of over 1500 keywords for building test cases. Its features also include smart scheduling, reporting, and accessibility testing.
Avo Assure integrates with various CI/CD and SDLC tools like Selenium, Jira, Microfocus – QC/ALM, Atlassian Bamboo, Sauce Labs, TFS, Amazon Mobile farm, and Q-test.
Avo Assure offers custom pricing details upon request. Avo Assure also comes with a 14-day free trial.
testRigor
Best automation tool for manual QA and minimal test maintenance
testRigor is a complete end-to-end testing system that solves all of the main issues of test automation. First of all, it’s no-code, meaning no programming skills are required – which empowers manual QA to own the test automation process. The side benefit is that since tests are written in plain English – they’re easy to understand for anyone on the team.
Next, testRigor is utilizing the power of its AI engine – making any tests extremely stable, with test maintenance typically taking close to no time. This allows for a smooth CI/CD integration with virtually any provider. Other integrations include Jira, TestRail, AppliTools, PagerDuty, etc.
testRigor supports testing for web, mobile web, native and hybrid mobile apps, and APIs. It also supports SMS, calls, and email testing. Tests are truly end-to-end, with both cross-browser and cross-platform capabilities.
testRigor is cloud-based and offers highly customizable plans starting from $300/month. There is a free open source tier, and all tiers have an unlimited number of users and an unlimited number of tests per test suite.
Sahi Pro
Best for automatic reporting and bug logging
Sahi Pro is an enterprise web application test automation tool that simplifies testing for QA engineers and business analysts. The platform offers a variety of testing features to reduce time-to-market, including easy test creation and detailed error reporting for managers, testers, and developers.Sahi Pro’s automatic logging and reporting features provide users with comprehensive details about each test script execution. Users can view concise summaries and graphs or the exact line of script failure in code. Sahi Pro also enables users to create automation suites for test scripts. QAs can automatically add tags, dependencies, and data to any script. With Sahi Pro’s Playback Wizard, testers can execute scripts from the UI or command line.Sahi Pro is compatible with any browser and works on Windows desktop, mobile, and SAP applications.Pricing starts at $695/user/year.
Watir
Best for easily maintaining test cases
Watir is an open-source web application testing tool written in Ruby. It can perform the same browser interactions as your website visitors, including clicking links, downloading files, and completing forms. Because Watir is based on Ruby, the software is lightweight and easy to use. QAs can write tests that are simple to read and maintain. Users also have the flexibility to test any web application regardless of its programming language. Watir supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Microsoft Edge and enables QAs to perform cross-browser automation testing. Watir is free to download.
QA Wolf
Best for fast test creation and ease-of-use
QA Wolf is a QA automation service that is best for SaaS tools that want an in-house experience while keeping the work external and delivering improved results.
The team at QA Wolf supports you in developing a test plan, writing and maintaining tests, investigating failures, and reporting bugs. Once they are done, the code is yours. Since this code is built using the Playwright framework, it means it's platform and vendor agnostic.
In a nutshell, QA Wolf is a bunch of awesome engineers that will help you build end-to-end tests that take you to 80% coverage in less than 4 months, help you track failures and write bug reports with all the info you need, and be your 'in-house team' for a fraction of the price.
Custom pricing is available after you demo your tool to them.
Tricentis Testim
Best for automated testing with artificial intelligence
Testim empowers users to author stable customized tests—either codeless or coded, use artificial intelligence to make tests resilient, run parallel tests across browser types on their test cloud, and create and publish informative bug reports.
Testim caters to both beginner and advanced users, allowing even non-technical team members to create code-free tests. Excellent customer service further enhances the Usability score per our evaluation criteria above.
The major con is that image verification (pixel level validation) is not a local feature, meaning you have to employ a 3rd party solution in order to gain access to this function.
Testim is free for up to 1000 runs/month. Higher-level plans offer customized pricing upon request.
Endtest
Best for self healing tests
Endtest is a comprehensive automated testing platform that simplifies the process of creating and executing tests across web, mobile, and desktop applications.
