Is Katalon Studio the best Software Testing Tool of 2019?

In 2019, test automation and automation testers have never been more in demand.  As a result, everyone wants to automate. Providing this QA service satisfies the need for delivering fast and high-quality applications that exceed customer expectations. Now, through the usage of test management or test automation tools, teams can avoid spending excessive amounts of time in production and meet delivery goals to the end user.

As every developer must provide updated versions, there are a variety of ways to go about delivering the product. Depending on the end goal, one may employ different testing strategies such as running test scripts through API testing, data-driven testing, web application testing, and others. The list is almost endless.

Every day, test automation engineers make improvements, providing newer versions of an application. Each iteration is an upgrade towards user-friendly products that solidify a consistent user experience and ensure that previous capabilities and functionalities do not break.

One of the most important phases of SDTC (Software Development Test Cycle) is Regression Testing. This is where a set of test scenarios and test cases need to be executed to guarantee that an application works properly and to check for the occurrence of regressive defects (i.e. Functionality suddenly not working that was working before). This is especially relevant after changes in its source code, such as new capabilities or enhancements. Since most Agile software development teams deliver new features every two weeks, automatically generated/executed regression testing is necessary to be performed with at least equal frequency as well if not better. It is no longer reasonable to think of executing manually repeated tests more than once, maybe twice. Such testing would not be feasible either due to that type of the hectic pace of an Agile-based project.

Not every company has transitioned from waterfall to agile. For some, the cost of manual testing may not align with budget restrictions. For most manual testing projects, automation is the answer. Coincidentally, that avenue opens up another set of questions. Since test automation is a vital method of testing, what is the best automation software testing tool? What criteria should dictate the choice of an automation tool?

For the purpose of this blog, QA Consultants have researched 12 different sources, including forums, testing specialized websites, and technology blogs. The below content examines various automation testing tools and criteria used to evaluate tools (or a set of testing tools).

