With the advancement and growth in technology and the arrival of DevOps and Agile, the software testing industry is witnessing numerous changes. Software Testing has traversed a long path from manual testing to record-and-playback sophisticated testing tools, then to test automation, and now to codeless automated testing.
World Quality Report, 2020–2021, says that not having advanced programming know-how and expertise is considered one of the critical challenges when applying automated browser testing to agile projects. We could perhaps state, the development of codeless testing tools is a promising solution to the challenge.
This blog is all about taking you through the top codeless testing tools you should look forward to in 2021. However, before jumping to that, let’s understand the What and Why of codeless automated testing.
What is Codeless Automated Testing?
Codeless automated testing means executing automation testing without using any script. Writing automated scripts could be challenging for QA engineers as the code required to be written in every suitable programming language is arduous and time-consuming.
With codeless automated testing, you can minimize the testing time over repetitive test cases without any coding efforts. There are many codeless testing tools available in the market, which encompass a set of built-in features without any complicated coding. Some of the significant features include:
- Drag and Drop interface.
- Record and Playback.
- Integrations of ML or AI technologies.
- Lower maintenance.
Why Should You Consider Codeless Automated Testing?
Performing codeless automated testing is not completely code-free; however, there are many reasons why you must consider implementing codeless test automation into the software testing process.
- Codeless testing facilitates easy testing with the team spending little effort on automation.
- Codeless automation test tools increase test coverage.
- With codeless automation, even the complicated test scripts are simple to change and manage.
- Codeless testing is a quick way to automate the test scenario.
- Codeless testing has a user-friendly interface.
- Codeless testing is cost-effective.
Best Codeless Testing Tools For 2021
Let’s explore the most popular codeless testing tools that help QA specialists to go onboard for the Codeless Test Automation journey!
1. Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is ranked among the top codeless testing tools of 2020. It is a popular choice for its extensive range of test abilities across Desktop, Mobile, Web, APIs, and applications. Its unique features are simple-to-use and best for experienced and beginners QA engineers. The credits sum up why it is at the top of our list.
Katalon comes with an accessible interface for test experts and business users. The drag-and-drop commands, record and playback traits make it a perfect codeless automated testing tool. QA engineers can easily import external test libraries and allow the tool to perform the implementation, avoiding building a framework from scratch.
Core Features:
- Requires minimal programming skills.
- Supports API, web, desktop, and mobile automation testing.
- Comes with in-built test-case libraries, project templates, object repositories, and keywords.
- Supports native plugins for the famous Continuous Integration tools.
- Capable of locating modifications in the object and creating tests consequently.
- Powerful record and playback feature.
- Comprehensive and robust reporting capacities.
- Supports in-built integrations like Issue Management, Notifications & Communication, and Test Management.
Learn how you can perform codeless cross browser compatibility testing on multiple environments by integrating Katalon with LambdaTest.
2. LEAPWORK
LEAPWORK is an advanced cloud-based, codeless selenium automation testing platform. It supports the testing of many forms of apps, including SAP, Windows, and Web. With LEAPWORK, you can enable your agile project team to speed up the development and implementation of the QA automated testing procedure.
Designed for both Desktop apps and Web apps, this tool is built with the entire software development team in mind. LEAPWORK comes with predefined building blocks and default libraries for automation, aiding QA teams to improve productivity and save time.
Core Features:
- Capability to reuse automated flows across distinct test cases.
- Visualize flow builder through drag & drop building blocks.
- Codeless capacities to shorten the learning curve for QA teams.
- Supports cross browser tests and parallel runs.
- Easy integration with the current DevOps toolset.
- Smart recorder for capturing test steps & run them automatically.
- Capable of managing huge volumes of data and supports various data sources.
Check how to overcome test automation challenges by integrating LEAPWORK with LambdaTest.
3. Ranorex Studio
Ranorex Studio is an all-purpose and among the most popular codeless testing tools for both professionals and beginners. This is a perfect tool to automate mobile, web-based, and desktop apps without having the need for a scripting language to automate the app. Ranorex mainly uses standard programming languages like C# & VB.NET.
