How To Guide To Select Automation Testing Tools

According to the report about Automation Testing Tools market value of Markets and Markets: “The global automation testing market size is expected to grow USD 12.6 billion in 2019 to USD 28.8 billion by 2024, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.0% during the forecast period.” These figures prove the demand for automation testing will increase in future years.

However, making the right decision at first-step is not so easy. So you could follow this suggestion to ensure your project’s quality, maximize productivity, and minimize the cost.

Let’s learn the following in this article.

When do you should find an automation testing solution?

The answer is: “It depends on your time and the requirement of the project”. For instance, you have a website, and all of the testings can be done manually initially. However, your business grows and starts getting recognition from people; then, you need to automate some of the processes like cross-browser testing of your web app to make sure it provides a similar experience to all the end-users. Or, you don’t have time for regression testing.

(An interesting article for the beginners: Automation Testing 101 in case you are learning about “automation testing”)

Types of Automation Testing Tools:

#1. Open-source

Open-source tools are free platforms that allow users to access and use their source code. Users can fully adopt the code or modify it to suit their testing needs.

#2. Commercial Tools

Commercial tools are produced to serve a commercial goal and are usually distributed via subscription plans. Users have to purchase a paid license to use the software.

#3. Custom Tools

There are niche projects that use a single open-source software or fixed commercial testing tool unable to satisfy the requirements. They are mainly due to differences in their testing processes and testing environments.

Criteria to choose automation testing tools:

#1. Does your team possess the necessary skills to utilize the tool best?

Automation testing is more technical than manual testing. Especially open-source software, testers have to possess sufficient programming knowledge to write and execute test scripts. So, the technical barrier appears to be the most challenging obstacle in adopting test automation for QA teams with little IT background.

#2. What is your company budget?

Test automation is not affordable in many real cases. However, it brings out a good ROI for your team and business in the long run if the budget is estimated well.

#3. What are the features you are looking for?

While the requirements vary from team to team, there are some key factors that you should always take into consideration when choosing a suitable automation tool. They include:

• Programming languages
• Reporting functionality
• Supported platforms
• CI/CD integration capabilities

#4. How difficult is script maintenance and reusability?

The ideal automation tool should come with capabilities to reduce such effort, such as eliminating object locator flakiness. Besides, script reusability saves you and the team a great deal of time for the same test cases as you can reuse test scripts.

#5. How are the integration capabilities?

The selected automation tool must be able to integrate into CI/CD pipelines and external platforms to ensure the testing continuity. Robust and comprehensive integration also allows you to better your test management and team collaboration.

If you are a manual Tester and feel interested in Test Automation, a Career shift from manual to automation was written for you!

And for each purpose, you can find the top list updated annually, such as top automation testing tools, top mobile testing tools, top API testing tools, etc. You can also survey the community’s ideas before making a decision.

Top suggestions tools

#1. Open-source Tool: Selenium

Selenium is an open-source framework to perform web testing across browsers and platforms. The tool is widely used and modified by developers and testers worldwide, which means you can easily find support from the community via its official website and forums. Selenium has become the standard framework for many other tools to be built on top of it.

Selenium Tutorial for Beginner to Advanced Level

#2. Free tool: Katalon Studio

Katalon Studio is a freemium automation tool with both free and paid versions. The tool was built on top of Selenium and can be used to automate Web, API, Mobile, and Desktop applications testing— with smart analytics and CI/CD integrations.

Katalon Studio Tutorial for Beginner to Advanced Level

#3. Paid tool: TestComplete

TestComplete is an automated testing framework for a wide range of application types and technologies. It is powered by Smartbear Solution, a famous company about Testing.

Check our detailed post on Best Automation Testing Tools here.

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