Software Testing Tools - Quality Apps, Quality Digital Experiences

With a good software testing tool, QA teams can optimize their processes to achieve higher test coverage and eventually test efficiency. They can choose a tool that serves a dedicated purpose or go with a comprehensive testing tool with features supporting several stages of the testing process.
 

In this article, we will guide you through the process to select the right type of testing tool that best fits your strategy.

Software Testing Tools Categorized By Scope

When it comes to any types of testing, testers always have 3 options:

1. Open-source software testing tools/libraries/frameworks
2. Single-point commercial automation testing tools
3. Software quality management platform

Let’s have a look at each and see how they differ from each other.

1. Open-source software testing tools/libraries/frameworks

The first option for the QA team is to find a suitable open-source library and build a testing framework on their own. The library is essentially a foundation that provides the features for testing activities, but the catch is that testers have to build everything from scratch by themselves.
 

To build a good testing framework, you need some brick and cement:

• Libraries of functions (e.g. Selenium, Playwright, Appium, Rest Assured)
• Browser drivers
• Knowledge on design patterns (e.g. Page Object MOdel, Screenplay, Fluent)
• Coding standards (KISS, DRY, camelCasing)
• Test artifact management structures
• Test report and execution logs

Testers need to know how to connect the “brick and cement” above into a functional framework that can simplify your testing activities. Of course, that is no easy work. Implementing your own test framework does take up quite a lot of time before you can truly do any testing. 
 

The reward? You get to customize your framework in whatever way you see fit. This approach is also usually free, and therefore is great if you are working on a budget-conscious project. Make sure that you have the bandwidth to also shoulder the maintenance part, since automation test scripts are usually brittle when new updates are made to the codebase.

2. Single-point commercial automation testing tools

At this point, we are stepping in the domain of vendor-based automation tools. Instead of building a tool by themselves, testers invest in a tool developed by a third-party vendor to get access to the features.
 

The reward? They don’t have to build everything by themselves, while the maintenance of infrastructure and the tool itself is already handled by the vendor. As the name suggests, these tools are single-point i.e. they only support a specific purpose in the bigger testing picture. For example, these tools can be further categorized into these groups:

• By Application Under Test (AUTs): grouping based on the type of software or application being tested (i.e. web, mobile, desktop, etc.)
• By application layer: grouping based on the traditional three-tier architecture used in software development, including the UI, backend, or API
• By attribute: grouping based on specific characteristics or properties being tested (i.e. visual testing, functional testing, performance testing, etc.)
• By approach: grouping based on the overall strategy to do testing (i.e. manual or automated or AI-driven)
• By granularity: grouping based on the level of detail and scope at which the testing is performed (i.e. unit testing, end-to-end testing, etc.)
• By testing techniques: grouping based on the way we design and execute the test. It is important to note that categorizing by testing techniques is more targeted and narrowed than categorizing by approach. Examples of this include black-box testing, white-box testing, or gray-box testing

3. Software quality management platform

At the final stage we have a software quality management platform which essentially combines a wide range of features into one single workspace.

After all, the move to a comprehensive platform makes sense. Software testing is never a one-off activity; it involves up to six stages from Planning to Reporting. These stages are highly interconnected, and using separate tools for each stage often results in wasted time trying to consolidate insights and data for a “comprehensive” view. This approach usually leads to a fragmented understanding of software quality.

The key value of these testing platforms is that they offer software professionals a complete testing workspace with a diverse keyword library for web, API, and mobile-native apps testing. They provide utilities for mapping requirements to tests, authoring automation scripts, and gaining test coverage insights, all ready to use. There is no need to find or integrate multiple single-point tools since everything is available in one place.

However, because these platforms are built with scalability in mind, teams might not utilize all their features in the early stages of adoption. Therefore, these platforms generally offer flexible models, allowing teams to easily scale their usage up or down based on their organization’s requirements.

Types of Software Testing Tools By Functionality

While the investment in automated software testing tools has proven clear-cut ROI, identifying the right candidates, scenarios and strategies to automate require teams to know the difference between manual and automated testing.