1. Microsoft Testing Team
   According to TestingSpot Blog from Microsoft Testing Team, the criteria to select the best automation tool are: (1) Programming skills, (2) QA team size, collaboration and integration needs, (3) Type of application to be tested (desktop, mobile, browser-based), (4) OS (Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, etc.), (5) Price and support and (6) Industry pattern (what companies are most are used nowadays). The most popular automation tool used by companies is Selenium, which 29% of the market share, followed by internal or customized tools with 24%, Junit 12%, Microsoft 8%, Appium 8%, QTP/UFC 7%, TestComplete and Selendroid both 5% and Jmeter 2%.
2. ITPro
   ITPro presents a different vision of criteria for selecting automation tools. Essentially, they consider traceability, management services, bug tracking features and collaboration support between developers and software testing professionals. The recommended test automation tools are Katalon Studio, Selenium, UFT, and TestComplete.
3. ReQtest
   Although a specific criterion is not mentioned, the five best automation testing tools presented are Selenium, IBM Rational Functional Tester (RFT), Cucumber, TestComplete, and eggPlant.
4. Gyansetu blog 
   According to Gyansetu’s blog, the top 10 automation testing tools for 2019 are based on ease of use. This is a subjective criterion, especially considering that some of the recommended tools require a high level of programming skills. The tools are Selenium, Zephyr, Ranorex, Squish, SoapUI, QMetry Automation Studio, Tricentis, Maveryx, TestCraft, and Mabl.
5. PractiTest blog 
   PractiTest’s blog compares these functional test automation tools: test development platform, scripting languages, programming skills, learning curves, script creation time, object storage and maintenance, image-based testing, continuous integration possibilities, support, pricing, and licensing. The recommended tools are Selenium, UFT, TestComplete, and eggPlant.
6. Gartner 
   Gartner presented a list of 57 software test automation tools. According to the study, the following is the top 10 best tools of 2019 user’s review and customer’s choice: Parasoft Jtest, with 8 reviews and 4.8 (of 5) rating, Parasoft Virtualize, with 20 reviews and 4.7 rating, Visual Studio App Center, from Microsoft, with 13 reviews and 4.6 rating, Visual Studio IDE with impressive 918 reviews and 4.5 rating, followed by Tricents qTest, NeoLoad, Parasoft SOA Test and eggPlant, all 4.5 rating and 10, 25, 112, 40 and 35 reviews respectively, followed by Katalon Studio with also impressive 563 reviews and 4.4 rating, Micro Focus HPE and BPT with 4.4 rating each and 7 and 11 reviews, respectively. Katalon Studio is one of the most popular products reviewed by customers and the only free tool in this particular top 10 lists.
7. Edureka 
   Edureka recommends the most popular and well-known automation testing tools on the market, which are Selenium, Watir, Ranorex, UFT, and Tricentis Tosca.
8. C RBtech 
   Based on an assessment report, CRBtech states the best software testing tools are Quality Center (Micro Focus), Selenium, Robotium, Silk Test, and RFT (IBM).
9. Dzone
   As mentioned by the Dzone forum, the most trending software testing automation tools are Selenium, TestingWhiz, HPE (Micro Focus), TestComplete, Ranorex, Sahi, Watir, Tosca, Telerik TestStudio, and WatiN.
10. TrustRadius
    In reference to TrustRadius’ highest rated reviews by users, the top 10 are Protractor, CA Application Test, BrowserStack, Selenium, SoapUI Pro, Progress Test Studio, Katalon Studio, Tricentis qTest, and UFT.
11. Joe Colantonio
    Recently, Joe Colantonio interviewed over 200 testers and developers to determine the best automation testing tools. When attempting to select a tool solution, it’s highly recommended that a company consults with an outside vendor, such as QA Consultants, to perform a Proof of Concept (POC). This third party validation ensures the solution fits in with the development team’s workflow and taste.
    Joe’s list is very extensive, listing out 48 automation testing tools (without any particular order): Selenium WebDriver, Cucumber, Serenity, UFT/QTP, LeanFT, PhantomJS, Automation Anywhere, CodedUI, TestComplete, Sikuli, AutoIt, Applitools, Protractor, Watir, Powershell, qTest, White, Appium, Robot Framework, Ca Agile Designer, GraphWalker, Ranorex, HipTest, Eggplant, TestArchitect, Galen, Tricentis, Espresso, TestIm, Cypress.io, WebDriver.IO, Mabl, Jest, Katalon Studio, Progress (Telerik), Sahi, Gauge, RedwoodHQ, WinAppDriver, IBM Rational Functional Tester, Test.AI, Worksoft, Oracle Application Testing Suite (OATS), TestingWhiz, TestCafe, accelQ, Bellatrix, and OpenTest.
12. PhoenixNAP
    Phoenix NAP suggests interesting criteria to consider when choosing an automated testing platform: (1) open-source or commercial, (2) scripting language, (3) is it for tester or developers, (4) keyword-driven or data-driven. Considering those aspects, the best-automated DevOps testing tools for 2019 are Citrus, Galen, Karate-DSL, Robot Framework, Selenium, Watir, Gauge, RFT, Katalon Studio, Ranorex, Sahi Pro, TestComplete, eggplant, Tricentis Tosca, UFT, Cypress, Serenity, RedwoodHQ, Appium, and JMeter.

These opinions are rather diverse and the criteria are, for the most part, subjective than objective. 

The table below features the list of tools most recommended or mentioned by the 12 sources above. The top 10 are the most recommended from these sources. Three tools from the top 10 list are free and/or open source: Selenium, Katalon Studio, and Appium.

According to the most recent World Quality Report released by Sogeti , an important criterion to be considered for automation testing tools selection is “ the focus on delivering quality at speed and supporting frameworks such as agile and DevOps to deliver much greater results and take QA and testing to the next level”.

This research confirms why Katalon Studio has been considered one of the most powerful free automation tools by the QA and software testing community. When reviewing test execution tools, Micro Focus comes out on top as a commercial favourite while Selenium is the popular choice when it comes to open source free automation testing. As Katalon matures, and more QA consultants and quality assurance experts begin to use it, this ranking will change.

Every test automation framework tool starts somewhere. QA analysts will propel Katalon as the number one choice. To quote Katalone, “Katalon Studio is a robust automation solution for your mobile testing projects.” Testing a humble mobile app to complex test cases, one requires a versatile tool that can do it all.

As it stands, Katalon is built on top of Selenium and Appium but offers users a user-friendly experience for very little effort. These types of niceties that cater to the user are the way of the future. QA consultants will be able to deliver faster, saving time, and money in the long run. Katalon offers technical advantages as well as an aesthetic to match. Quality assurance engineers will applaud its easy nature and thus change the nature of QA consulting.