10 Best Functional Testing Tools for 2024

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Morris

Functional testing is one of the crucial processes in software testing that tests for all of the necessary functions of your software. According to studies, the software failure rate ranges from 50-80%.
Functional testing can mitigate failure rate to a large extent and ensures that all the functions work properly. However, choosing the right tool for this task is an uphill task since you need to consider various functionalities.

That’s why we have come up with a list of the best functional testing tools, keeping all the features in mind. First, let’s read about the functional testing tools and what are the essential features needed.

What are Functional Testing Tools?

Functional testing tools are a set of automated tools that test software for its functionality and usability against a predefined set of requirements. Functional testing involves testing software for various aspects like user interface, APIs, databases, security, client or server applications, and overall system operation.

Functional testing tools simulate user interactions with the software to ensure that it performs as expected based on specified requirements. Functional testing tools can automate test cases, generate test data, and provide detailed reports on test results.

Factors To Consider When Choosing Functional Testing Tools

When choosing functional testing tools, it’s crucial to consider factors like ease of use, scalability, integration capabilities, and more. Below, we have discussed about these factors in detail:

Pricing

Pricing is an important element to evaluate when selecting a functional testing tool because it’s directly related to your organization’s budget allocation and ROI expectations.
There are open-source tools available that are free to use, while others require a paid license that can vary widely in cost. Some tools offer per-user licenses, while others have site-wide or enterprise licenses. Many tools provide different pricing tiers based on features, user limits, and other factors.
Some tools may charge extra on add-ons and extensions, which may significantly increase the price.

Technologies used

The technology stack used in a functional testing tool significantly determines its capabilities, performance, and ease of use. The tool must be compatible and adaptable with various technologies such as multiple operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux), databases (SQL, Oracle), and applications (Web, Desktop, Mobile).
Also, keep in mind that the functional testing tool should support leading automation frameworks like Selenium WebDriver or Appium for web and mobile application testing. It’s also beneficial if the tool supports multiple scripting languages like Java, Python, C#, and Ruby, allowing better implementation within development teams.

Ease of use

A user-friendly tool can greatly enhance the team’s productivity and efficiency by reducing the learning curve and allowing testers to start test case creation and execution quickly. This includes a clean, intuitive UI that makes navigation through different features and options straightforward.
A valuable characteristic of a user-friendly functional testing tool is providing “codeless” or “low-code” automation capabilities. These capabilities enable non-tech savvy users to create and automate tests without having primary programming knowledge.
Look out for features such as drag and drop interface, record & replay, visual test creation functionality, and built-in object repositories that make test case creation easier.

Support

Support can take multiple forms, including documentation, online tutorials, community forums, and direct customer service via chat, email, or phone. A responsive and knowledgeable support team can drastically reduce the time to resolve issues and allow for uninterrupted and seamless testing operations.
Furthermore, it’s also advantageous if the tool has a substantial community influence. Active involvement in forums and community engagement means access to a wealth of shared knowledge, real-life experiences, tips, tricks, and recommended best practices from various users worldwide.
Open-source tools leverage this advantage more, like Selenium, which has a substantial community globally that helps users with solutions, updates, and plug-ins.

Best Functional Testing Tools 2024

There are various useful functional testing tools that offer several features for the testers. Based on our research and the above factors, we have shortlisted these tools, highlighting their key features.

TestGrid.io

TestGrid is a no-code automated testing tool that uses AI/ML to perform scriptless testing. This functional testing tool executes various test cases and performs tests for software and web applications of all types.
Above all, TestGrid eliminates the need to use external SDKs to test the UI and UX of mobile apps since it has a visual validation capability for testing. TestGrid uses drag-and-drop scriptless testing that gives the flexibility to automate functional, performance, visual, and compatibility testing.

The main USP of TestGrid is its co-tester, which automates your testing by creating workflows. Users can train the AI models and use prompts to assign tasks to team members, perform testing, and even identify bugs.

Key features:

• TestGrid uses 1,000+ real devices and browsers to perform and create automated test cases.
• It uses the record and playback feature to capture app interactions in an automated manner.
• Testers can write test cases in various formats, such as English, BDD, and CSV to generate the best use case.

2. Cypress

Cypress.io is an open-source testing framework that is mainly used for end-to-end testing and, preferably, Java projects. It integrates seamlessly with other CI/CD tools such as CircleCI, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Bitbucket Pipelines and AWS CodeBuild which allow testers to run parallel tests and smooth test execution.

The platform’s support for integration testing and continuous testing further enhances the quality assurance process.

Key features:

• Provides cross-browser support for Firefox, Edge and Electron browsers
• Cypress provides actionable insights into your test suites and what needs improvement
• Performs parallel and cross-browser execution and loan balancing tests

3. SmartBear

SmartBear is a low-code API testing tool that performs functional testing for testing APIs. This API testing tool is most suitable for the DevOps and agile teams, enabling them to create test automation cases across any workflow.
It also supports various security aspects and runs load testing of RESTful, SOAP, and GraphQL. Even more, this functional testing tool also provides flexibility by integrating API testing into any third-party CI/CD tool pipelines.

