6 Best Automation Testing Tools and Their Features
The demand for software delivery and quality at speed has increased enormously due to evolving performance and security requirements. To ensure end-user needs are met and that quality is not sacrificed in the name of speed, it is crucial to include application testing in the software development process.
Software QA testing is no longer a tail-end process in the Software Development Life Cycle (SLDC). Instead, it is now an integral part of the SDLC, helping ensure the application is bug-free and performing optimally. Moreover, software application testing detects all possible unnoticed bugs and errors before the application goes live. Â
But how to test a software application?Â
There are two significant approaches.Â
- Manual testing tools
- Automation testing tools
Despite the functionality and performance of manual testing, automated testing tools have gained momentum recently due to improved performance and a reduced number of test cases.Â
Here’s a brief on automation testing and its benefits.
What is automation testing?
Instead of testing and identifying bugs manually, automation testing methods leverage specialized testing tools and scripts to check an application’s performance against expected results. Comparatively, this reduces the time to execute test cases and the need for human intervention—further improving performance and application efficiency.Â
However, in most cases, automation testing does not mean the manual testing process is discarded. Instead, it reduces the number of manual tests. Another benefit to automation testing tools is your team can perform application testing whenever it is required and without being dependent on available human resources.Â
Before getting into details about different automation testing tool types, let’s look into some of the benefits of automation testing as compared to manual testing and learn what it means in 2022 and beyond.
5 Benefits of Automation Testing Methods
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1. Accuracy
Undeniably, when using manual testing methods, your team will have to be involved in and check every aspect of the software delivery cycle manually. This consumes time and leads to inaccuracies.Â
On the other hand, test cases generated using automation testing are more accurate and can be fixed more quickly.Â
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2. Increased test coverage
There are instances where you need to verify some test cases that are longer than usual. Imagine using the manual testing approach and the time it will take.
Do you think it is possible to manually perform an entire application testing quickly? It is not.Â
With automation testing tools, your teams can seamlessly test and identify bugs regardless of the length of the test case, saving time and cost.
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3. Increased productivity
Testing automation doesn’t require human intervention to execute test cases and verify whether an application is working as expected.
However, with a Continuous Development and Continuous Integration (CD/CI) strategy, development and application testing go hand-in-hand. This allows your QA team to dedicate more time to critical activities than time-consuming trivial tasks.Â
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4. Faster development and delivery
The more bugs you have, the more time it takes to resolve and release your software product into the market. With test automation tools, tests are completed rapidly and can be randomly conducted throughout the development life cycle.Â
Automated testing comes with a few benefits, including:Â
- A shorter software development life cycle.
- Frequent releases.
- Faster updates to your application.
- Faster time to market.
5. Immediate feedback
Another benefit of automation testing is its immediate feedback. Automation testing tools come with real-time insights and reports, allowing your QA testing teams to probe into errors and resolve them immediately. This, in turn, improves collaboration among teams, encourages responsiveness, and breaks down communication silos.
What more could you need than the ability to release a bug-free product with improved performance? Â
Wondering what are the top automation testing tools to consider in 2022? We have the answers here.
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6 Best Automation Testing Tools: Features and Benefits
1. Selenium
When it comes to automation testing, Selenium is the most popular open-source testing automation tool. Used since 2004 for web application testing, it operates across multiple browsers and platforms.Â
For developers and testers who have experience and skills in programming and scripting, Selenium offers flexibility to programmers to write test cases in various languages, including Python, Java, C#, Scala, Groovy, Ruby programming, Perl, and PHP.Â
Selenium is often used for regression testing. It offers testers a playback tool to record and playback regression tests. Selenium is not a single tool but rather a suite of software that includes:Â
- Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
- Selenium WebDriver
- Selenium client API
- Selenium Remote Control
- Selenium Grid tools
Features of the Selenium testing tool:
- It supports various programming languages for better flexibility.
- Selenium supports and performs across various browsers like Chrome, Firefox, IE, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Safari.Â
- Testing on local or on remote machines via the Selenium server.Â
- Parallel and cross-browser executions to reduce execution time and increase test coverage.Â
- Selenium tools can be integrated with other testing frameworks and CI/CD tools.
2. Katalon
Katalon Studio is a comprehensive and powerful testing automation tool used for API, web, mobile, and desktop application testing. Katalon supports multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing seamless cross-browser testing.Â
Katalon is a low-code and scalable automation testing tool that provides analysis reports and test recordings. Because it is a low-code automation tool, you do not need to worry about test case scripting and can directly download and focus solely on testing. Another benefit of Katalon Studio is it regularly releases new versions to ensure compatibility with the latest browsers and platforms.