1. Manual testing tools (Test management tools)

Manual testing is done by writing out test steps on some type of text editor, making manual testing tools and test management tools similar. The actions and procedures outlined are performed through interacting with an app's UI using one of these tools below:

1. Google Sheets/Microsoft Excel: Free and widely available, Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel is pretty much the classic option for software quality engineers. With plenty of test case templates, testers can quickly jot down fields like the test case ID, test priority, or creator/assignee.
2. Zephyr Scale: Zephyr offers a more integrated manual testing workflow by improving bi-directional requirements traceability. Manual, automated or BDD tests link up to one another and defects logged for developers. 
3. TestRail: Purpose-built for creating and managing manual test cases, this web app allows users to author, filter and export/import manual tests.
4. Azure Test Plans: Azure Test Plans is a browser-based tool for test management. As part of the Azure DevOps ecosystem developed by Microsoft, teams using this tool suite can also integrate testing and review results on build and release pipelines.

2. Automated testing tools

Automated testing can be done in one or two ways: using a testing framework, or vendor testing solutions.

A testing framework is built using open-source libraries. It provides users with the ability to code and customize their own quality management engine to test applications. 

Testing solutions are pre-built by a vendor and equipped with the testing essentials to plan, author, organize, execute and analyze. Automated software testing tool vendors commonly offer individual tools, a complete platform, or a mix. If a team is only testing a specific system-under-test or area, say web APIs, then single tools are preferred. A testing or software quality management platform is used more in instances where applications are interconnected and demand cross-compatibility between a multitude of application types.

3. Bug/Defect tracking tools (Test management tools)

The best bug tracking tools are those that let teams trace back defects to their original user story, requirements, and tests. Throughout the development process, developers and the entire software team can track the remaining defects, prioritize/de-prioritize them and assign them to a designated member to resolve.

• Jira: Jira enables software teams to track defects, issues, requirements, and testing activities all within one place. Data for the latest status of pull requests or tested builds are available in real-time. In terms of integrations, Jira has built up a well-versed list of manual/automation, continuous integration, and many other indispensable tools in software projects.
• Monday.com: This up-and-coming project management system serves both business and engineering departments. From roadmap planning and workflow automation to bug tracking, Monday.com makes managing development and testing work items easier.

4. CI/CD

Automated testing is the key enabler for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD). For developers, software quality engineers and the rest of the team to have the confidence to release iterations frequently, testing needs to constantly happen. Given that automated testing sits at the core of CI/CD, integration with testing frameworks and tools is a must.

• Jenkins: Jenkins infuses automation workflows throughout the building, testing and deployment stages of software development. This CI orchestration system comes with an abundant set of plugins to integrate with other tools, run tests and aggregate results for easy failure investigation. 
• GitHub Actions: Powered by a massive open source community, GitHub Actions expands further to configuring an automated CI/CD pipeline. To enable a reliable engine before merging anything in, Github Actions lets testing be the instant decision-maker to keep untested code at bay. 
• Bitbucket: Built by Jira, Bitbucket provides automated security scans, private repositories, code encryption and enterprise-geared capabilities for better security. 

5. Communication

Messaging platforms in Agile development needs to be more than a day-to-day chat room. The entire team needs communicate and stay in sync at all stages of the software development process. Especially during times where hybrid working modes have become prevalent, communication across the engineering department needs to be solid. Tool suites including CI tools, testing platforms and the rest of the engineering techstack needs to be connected and provide instant quality feedback.

• Slack: Enable real-time alerts on builds, progress of bug tickets or automated test results. Standardize processes for pull requests, deployment status and shorten time-to-resolution through group channels. Some other nifty feature sets that Slack offers are huddles, message scheduling, reminder settings and more. 
• Microsoft Teams: Sharing similar functionalities to Slack, Teams brings easy access and linkage between other services in the Microsoft ecosystem. Names such as OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook and more.

