Hot Automation Testing Tools in 2024

Software testing is both expensive and time-consuming. However, its importance and demand have only been skyrocketing. And, why is that? Short answer: Your users only want polished software with incredible user experience, period.

That’s not an easy feat to achieve. When you and your users have high expectations from your incredibly useful, super-complex, and high-performance software, benchmarking and ensuring its quality with just manual testing methods, isn’t gonna cut it. You need automation testing tools by your side.  

In this article, you’ll learn what automation testing is, why it’s super useful, and what automation testing tools you can have in your arsenal in 2024, to wow your users with your top-notch software.

Automation testing lets you test your software with automated tools that require little to no human interference. These tools utilize automated ways and workflows to test your software with speed and better accuracy.

Automation testing is especially beneficial when you have repetitive tests or workflows that are just not feasible only with manual testing methods. Note that automation testing does not undermine manual testing methods at all. They are super important while you test your software. However, long-running and repetitive tasks, when dealt with by manual methods, can result in lost time and error-prone outputs. Hence, automation testing.

Here are some key automation tools to watch out this year:

1 - Selenium

Selenium is by far the most well-known automation testing tool for your web apps. It’s open-source, feature-rich, and offers a suite of tools to test your software with automation for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and so on.

With Selenium, you can:

• Run automated tests on Windows, Linux, MacOS, and UNIX.
• Use various programming languages, such as Java, Python, JavaScript, C#, and Ruby.
• Run cross-browser automation tests.
• Automate API testing for web browsers with Selenium WebDriver.
• Write automated test cases efficiently in Selenium IDE. You can use it as an extension for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
• Run parallel automated tests on different platforms at once with Selenium Grid for faster test execution and improved test coverage.
• Use a dedicated Internet Explorer Driver to run automated tests on Windows 10 and 11 with IE Driver Server.
• Customize and integrate with other testing tools like JUnit, TestNG, and Cucumber.
• Enjoy huge community support from developers and testers.
• Take advantage of the excellent documentation from Selenium.
• Get up and running for free. You don’t need a license fee to use Selenium.

2 - Cypress

Ever since its initial release, Cypress has been a buzz in the JavaScript community for its End-to-end/E2E automation testing capabilities for web apps. You can also conduct other functional tests like unit tests, component tests, and integration tests with Cypress. It’s an open-source tool. Cypress also offers dashboard and analytics features.

Cypress lets you:

• Test with Firefox and Chrome-family browsers.
• Do automation testing on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.
• Use JavaScript/TypeScript language for writing automated test scripts.
• Execute parallel tests for efficient automation testing.
• Cut back on flaky automated tests. When you run the same test twice with the same specifications, one of the tests gives a positive result, and the other results in negative. That’s flaky. Cypress is pretty good at preventing flaky results.
• Debug on the fly as you keep coding with continuous testing.
• Integrate with your DevOps tools for CI/CD pipelines.
• Work with the BDD (Behavior-driven Development) and TDD (Test-driven Development) testing strategies.
• Debug better with readable stack traces, thrown by Cypress every time you hit an error. Cypress is pretty solid at handling errors or exceptions.
• Get started for free with tons of features. Cypress also has three paid tiers for other advanced features.

3 - Playwright

Playwright is yet another open-source automation testing tool for browsers. Playwright has handy automated E2E/System Testing and API testing capabilities for web-based apps. To run automation tests, Playwright uses NodeJS runtime environment on the backend.

With Playwright, you get:

• Support for popular web browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Edge.
• Platform support for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Supports various programming languages like JavaScript/Typescript, Java, .Net, and Python.
• CI/CD integration capabilities with tools like Jenkins and CircleCI.
• Integration with other testing tools/frameworks like Jest and Cucumber.
• Parallel test execution capabilities that are browser-based and can run in isolation on multiple browsers, simultaneously.
• Supports multi-page and multi-tab testing to run automated tests simulating real-world scenarios.
• Auto-wait feature for less flaky tests. Before performing a test action like a click during automation testing, Playwright ensures that all the elements are visible and properly loaded. That’s auto-wait.
• Completely free usage.

4 - Appium

Appium has been a popular choice for automation testing of native, hybrid, and mobile apps for quite long. You can also use Appium for desktop app testing. It’s an open-source tool that supports multiple platforms and languages. Appium also has a large and active community of users and contributors.

With Appium, you can:

• Run automated tests for mobile, both iOS and Android.
• Conduct automation testing on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.
• Use multiple languages for writing automated test scripts, such as Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Python, and C#.
• Use the same automation code to test different platforms, such as Windows, iOS, and Android, since Appium uses standard automation APIs.
• Work with various testing frameworks and tools, such as Selenium, Mocha, Cucumber, etc.
• Use Appium Inspector and Appium Desktop for debugging and generating test scripts. It’s a GUI tool that lets you inspect and interact with your app elements.
• Use it completely for free.

5 - Postman

Postman is a widely used and super popular tool for API and integration testing. You can also use Postman for automation testing through CI/CD pipelines. It offers a rich set of features and integrations. Postman also has a huge and growing community of developers and testers.