Endtest excels in providing a codeless automation testing environment, allowing users to effortlessly create and execute tests without the need for complex scripting or coding. This user-friendly approach sets it apart from competitors, making it accessible to a wider range of users, including non-technical team members. Additionally, Endtest's support for web, mobile, and desktop applications, along with features like self-healing tests and video recording, enhances test reliability, efficiency, and documentation, making it a comprehensive and standout solution in the automated testing space.
Endtest's self-healing tests utilize advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to automatically detect and resolve issues during the test execution process. These tests possess the ability to autonomously recognize anomalies or failures, such as broken elements, and automatically apply corrective actions to ensure the test flow continues seamlessly without requiring human intervention.
Integrations include Jenkins, GitLab, SauceLabs, BrowserStack, Bamboo, Heroku, Bitbucket, TravisCI, CircleCI, TeamCity, Azure DevOps, and other similar apps.
Endtest costs from $175/month (1-5 parallel tests).
Need expert help selecting the right Testing Software?
We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!
Comparison Table: QA Automation Testing tools at a glance
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New Relic Best for real-time performance insights for effective software testing automation | Free version available | From $49/user/month | Visit Website |
2 | Autify Best AI-powered testing automation for desktop & mobile | 14-day free trial | From $300/month | Visit Website |
3 | BugBug Best for easy and cost-effective QA automation of web apps | 14-day free trial | From $59/month | Visit Website |
4 | Avo Assure Best for 100% no-code test automation | 14 Days Free Trial | Visit Website | |
5 | testRigor Best automation tool for manual QA and minimal test maintenance | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $900/Month | Visit Website |
6 | Sahi Pro Best for automatic reporting and bug logging | Not available | $695/user/year. | Visit Website |
7 | Watir Best for easily maintaining test cases | Not available | Free To Use | Visit Website |
8 | QA Wolf Best for fast test creation and ease-of-use | Three-month, risk-free pilot | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
9 | Tricentis Testim Best for automated testing with artificial intelligence | Free plan available | From $450/month | Visit Website |
10 | Endtest Best for self healing tests | 14-day free trial | From $175/month | Visit Website |
Other QA Tester Tools Options
Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top list. If you need additional suggestions for a handy QA testing tool, check these out.
- Sahi Pro — Best for automatic reporting and bug logging
- Watir - Best for easily maintaining test cases
- TestingWhiz — Best for codeless automation testing.
- Selenium — Best for web-based applications.
- Appium — Best for use with native, hybrid, and mobile web apps.
- Parasoft — Best for integrating static and runtime analysis.
- Microsoft Visual Studio Test Professional — Best all-in-one test management activities.
- Micro Focus Silk Test — Best for regression, cross-platform, and localization testing for mobile.
- Postman — Best to automate many types of tests including unit tests, functional tests, and integration tests.
- Ranorex — Build data-driven tests via data tables, spreadsheets, or databases.
- Smartbear TestComplete — Best hybrid object and visual recognition engine.
- Tricentis Tosca — Best script-less, no-code approach for end-to-end test automation.
- Accential Test — Best for complex test lifecycle management.
- TestCraft — Best codeless test automation with Selenium-based CI/CD integrations.
- Appvance IQ — Best 3rd-generation code-free cross-browser data-driven testing, self-healing tests.
- Perfecto — Best cloud-based continuous testing platform with smart self-healing abilities.
- Percy — Best visual review platform with testing for officially-supported SDKs.
- WonderProxy — Best for testing currencies, payment and shipping, and languages.
- Telerik Studio - Best for custom testing frameworks.
- Unified Functional Testing (UFT One) - Best testing with cross-departmental communication tools.
Check This Out: 10 BEST BUG TRACKING SOFTWARE IN 2023
Key considerations for choosing a QA Automation Tool
Are you curious how I chose the best QA automation tools on this list? Below I'll explain.
My process began by gathering a long list of the most popular QA automation tools on the market based on positive user rankings. I explored each software vendor’s website in fine detail to ensure their solution covered all the basic features that a QA team would need to execute automations.