Key features:

• Integrates with various CI/CD tools like Jenkins, Git, and Docker
• Smart assertion feature uses the API responses to create maximum test coverage
• Supports multiple scripting languages including JavaScript, Python, VBScript, and more.

4. Appium

Appium is a popular open-source tool for automating native, web, and hybrid applications on iOS, Android, and Windows platforms. As an open standard for automating these platform-specific apps, Appium promotes cross-platform app testing, allowing you to write tests against multiple platforms using the same API.

This enables code reuse between iOS, Android, and Windows testsuites. Appium can be run on both emulators and real devices.

Key features:

• Supports multitudes of programming languages like Java, Ruby, C#, etc.
• Compatible with all major systems and allows integration with other software.
• Users can use same APIs for multiple platforms allowing for code reuse

5. Apache Jmeter

Apache JMeter is a popular open-source software testing tool primarily used for load testing and measuring the functional behavior of software applications. It stands out for its ability to simulate heavy loads on servers, networks, or objects to analyze overall performance under different load types.
The platform’s friendly GUI helps you easily visualize test results, and it can execute tests built with Selenium, a feature that adds to its versatility in handling different testing scenarios.

Key features:

• It simulates heavy loads on servers or networks for stress-testing.
• Apache offers portability across various systems and multiple testing
• Supports a wide range of application servers and protocols including Web, SOAP, FTP, TCP, LDAP, SOAP, MOM, Mail Protocols and shell scripts.

6. SauceLabs

SauceLabs is considered as one of the top-rated testing tools that provides secure and highly scalable automation methods for testing desktop, mobile web, native, and hybrid applications.
Sauce Labs provides access to more than 400 browser-platform OS combinations, including JavaScript unit and functional testing frameworks. It offers continuous integration with all popular CI systems.

Key features:

• Provides access to scalable and effective Android emulators and iOS simulators
• Creates extensive reports and captures actionable signals for crashes and errors
• Performs manual and automated testing through different testing channels

7. SoapUI

SoapUI is an open-source functional testing tool that supports API solutions and requirements-based testing. SoapUI can handle everything from manual calls to automated implementations and supports parallel execution.
The noteworthy feature of SoapUI is the smart endpoint explorer feature, which allows you to select the web service you wish to test. After sending the request, you receive instant raw data. Users can also execute and perform end-to-end tests on REST, SOAP, & GraphQL APIs, JMS, JDBC, and other web services.

Key features:

• Supports execution of multiple commands/tests simultaneously
• Offers native integration with tools like Jenkins, Maven, TeamCity, and other API lifecycle tools
• Users can run parallel tests to accelerate the cycle and automate processes

8. Watir

Watir, which stands for Web Application Testing in Ruby, is an open-source automated testing library primarily used for automating web browsers. Based on Ruby, it supports Ruby scripting, which makes it easy to learn and execute within your team.
Watir allows efficient interactions with your web browsers like Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, and more by performing tests on your Document Object Model (DOM). You don’t need any external server since Watir implements OLE ((Object, Linking and Embedding) protocol over COM ((Component Object Model) that facilitates easy communication between the browser and Ruby.

Key features:

• Facilitates tests on multiple browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, etc.
• Supports manipulation and automatic creation of objects
• Provides a test recorder to record and execute successful testing

9. Robotium

Robotium is a renowned open-source test framework designed specifically to make the task of writing robust and powerful automatic black-box UI tests for Android applications. It allows testers to write robust and reliable automated test cases for Android applications.
With features like automatic waiting, seamless integration with Android Studio, and support for native and hybrid apps, Robotium simplifies the testing process and helps ensure the quality and functionality of mobile applications.

Key features:

• Requires less project-specific information, easing test case generation
• Reduced complexity in generating automated integrity and functional tests
• Requires less project-specific information, easing test case generation

10. Playwright

Playwright is a Node.js library that automates Chrome, Firefox, and Webkit browsers with a single API. Developed and maintained by Microsoft, Playwright enables reliable end-to-end testing for modern web applications, allowing users to test across all modern browsers.
One of the standout features of Playwright is its ability to automate the broadest set of user interactions, including inputs of keyboard, mouse, touch, etc., making it significantly closer to what end users experience.

*Key features: *

• Compatible with several CI/CD tools such as CircleCI, GitLab, Azure Pipeline, and TravisCI
• Users can view the recordings and take snapshots to track what went wrong
• Facilitates the automation of the broadest possible user interactions

Conclusion

Choosing the right functional testing tool can make a significant difference in the quality of your software, agility of your development cycle, and eventually the satisfaction of your end-users.
Each of the testing tools discussed above offers unique strengths and capabilities that cater to distinct testing requirements and software environments.

TestGrid stands out for its AI language abilities and scriptless test automation, reducing the tester’s efforts and mitigating the errors. It tests all aspects of functional testing in real-world devices and browsers.

Source : This blog is originally published at TestGrid

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Morris