A List of Top Software Testing Tools On The Current Market

1. Katalon

Type: All-purpose software testing tool

Katalon is a comprehensive software testing tool that supports a wide range of AUTs: web, desktop, mobile, API. All stages in one place: write your test cases without code, manage them in a dedicated system, execute across environments, generate rich reports, run UI tests, and even reuse test artifacts across test cases. It’s best for QA teams who want an all-in-one solution.
 

Key features:

• Test authoring modes: For teams looking to get started quickly or those without the technical expertise and bandwidth to create and continuously maintain test scripts, Katalon offers Record-and-playback and a library of keywords for rapid test creation. For users desiring more customization, a Java/Groovy scripting mode is available.
• Test organization: All test objects captured during Record-and-Playback sessions are organized in a clear hierarchy within the Object Repository. This allows for easy access during test authoring, enabling faster test creation. Test cases are grouped into suites and collections, and you can categorize them with custom tags.
• Compatibility testing: Katalon supports local and cloud browsers, devices, and operating systems, allowing for cross-platform API, end-to-end, and regression test suites to run in parallel.
• Easy maintenance: A built-in object repository stores and accesses all of your UI elements, objects, and locators. This makes it easy to update tests when the application's UI changes.
• Requirements traceability: Katalon offers native integrations with Jira, qTest, and Xray.
• Test reporting and analytics: After test runs, Katalon generates detailed reports in popular formats that can be quickly shared with your team and stakeholders. These reports help everyone gain insights into functional testing operations and make informed decisions. Katalon also integrates seamlessly with many communication technologies to enhance collaboration.
   

Katalon also includes all the frameworks needed for comprehensive functional testing, including Data-driven testing (DDT), Behavior-driven development testing (BDD), and Keyword-driven testing. This means you get immediate access to essential frameworks and can start testing right away.
 

Additionally, Katalon pioneers the testing industry with built-in, homegrown AI features to supercharge your functional testing. You can autonomously generate test scripts from plain language input, or select a code snippet and use the Explain Code feature to quickly comment on it for all stakeholders and team members to understand.
 

Katalon can also integrate with JIRA, read ticket descriptions, extract relevant information about software testing requirements, and output a set of comprehensive manual test cases tailored to the described test scenario.

2. LambdaTest

Type: Cloud-based cross-browser testing tool
 

LambdaTest is a cloud-based platform that offers automated testing solutions designed to help teams scale and improve their software testing processes. With a focus on providing efficient and comprehensive testing capabilities, LambdaTest enables businesses to perform parallel, cross-browser, and cross-device testing on a vast array of environments.
 

Key features:

• LambdaTest provides an online Selenium Grid with access to over 3,000 combinations of browsers, devices, and operating systems, including the latest versions. 
• You can also perform geolocation testing across more than 60 countries. This feature is particularly helpful for businesses targeting a global audience to ensure localized content and regional compliance.
• In addition to that, LambdaTest also has live testing, responsive testing, and AI-powered testing. 

Pricing: flexible pricing for starters and custom pricing for Enterprise plan

Website: LambdaTest

3. Postman

Type: API Testing Tool

Postman is a powerful API (Application Programming Interface) development tool that simplifies the process of building, testing, and managing APIs. Originally introduced as a Chrome browser plugin, it has grown into a comprehensive on-premise solution compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux platforms.

Key features:

• Excellent for manual and automated API testing
• Great for organizing and running test suites
• Automations with variables, input files, and schedules
• Easy to organize tests
• User-friendly interface, handles different formats
• Easy setup and use, supports testing in multiple environments

Pricing: Free – $12/user/month

Website: Postman

Read More: Top 16 Postman Alternatives For API Testing
 

4. BrowserStack

BrowserStack is a highly regarded web and mobile application testing platform that offers a comprehensive suite of tools for developers and quality assurance teams. It provides a cloud-based environment that supports over 20,000 real devices and browsers for extensive cross-browser testing.
 

With BrowserStack, you can easily test and debug your websites on desktop, real iOS, and Android devices. It supports Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Puppeteer, JS Testing API, and more, allowing QA teams to choose the frameworks that best suit their needs.

