In the earlier times, all the testing scripts were written and run manually to test the software. However, as technology progressed, automation testing slowly began replacing manual testing as it offered better benefits like improved accuracy, faster results, and increased test coverage. Fast forward to today, most of the software testing is done using QA automation tools.
This can be clearly demonstrated by the study conducted by Global Market Insights, which states that the automation testing market is projected to see a 15% CAGR from 2023 to 2032. Due to the growing willingness among companies to use automation testing, the market has seen a great push.
However, this growth has also led to an influx of automation testing tools in the market, making it difficult for QA teams to choose the one that best suits their needs. Just as a chef needs the perfect knife to work in the kitchen, the software tester needs a perfect tool that aligns with the requirements of the project at hand.
Are you or your testing team struggling with the same? This blog is your ultimate guide as it mentions the key criteria for choosing the best testing tool so that you can make an informed decision.
6 Top Things to Consider When Choosing a Testing Tool
Let us check out the top 6 points to keep in mind while selecting a testing tool to improve your testing efforts greatly:
1. Your Testing Budget
The first and foremost concern when choosing a tool to automate test cases is how much money you can spend on a testing tool. Look for a tool that sits well within your budget while providing all the features that you’re looking for.
Many tools entail additional costs like licensing fees, maintenance fees, and operational costs that can make them expensive for your use. Thoroughly check your tool for these costs before finalizing it.
Finally, pick a tool that can be used by both seasoned programming experts and non-technical people, as it will save the money you will need to spend on training people to learn how to use the tool.
2. Project Requirements
Once you have shortlisted the tools that fit your budget, the next step is to compare them and see if they fit your unique project needs. There is no point in spending money on a tool that does not solve your testing challenges. When you’re assessing your project requirements, always check for the following points:
- Whether you are testing a mobile, web, API, or desktop application
- The different devices, browsers, and OS combinations you want to test on
- The programming language your application is built in
Ensure to add more points here that might be important for you. Once you have an answer to all these factors, narrowing down your list of tools will be easier.
3. Reporting Capabilities
When using a testing tool, the QA teams depend upon them to generate reports that give detailed insights about the test cases. These tools generally provide the progress of the test plan, test case authoring status, and test case passed and failed status.
A good testing tool will provide you with a dashboard showing the test cases that need to be executed and provide you with test attributes like failed test cases, passed test cases, and user workload. This allows full visibility to all stakeholders and helps identify and resolve the issues at the earliest.
4. Ease of Test Maintenance
Now that you have a finer list of tools, it is time to test these tools. Remember, not all tools are suitable for all test scenarios. To make sure that your tool aligns perfectly in every aspect, try automating a few test cases of your software using the trial version of the tools you have selected.
Moreover, always look for self-healing features in your automation testing tools, as they can easily fix small changes in the application. This will lead to a reduction in the costs of test case maintenance and help you accelerate your time-to-market.
5. Good Support
Many testing tools have polished websites and ads but turn out to be subpar when it comes to customer support. When you are stuck with a tool’s installation, configuration, or usage, the team of your selected tool should be able to solve all your queries with live chats, FAQs, chat forums, ticketing systems, product documentation, video tutorials, and more.
Therefore, look for a customer-focused tool that provides timely technical assistance so that you can integrate the tool successfully into your testing process.
6. Integration Support
Your selected testing tools must be eligible to integrate with other commonly used testing frameworks. If it does not support such frameworks, then testing teams will have to spend time downloading and installing third-party resources.
When a testing tool supports leading CI/CD tools like Jenkins, TeamCity, Azure DevOps, and others, it becomes easier to execute tests, manage them, and record bugs in your applications and websites.
Conclusion
To summarize, we would like to say that no particular tool is good or bad. It all comes down to your specific project requirements that determine the tool that will work for you. The correct choice of tool by your team can make all the difference. Always look for the points mentioned above in the tools you compare and select the one that offers the most.
Among the tools available today for testing software, we highly recommend TestGrid, an end-to-end testing platform, as it ticks off all the points in the checklist and helps you deliver bug-free apps and websites to the audience.
With its AI-enabled no-code automation testing, you can create test cases using simple keywords and use AI to auto-heal the code. This will reduce your testing time significantly. Moreover, you can scale up and down as per your project requirements. So, try this testing platform today and simplify your testing to release software on time!