You can use the drag-&-drop User Interface objects, capture-&-replay tool, and code modules to automate regression testing using this tool. Ranorex also allows testers to generate modular automation scripts that are maintainable and effective, irrespective of programming expertise. The Ranorex core API is incorporated with Se (Selenium) WebDriver; hence one can easily deliver cross browser testing on a Selenium Grid.
Core Features:
- Cross-platform tests, counting mobile, web, and desktop environments.
- Records & replays the user’s communication to generate reusable scripts that can be modified with its action editor.
- Test scripts can be run between the commands of a specific test case.
- RanoreXPath technology recognizes the UI components of the app.
- The exclusive spy engine tracks descriptions of each User Interface component on the screen.
- Compare and confirm images with an accepted image that can be straight uploaded in the software.
- Integrations with Azure DevOps, JIRA, Bugzilla, TestRail, Git, Jenkins, and more, so one could easily build an entire automated tests toolchain.
4. TestCraft
This is one of the most incredible codeless testing tools, which was introduced as an E2E (end-to-end) test automation platform for continuous and regression tests. Similar to other codeless testing tools with the special feature of Record and Playback, this tool also offers a test script with inputs coded beforehand that must be modified afterward. Tweaking some codes might break the testing script.
Therefore, Smart Binding is mentioned as the smart component locators that can instantly capture several attributes like position, IDs, text size, or value. They can also rebound during a run to go with modifications in the code.
Core Features:
- Provides agility by generating test scenarios even before the app gets ready.
- Support multiple data sets and parallel implementation.
- At once binding to adjust to most app changes.
- Flows and Elements can be reusable across scenarios.
- Smart analysis and reports on each test action.
- The chunk of built-in integrations like Issue Management, Test Management, Notifications & Communication.
5. Selenium IDE
This codeless selenium automation tool allows you to automate web applications with everything that Selenium offers without needing to write codes. Selenium IDE uses the record & playback feature to support codeless automated testing.
Selenium IDE can be extended with plugins. They bring in new commands to IDE or incorporate them with other services. Selenium IDE is the simple to use codeless automated testing tool that gives instantaneous feedback and allows you to run testing on any Operating System + browser combination using the SIDE (or the Selenium IDE command-line) runner. This is why codeless testing tools have become popular as they relieve tester’s headaches and critical challenges.
Core Features:
- Allows you to run a particular test or an entire test-suite that counts a group of tests.
- Setting breakpoints & pausing on exemptions makes it simple and effortless for debugging testing from the IDE itself.
- Used for browser automation testing as cross-browser testing can be implemented using the Selenium SIDE runner.
- Supports several commands used to create loops, insert waits, rise asserts, and more
- It has a wide-ranging set of commands that allow a control flow structure. Commands like if..else, if, etc. assist in executing conditional testing from the IDE
- The run command allows testers to reuse a specific test-case inside another test suite (or test case)
- Supports a group of Selenese commands (or series of Se commands) that allows you to execute tests.
- Trouble-free comparison and modification of test cases – Test scripts generated through IDE are stored as JSON files that make it simple to compare, change, and examine tests.
6. CloudQA
CloudQA is a robust integrated cloud-based automated testing platform launched to build, manage, and implement tests against several browsers separately and in parallel. CloudQA is not just a Record and Playback tool, but it offers its users an integrated report tool for rapidly generating and scheduling regression tests suits.
This amazing tool gives you the same power as Selenium, with no advanced programming expertise required. Recorded testing is put into manageable modules and visible incomprehensible forms. Even the same tests can be reused for load tests, regression tests, and synthetic monitoring.
Core Features:
- Higher reusability for synthetic examining without changing any codes.
- Scrutinize multiple data sets over varied browsers (e.g., Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome).
- Huge and smooth capacity to maintain thousands of tests.
- Smart Record & Playback tests with screenshots after each step.
- Schedule and execute testing unattended.
- Support for data-driven tests.
- Bugs can be managed through 3rd-party integrations like Slack, Asana, GitHub, JIRA, etc.
7. Perfecto
Trusted by huge teams, this amazing tool is a cloud-based automated testing solution for mobile and web-based apps. It provides complete AI analytics with error classifications for optimizing the Continuous Integration/ Continuous Delivery pipeline. Multiple supported operating systems, browsers, and devices combinations for the web app and mobile tests are also provided.
