Top 3 Latest Selenium Alternatives For Software Test Automation

#selenium #sdlc #testing #automationtestingtools

Selenium has been the go-to tool for web browser automation for about a decade but as the websites are becoming more complex, the need for better automation tools has never become more important. Some companies have come up with great tools that aim to solve all the testing automation problems being faced by organizations.

Let us look at the most specific needs these testing tools are trying to address. These requirements can be summarized in a few points as below:

Comprehensive test coverage
Ease of automation
Easy maintenance of automated test cases
Low Learning Curve
Least amount of time taken for automating
Easy reporting
Earliest possible reporting of bugs
Integration with CI/CD tools
Ability to import already existing Selenium scripts

Let us look at the top 3 commercial alternatives to Selenium that you need to try!

TOSCA
Testsigma
TestComplete

The common features that all these three products offer are:

Scriptless and easy Automation
Easy maintenance, automatic change detection
Low Learning Curve
Support for integration with all major tools in the market including reporting and CI/CD tools
Swift test case creation
Ability to import already existing Selenium scripts
Distributed and parallel test execution
Scriptless testing – TestComplete and TOSCA support record and playback. Tetsigma uses NLP based automation using plain English. But, the tool also has the record and playback option for beginners to get familiar with the process. But, the final aim is to automate the test cases using Natural Language(NLP) and don’t encourage using it heavily. There are more scriptless testing methods which you may find out in Scriptless Automated Testing is not the same as Record and Playback in detail.
Active customer support for any problem or issue

Now, let’s talk about these tools one by one and what features make them stand out, which can help an organization decide what will best suit their needs.

TOSCA:

Ease of test case creation
Though there is a rift between the testers in the industry, some say it is quite easy to learn while some say it is not easy to learn. What is for sure is that once you can learn how to create your first test case, it is going to be a very satisfying experience going on creating the rest of the test cases for your product.
Model-based Test Automation Framework This tool utilizes a Model-Based Framework where it automatically recognizes and stores the objects of the system under test and then creates test cases according to the objects and interactions between them.
Risk-based testing According to the change in the system, the tool decides the test cases that should be executed to make sure all the affected areas are tested and there is minimal risk involved
Test Management & Manual Testing In addition to being a test automation tool and framework, it can also act as a repository for test cases and can be used to execute manual test cases easily.
Easy maintenance The Model-based testing framework used by TOSCA automatically detects objects in the system under test and detects any changes in them, thus allows for easy maintenance. Supports automation of websites, mobile applications, web apps, desktop apps, SAP and APIs

Testsigma:

Ease of Test case creation The main feature of Testsigma is the ease of writing test cases using plain English. The test cases are created using Natural Language Processing that reduces the learning curve to a bare minimum. Testsigma does support record and play but it is only for the people to learn and get accustomed to creating test cases using natural language. Creating test cases using NLP requires the same effort as would be needed for manual test case creation.
Easy maintenance Testsigma has an AI-powered engine at its core which detects any changes in the system under test and fix the locator changes automatically.
Exhaustive test lab on cloud Testsigma has its test lab on the cloud that hosts an extensive list of devices and systems to facilitate all-round testing. It also integrates with Sauce Labs and BrowserStack with no additional cost.
Cloud-based automation Testsigma hosts the automated test cases on the cloud and facilitates their execution on the cloud itself which saves time, effort and space of maintaining hardware for hosting the required hardware.
On-Demand Test Automation Expert Services Testsigma not only offers a great level of support as do the other tools we have talked about, but it also offers test automation services if your organization is looking for some advice on how to get started or some expert help to meet the deadlines.
Supports Web, Mobile Web, Android & iOS Apps, and API automation Allows Scripting for more complex scenarios
Allows Scripting for more complex scenarios
Supports Data-Driven test automation, Regression Testing, Cross Browser testing etc
Test Management & Manual Testing

TestComplete:

Ease of Test Case creation Test cases can be automated using native BDD-style Gherkin syntax scripts which have the format of given-then-when for creating test cases which is very close to the English language.
Allows Scripting for more complex scenarios TestComplete gives users the flexibility to use a scripting language of their choice to automate a complex scenario. The supported languages are JavaScript, JScript, Python, VBScript, DelphiScript, C# Script, and C++ Script.
Supports Data-Driven and Keyword-driven test automation Along with BDD test creation, TestComplete also supports data-driven and keyword-driven test automation
Ability to reuse functional tests Data-Driven tests, keyword-driven tests already created in TestComplete can be easily reused. TestComplete also supports import of test cases already written using selenium and SoapUI
Automatic Object Recognition The AI-powered visual recognition system built under TestComplete makes the creation and maintenance of test cases very easy in TestComplete. This is achieved by accurately identifying dynamic UI elements.
Supports automation of desktop, web, or mobile UI.

Thus, knowing all the features of the top 3 alternatives to Selenium, depending on the needs and specific requirements of an organization, one of the above tools can be chosen.