Next, using the selection criteria below, I made my final selections. I used these criteria as a framework, and was able to compare each QA automation tool to see how it stacked up to the rest of the tools, and then finalize the shortlist you see here.
Assessing your teams needs
What am I looking for when I select a QA test tool for review? Here’s my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive?
- Usability: Is it easy to learn and master? Is there good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? What level of programming skills does the software require?
- Features & Functionality:
- Documentation: Every QA tool should have a clean, robust documentation process with easily searchable and exportable test results.
- Script languages: Does the software work with a variety of popular scripting languages? Or, does it specialize in one script language and go above and beyond in that focus?
- Version control: Can testing be done on different files at the same time? Is there a way to show the data history and revert local changes if needed?
- Test Commands: Does the software support a large number of test commands? Can test commands be easily added or changed as needed?
- Test Scenarios: Does the software support a variety of test scenarios, including performance testing?
- Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools or plugins? Any pre-built integrations? Does it integrate with any bug tracking tools, such as JIRA? Does it support various operating systems and browsers, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and others?
- Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible?
Actionable advice for QA automation tool selection based on roles:
For QA Testers:
- Tool Selection: Choose a tool that supports the programming languages and frameworks your team is using. This ensures seamless integration and minimizes learning curves.
- Test Script Reusability: Opt for tools that allow you to reuse test scripts across different projects or platforms. This will save time and effort in the long run.
- Continuous Learning: Stay updated with the latest trends and technologies in QA automation. Online courses and webinars can be valuable resources.
For Software Developers:
- Unit Testing: Make unit testing a part of your development process. Many QA automation tools offer this feature, helping you catch issues early.
- Code Reviews: Regularly review automated test scripts along with application code to ensure they meet quality standards.
- Collaborate: Work closely with QA teams to understand what can be automated and what needs manual attention. This ensures a balanced testing strategy.
For User Experience Designers:
- User Flows: Use QA automation tools to test different user flows and scenarios. This will help you identify areas for UX improvement.
- Performance Metrics: Pay attention to performance metrics generated during automated testing. Slow load times can significantly impact user experience.
For Technology Team Leaders/Managers:
- Resource Allocation: Assess the skill set of your team and allocate resources for both manual and automated testing based on project requirements.
- Training: Invest in training programs to upskill your team in automation tools and best practices.
- KPIs: Set key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of your QA automation strategy over time.
For CPOs/CTOs:
- Budgeting: Consider the long-term ROI of QA automation tools when budgeting. The initial investment may be high, but the cost savings over time can be significant.
- Vendor Evaluation: When selecting a QA automation tool, consider not just the features but also the vendor's reputation, customer support, and community ecosystem.
- Strategic Alignment: Ensure that the QA automation strategy aligns with the broader business goals and objectives
Your Top Questions Answered: QA Automation Tool Selection Guide
Navigate the complexities of choosing the ideal QA automation tool with ease—our FAQ section addresses your most pressing questions, offering expert insights to guide your selection process.
Can QA automation tools be customized to suit specific industry requirements?
How do QA automation tools support parallel test execution?
What are some common challenges teams face when transitioning from manual to automated testing?
What are the hardware requirements for running advanced QA automation tools?
What factors should be considered when evaluating the long-term ROI benefits of QA automation tools?
How do the best automation testing tools integrate with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines?
What Are The Benefits Of Automated Testing?
Join Our Community Of Technology Leaders In Quality Assurance
We’re passionate about quality and exist to equip you with the resources and support to save the world from bad software.
Remember to join our newsletter to get updates when we publish fresh articles and podcasts from leaders in the field.
If you're into learning from an internationally renowned, award-winning software engineering consultant, author, and coach, you should give this article a read: LEADERSHIP IN TEST: SERVICE TESTING
Related Read: BEST PRACTICES FOR AUTOMATION IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Worth Checking Out: WHAT IS MABL? OVERVIEW & TOUR OF FEATURES