Within Perfecto, strong and AI-driven bindings account for 97.4 percent of application changes. Its self-healing trait allows test scripts to run without any maintenance or disruptions continuously required. Its cloud-based solutions are developed to ensure they will work well no matter any market problem occurs, for instance, a new Android or iOS version update, new browser, or mobile phone release. Even though offering a bunch of sophisticated features, the Perfecto trial period is fairly short, which causes complexity for the team to evaluate it.
Core Features:
- Smart analytics and reports.
- AI-driven test maintenance capacities.
- Increase the test reusability.
- Debugging capacities & test management.
- Limitlessly scalable execution on several Android gadgets and in parallel.
- Speed up test procedure and fasten feedback between Developers and Quality Analyst.
8. AccelQ
It is an Artificial Intelligence-powered codeless automated testing tool that fulfills all the criteria of being a perfect codeless selenium automation tool. AccelQ can automate desktop, web, mainframes, and other apps with minimal effort and time, speeding up the test cycle. Unlike other codeless testing tools, its self-healing traits and natural English coding make it very different from others in the competition.
With an easy and fast-to-develop user interface, it can be incorporated with existing and famous DevOps and quality toolchains quite smoothly. Traits like Extendible & Open Source Alignment, Natural Language Programming, Automated Test Generation, and Intelligent Element Explorer have made it an instant hit among companies.
Core Features:
- Highly safe and scalable for enterprise practice.
- Capacity to automate User Interface and API with ease and in a similar flow
- Creates app blueprint for great visual test designs.
- Speedy development and least maintenance with Embedded Frameworks.
- Projecting and Path Analysis traits for generating test scenarios.
- Maximize test coverage through Data flows and Model UI.
- Continuous integration-ready and allows in-sprint automation.
9. Sikuli
Sikuli uses image recognition techniques to run automated Graphical User Interface tests to identify and manage Graphical UI components. It can also be useful when working with the Se Webdriver, particularly when automating Java applets and Flash objects, while IDE scripts increase their capabilities.
In contrast to other codeless testing tools, a visible app Graphical User Interface is needed during run-time. Therefore, Sikuli can’t execute and maintain several scripts concurrently when the Graphical User Interface changes several times.
Core Features:
- Supports several platforms like Linux, Mac, and Windows.
- Record images at the Pixel level for User Interface verification.
- Automate tests on distinct devices and emulators.
- Incorporate with Se (Selenium) for automating desktop apps.
- Record & Playback various actions such as mouse actions and drag & drop.
10. Mabl
Mabl is an intelligent codeless test automation tool built for CI/CD. It integrates automated E2E tests well into the complete SDLC (software development lifecycle) due to extensive web browser automation coverage like Selenium WebDriver, Selenium IDE, as well as other test automation tools.
By switching to Mabl, users can perform non-SDETS robust testing across all prominent browsers in parallel. This helps to eliminate the barrier of visual design, user experience tests, and performance tests. This eventually reduces the physical effort, hosted infrastructure, plus test case maintenance for automation testing by managing it all in the cloud.
Core Features:
- The new and advanced User Interface and design approach.
- Mabl Trainer browser plugins permit functional testing setup against apps in minutes.
- Change test output to several issues (like BigQuery, JIRA)
- Actionable insights can be exported via BigQuery, JIRA, and emails.
- Auto-healing trait keeps the complete testing steady.
- Easy bug management with tools like Jenkins, Slack, Bamboo, JIRA, etc.
Bonus Tool: QMetry Automation Studio
The QMetry Automation Studio, is an automation platform that helps organizations to seamlessly accomplish end-to-end test automation. In the era of digital transformation, the studio leverages multiple languages and frameworks that improve its adaptability.
It supports partial codeless automation for manual users or beginners and endless script extension and customization for automation engineers.
Conclusion
There is an overabundance of benefits of codeless testing tools that outweigh the negative aspects of automation testing. They eventually save significant expenses and time in coding functionalities and convey quality through favorable test coverage. However, these tools need more documentation, features, and modularity. In summary, software testers prefer codeless test automation as a critical component when it comes to the agile development procedure. It wouldn’t replace manual automation testing completely but to accelerate their work. It is still maturing with its unique advantages and requirements in 2021 and complements the picture’s whole automation tests.