Website: BrowserStack

Pricing: BrowserStack offers specific pricing for various testing needs, ranging from $29/month to $2,999/month for the Large Grid plan.

Documentation: BrowserStack Docs

5. Ranorex

Ranorex Studio is a comprehensive tool designed to automate GUI testing for web, mobile, and desktop applications. With its combination of low-code automation capabilities and a full-featured Integrated Development Environment (IDE), Ranorex Studio caters to both beginners and experienced testers.

Key feature:

• Easy-to-use low-code/no-code automation tools combined with a full IDE for extensive customization.
• Machine-trained object recognition engine for accurate identification and interaction with any UI element, including complex web elements and dynamic interfaces.
• Automates tests for desktop, web, and mobile apps.
• Automate tests on Windows desktops, executed locally or remotely on real or virtual machines.
• Run parallel tests for cross-browser testing on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and more.
• Test on real iOS or Android devices, simulators/emulators, or device farms without jailbreaking.
• Seamlessly integrates with Jenkins, Jira, TestRail, and other leading DevOps tools to automate bug tracking and accelerate release cycles.

Website: Ranorex

Documentation: Ranorex User Guide
 

6. TestComplete

TestComplete is a versatile automated testing environment designed to support a wide range of application types, including Windows, .NET, WPF, Visual C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, C++Builder, Java, web applications, and mobile. It allows you to build test cases using Keywords that simulate user actions with the Application Under Test, perform Record-and-Playback, and execute those test cases across different environments.

Key features:

• Supports Windows, .NET, WPF, Visual C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, C++Builder, Java, web applications, and mobile.
• Build test cases using Keywords to simulate user actions, with the ability to modify parameters for specific actions.
• Helps inexperienced users create test cases easily, which can be re-executed across different environments.
• For test execution, TestComplete offers test scheduling, parallel testing, batch test runs, and shutdown after tests to streamline the testing process.
• Supports CI/CD integrations, source control systems, Selenium, and BitBar Cloud for cloud-based mobile app testing.

Website: TestComplete

Documentation: SmartBear TestComplete Documentation
 

7. SoapUI

SoapUI is often recognized as a leading choice for API testing. This headless functional testing tool is specifically designed for API testing and supports both REST and SOAP services. API automation testers can opt for either the open-source version or the pro version. The pro edition offers a user-friendly interface and advanced features such as an assertion wizard, form editor, and SQL query builder. SoapUI is part of the ReadyAPI suite, provided by SmartBear.

Key features:

• Generate tests effortlessly using drag-and-drop and point-and-click actions
• Utilize data from files and databases for robust testing scenarios
• Easily reuse scripts across different tests
• Mock RESTful services for testing purposes
• Supports asynchronous testing to handle complex API interactions

Website: SoapUI

Documentation: SoapUI Doc

8. JMeter

Type: Performance testing tool

Apache JMeter, an Apache project, is a versatile performance testing tool designed to evaluate and measure the performance of several services, with a primary focus on web applications.

Key features:

• Ideal for both static and dynamic resources, including dynamic web applications.
• Can simulate heavy server loads to assess strength and performance under varying conditions.
• Supports HTTP, HTTPS, SOAP/REST web services, FTP, JDBC databases, LDAP, JMS message-oriented middleware, email services, native commands, shell scripts, TCP, and Java objects.
• Provides tools for recording, building, and debugging test plans.
• Allows testing from various Java-compatible operating systems.
• Facilitates easy interpretation of test results with dynamic HTML reporting.
• Extracts and correlates data from diverse response formats like HTML, JSON, XML, or plain text.
• Fully portable and compatible with 100% Java.
• Supports concurrent sampling by multiple threads and separate thread groups for different functions.

Website: JMeter

User Manual: Apache JMeter User Manual
 

9. LoadRunner

Type: Performance testing tool

LoadRunner, developed by Micro Focus, is a popular performance testing tool used for load testing, stress testing, and performance testing of software. It supports a wide range of protocols and technologies suitable for various applications.