Features of the Katalon testing tool:
- Katalon supports parallel and sequential executions and can perform local and remote testing.Â
- It is a low-code and scalable platform that supports testing across browsers with analysis reports.Â
- Reusable test objects, keywords, and test cases with Test Artifact Sharing and Page Object Model design.Â
- Native integrations with popular CI/CD and ALMs tools (Jira, GitLab, Jenkins, BitBucket, Azure DevOps, etc.)
- Smart Debugging UI and test reporting to troubleshoot failures quickly.
- Native integration with on-demand CI/CD tools such as AWS CodePipeline, AWS CodeBuild, GitLab, CircleCI, Jenkins, etc.
3. Appium automation testing tool
Like Selenium, Appium is another immensely popular open-source automation testing tool with ubiquitous features. Appium is a popular automation testing tool used to test Android and iOS mobile applications.Â
Appium automation testing framework supports multiple programming languages such as Python, PHP, Java, and JavaScript and can integrate CI/CD tools. Along with mobile application testing, Appium also allows users to write automated UI tests for native, web-based, and hybrid mobile applications on both Android and iOS.
Features of the Appium testing tool:
- Cross-platform testing with reusable test scripts and the same APIs.
- Execution across real devices, simulators, and emulators.
- Appium Desktop provides a recording feature, allowing testers to record gestures as code.
- Cross-platform testing on real devices, emulators, and simulators.
4. LambdaTest tools
Cross-browser testing is an essential component to running web or mobile applications consistently on multiple devices and platforms. If you are looking for a cloud-based testing tool, LamdaTest is a powerful and comprehensive testing platform to accelerate your go-to-market.Â
This tool allows for manual and automated testing across more than 2,000 devices and browsers to ensure better functionality of web applications. LambaTest tools allow recording real-time browser compatibility testing, screen recording, and automated screenshot testing on several combinations at a time.
Features of the LambdaTest tool:
- Cloud-based testing limits physical infrastructure challenges.Â
- Integrated debugger tools help you debug issues in live testing.
- Local hosted web testing saves your website or web app from post-deployment bugs.
5. TestComplete automated testing tool
UI is one of the key elements to consider while developing and delivering a software application. If you want to carry out seamless automated UI testing, TestComplete is one of the best automation testing tools available. It supports various scripting languages like VBScript, Python, and JavaScript; and supports testing techniques such as keyword-driven testing, data-driven testing, regression testing, and distributed testing.Â
Its robust and advanced record and replay capabilities allow you to build and run functional UI tests. The TestComplete tool can also be easily integrated with other products like SmartBear.
Features of the TestComplete tool:
- TestComplete is an AI-powered test automation tool enabling faster and more efficient testing of applications.
- Automate UI testing across a wide range of desktop applications, including .Net, Java, WPF, and Windows 10.
- Create reusable tests for all web applications, including modern JavaScript frameworks like React and Angular on 2,050+ browser and platform configurations.
- Create and automate functional UI tests on physical or virtual iOS and Android devices, with no need to jailbreak your phone.Â
- Parallel, cross-browser, and cross-device testing.Â
- Integrations with other testing frameworks, CI/CD tools, and the SmartBear ecosystem.
6. SoapUI testing tool
SoapUI is one of the leading Functional Testing Tools for SOAP and REST testing. It is well-known and widely used for its easy-to-use graphical interface and enterprise-class features. SoapUI allows you to easily and rapidly create and execute automated functional, regression, and load tests.Â
Its powerful and innovative features validate and improve the quality of your services and applications. Because SoapUI is open source, its usage and adoption will be easy and quick once launched.
Features of the SoapUI testing tool:
- Drag and drop features help you improve productivity with a code-free environment.Â
- ReadyAPI is key in the SoapUI testing tool to create a data-driven testing environment.
- SoapUI MockServices let you mimic and create robust tests against SOAP and REST Web Services before they are implemented. Â
- In SoapUI, you can create advanced load tests quickly and easily on the base of existing functional API tests.
Have you heard about QAOps testing in recent times? If not, it’s the best time to learn more about the QAOps testing framework and how it contributes to delivering quality software products at scale.Â
Conclusion
Bugs negatively affect your product’s overall performance and the customer’s experience. But choosing the right software testing method and tools remains a challenge for many organizations across industries.Â
Amid growing competition, automation testing has become an integral part of ensuring your application’s stability and performance across various platforms, browsers, devices, and environments.Â
By incorporating modern automation testing tools into your QA process, you can deliberately achieve high operational performance at scale.Â
Want to expedite your application testing process by optimizing time and time-to-market? Â
Are you having trouble deciding which automation testing tool to use for your web or mobile app?
Get in touch with our QA testing team to understand which testing automation tool can help you achieve better performance and productivity.
Head of Quality Engineering