Postman lets you:

• Conduct tests for APIs that support REST, SOAP, GraphQL, or any other protocol.
• Run automation tests on Windows, macOS, Linux, and web platforms.
• Use JavaScript language for writing and running automated test scripts.
• Automate complex workflows and scenarios using variables, environments, pre-request scripts, and test scripts with Postman’s Collection Runner.
• Configure and use a mock server to run automated tests.
• Create automated tests and run them with the Postman’s application and CLI (Command-line Interface)
• Gain insights, understand trends, and monitor your software API performance with API test automation.
• Generate docs for automated tests and code to collaborate seamlessly with team members.
• Get started for free with power-packed features. Postman also has three paid plans with more features and collaboration options.

Also Read: Getting Started with Software Testing

6 - LambdaTest

LambdaTest is a cloud-based automation testing tool. It offers solid features for web and mobile app testing. It's widely adopted for cross-browser automation testing.

LambdaTest offers:

• Support for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Emulators/simulators for mobile browsers to run automated tests.
• Support for 3000+ browsers and devices for cross-browser and cross-device automation testing.
• Support for parallel tests in multiple browsers.
• Features for getting detailed logs for exceptions, commands, network, metadata, and so on.
• Geo-location testing features.
• AI-powered features for E2E test orchestration and running visual tests.
• Integration with various automation testing tools and frameworks like Selenium, Cypress, Appium, Playwright, etc.
• Free plan to get started with three paid tiers.

7 - Katalon Studio

Katalon Studio is another popular automation testing tool. It’s not open-source. However, it’s built on top of other open-source automation tools like Selenium and Appium. You can use Katalon for automated testing to conduct integration tests, E2E/System tests, visual tests, and API tests.

Katalon offers:

• Support for web browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge.
• Programming language support for Java and Groovy.
• WebUI testing support for popular frontend libraries and frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.
• Integrations with other tools, such as GitHub, Jira,  and Slack.
• Support for various testing methodologies like BDD, keyword-driven, cross-browser testing, and so on.
• CI/CD integration capabilities for automation testing through DevOps pipelines with popular tools like Jenkins, GitLab, and Azure DevOps.
• Parallel test execution, but only with Katalon TestOps or any other similar DevOps infrastructure.  
• Data management options with analytics dashboard and test-reporting capabilities.
• A free basic plan to get started. It also has two paid tiers with advanced features.

8 - Cucumber

Cucumber is a popular automation testing tool for behavior-driven development (BDD). It’s pretty popular among both the techie and the non-techie audiences. You can also use Cucumber for automation testing of acceptance and functional tests. It’s an open-source tool but has paid tiers.

Cucumber lets you:

• Write BDD-style tests in Java, JavaScript, Python, and .Net.
• Automate test scenarios and specifications using plain English language, following the Gherkin syntax. It lets you write logic in natural language which gets parsed by Cucumber, converted to scripts, and then run.
• Run automated test scripts without in-depth knowledge of coding.
• Conduct automated testing with Cucumber’s command-line tool.
• Execute parallel tests by integrating with tools like TestNG.
• Work with various testing frameworks and tools, such as Selenium, Appium, JUnit, Mocha, etc.
• Sync with project and test management tools like Jira and TestRail.
• Integrate with Git to conduct collaborative testing sessions and with CI/CD tools like Jenkins for DevOps pipelines.
• Run advanced test scripts with support for targeted testing. You can use logical operators to run these tests with Cucumber.
• Create reusable automated test scripts that enable you to improve testing efficiency.
• Execute automated scripts conditionally with Cucumber’s step definitions, hooks, and tags.
• Get started with a free trial. It has two paid tiers.

9 - SoapUI

SoapUI is yet another tool that’s widely used in API testing and automation. You can also use SoapUI for automation testing of web services, databases, and message queues. It’s an open-source tool that supports multiple protocols and standards. SoapUI also has a loyal and experienced community of users and experts. You can automate functional, compliance, load and performance, and regression tests with SoapUI.

SoapUI offers:

• Support for various API protocols, such as SOAP, REST, HTTP, HTTPS, WSDL, GraphQL, AMF, JDBC, etc.
• Support for popular platforms like Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.
• Programming language support for Groovy and JavaScript for writing automated test scripts.
• Automation with complex test cases and data-driven tests using assertions, properties, data sources, and data sinks.
• Drag and drop test creation features while automating test scripts.
• Features like scriptless and custom scripting, CI/CD automation, server monitoring, etc.
• Integration capabilities testing automation frameworks and tools, such as Jenkins.
• A free trial. SoapUI’s three paid tiers go by the name ReadyAPI.

10 - TestComplete

TestComplete by SmartBear Software is another solid option for automation testing of desktop, web, and mobile applications. It’s a paid tool. You can use TestComplete for automation testing of UI, functional, regression, and data-driven tests. It offers a flexible and scalable solution for automation testing.

TestComplete lets you:

• Run automated tests for Windows, web, iOS, and Android apps.
• Use multiple supported languages for writing automated test scripts, such as JavaScript, Python, and VBScript. It also supports some legacy scripts like JScript, DelphiScript, etc.
• Execute parallel using TestComplete’s built-in parallel testing engine called TestExecute. It also offers a VisualTest feature in higher-paid tiers.
• Use features like keyword-driven tests and scriptless Record and Replay.
• Get reports with automated workflows while you test.
• Work with various testing frameworks and tools, such as Selenium, NUnit, TestNG, Cucumber, etc.
• Debug efficiently with TestComplete’s checkpoints, breakpoints, watch list, and log features.
• Integrate CI/CD tools for DevOps testing workflows.
• Get started on a free trial with three different paid plans.