Key Features:

• Supports performance testing for over 50 technologies and application environments, including MQTT, HTML5, WebSockets, RDP, Citrix, Java, .NET, Oracle, and SAP.
• Test faster with a patented auto-correlation engine.
• Provides an IDE to integrate with development environments, enabling performance testing earlier in the application lifecycle.
• Accurately predicts application scalability and capacity with realistic load emulation.
• Emulates hundreds or thousands of concurrent virtual users.
• Runs high-scale tests with minimal hardware and utilizes the public cloud for scalability.
• Easily creates, records, correlates, replays, and enhances scripts for improved load testing.
• Built-in integrations include IDE, CI/CD, open source test automation, monitoring, and source code management tools.

Website: LoadRunner

Pricing: LoadRunner starts from $0.15/user/hour at Dev Virtual User Hours tier, $0.3/user/hour and $1.5/user/hour for Web and GUI User Hours tier.

10. Checkmarx SAST

Checkmarx SAST (Static Application Security Testing) is a leading tool in the field of application security, designed to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities in the source code of applications. It integrates seamlessly into the development lifecycle, providing developers with the tools they need to detect and fix security issues early in the process.

Key features:

• Fast and relevant scans, identifying high-risk vulnerabilities in mission-critical applications.
• Pinpoints root causes for efficient code fixes and simultaneous remediation of multiple vulnerabilities.
• Utilizes GenAI for optimized SAST, with AI Query Builder generating and customizing tailored queries.
• Provides AI-driven vulnerability removal suggestions and auto-remediation code via AI Security Champion.
• Scans on check-in directly from source code repositories like GitHub, GitLab, Azure, and Bitbucket for seamless SDLC integration.
• Supports over 35 languages and 80 language frameworks, accommodating both new and legacy platforms.

Website: Checkmarx SAST
 

Documentation: Checkmarx Doc
 

11. TestRail

Type: Test management tool

TestRail is a comprehensive test management tool designed to support the planning, tracking, and reporting of software testing efforts. Developed by Gurock, TestRail is widely used by QA teams to streamline their testing processes, improve collaboration, and enhance overall productivity. It integrates seamlessly with various development and testing tools, making it a versatile solution for teams of all sizes.

Key features:

• Support Agile, black box, exploratory, functional/manual, and automation testing.
• Allow testers to create, centralize, organize, and manage test cases efficiently.
• Import test cases from Excel and other management tools.
• Create multiple versions of test cases for comparison.
• Share test case repository across different projects, releases, and sprints.
• Capture step-by-step test execution history with detailed explanations.
• Support test run-specific configurations and parameters.
• Multiple reporting options, including test case and test execution reports.
• Support cross-project reports.
• Supports any team size and project complexity.
• Supports over 100 add-ins, including JIRA, Bamboo, HipChat, BugZilla, eggPlant, Cucumber, Jenkins, Selenium, Rally, and Version One.

Website: TestRail

Documentation: TestRail Documentation 
 

12. Mabl

Type: AI-powered testing tool

Mabl is a cloud-based test automation tool designed to simplify and enhance the process of software testing. It integrates advanced machine learning techniques to provide robust and reliable testing solutions without the need for extensive coding knowledge. 

Mabl supports the entire testing lifecycle, from test creation and execution to monitoring and maintenance, making it a powerful tool for modern software development teams.

Key features:

• Simple and lightweight browser plugin for software testing
• Automates web browsers like Selenium IDE and Selenium WebDriver
• No heavy software download required
• Features auto-healing using machine learning, allowing scripts to run despite major UI changes
• Scriptless automation; no coding knowledge required
• Easy execution and timely triggering of tests
• Provides great visuals and monitors anomalies
• Tracks network spikes and platform performance
• Email and Slack integrations for notifications
• Bugs can be synced with tools like Bamboo, JIRA, Jenkins, etc.
• Highly recommended as a cutting-edge tool for future generations
• Instant demo available from test automation specialists

Website: Mabl

Documentation: Mabl help