During the development phase, software typically undergoes a series of tests of varying degrees to ensure it runs as smoothly and error-free as possible. This is done so users have a painless experience using the software and don’t constantly run into walls. In today’s competitive climate, only businesses with the best QA practices for their software excel, and with agile work environments becoming the norm, these businesses utilize some of the best defect tracking software available for testing.
As each development team varies, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to defect tracking software, finding the one to suit your requirements can be a bit of a challenge given the options available out there. This is why a thorough evaluation of your software testing tools is important before you get started.
Types of Software Testing Tools
Functional Testing Tools
Functional testing is often further divided into subcategories like unit testing, integration testing, interface testing, beta/acceptance testing, et cetera.
Software testing tools placed in this category are going to be liable for identifying defects before market release, aiding clients in testing their newly delivered software, and/or testing for backward compatibility with older software and compatibility with different web browsers and operating systems.
Non-Functional Testing Tools
Non-functional testing is often further categorised into performance testing tools, load testing, security testing, install testing, et cetera.
Software testing tools placed in this category could also be liable for testing the installation process across different hardware and OS, checking the software for any security issues or possible weak points, and/or testing the load capacity for given software to ascertain if it can handle a given volume of users performing a given volume of actions.
Automation Testing Tools
Automated testing tools are designed to gauge the expected outcome and compare it to a particular outcome. Automation testing utilises the help of scripts or software that perform repetitive, mundane actions, to generate results. Automated software testing can be utilised to perform actions that are difficult to duplicate manually.
Agile Testing Tools
Agile development comprises a methodology that focuses on designing a product in organized and incremental steps. Therefore, agile testing may be a software testing solution that then tests in similar incremental steps, testing features as they’re developed.
The Definitive 5 Best Software Testing Tools in 2021
Let’s go through some of the most popular and powerful defect tracking tools available in the market today. All of these function similarly but have a few differences that set them aside from the competition. Which one you eventually go for, for your software testing needs is going to be based on your unique requirements.
1. Kualitee
Kualitee is the defacto solution for your test management requirements. Its comprehensive nature makes it the perfect option for any automated or manual testing tasks your QA team might need. Kualitee offers a plethora of project management, test management and defect management features with various different integrations and flexible user controls that put you at the helm of your testing process. Its feature-rich DevOps optimised functionality make it the ideal tool to have in your defect tracking software arsenal.
2. Rainforest QA
Rainforest QA allows for a large amount of human and robot testers to run your tests on over 20 platforms simultaneously and in real-time. This tool is incredibly intuitive and easy to learn and their customer support is fantastic as well, helping out in troubleshooting wherever needed.
It isn’t without its pitfalls, however. Refactoring tests are difficult to manage and false positives that stem from a lack of qualification specifications are also present.
3. SauceLabs
SauceLabs is a cloud-based platform that allows for web and mobile application testing. It’s enterprise-level security makes it the ideal choice for many businesses, including the likes of Visa and Walmart.
SauceLabs allows for the installation of multiple third-party plugins too and can be easily integrated with other professional software like Slak, Bamboo, Visual Studio, Circle CI and a lot more.
This tool can be a bit slow however due to its cloud implementation and can slow down testing. You might also experience outages that result in test failures.
4. Katalon
Katalon allows you to generate and execute tests on all OSs, browsers, and devices. Codeless test creation for beginners is present as script extension and customization are alternatives for experts.
Katalon scored well within the evaluation criteria for Usability, because it may be a software that even non-QA testers can learn quite quickly. Additionally, their forum is beneficial (and fast) for on-the-fly questions and concerns.
One con is writing code within the software is currently limited as the number of programming languages it accepts is still low.
5. Telerik
Telerik Test Studio is a defect tracking software for web and WPF applications that are designed for Functional, Performance, Load, and API testing. It enables you to design automated testing for technologies like Angular, Blazor, MVC, Ajax, and RESTful.
The software’s interface is straightforward to navigate and perfectly sign-posted by intuitive icons and menu systems.
One con up for consideration: a PC with high specifications would be required to run all of the advanced capabilities, which is important if you would like to require full advantage of the tool.
6. QAProSoft
QAProSoft perhaps the only entry on this list that is free to use. The software is an open-source community of software development engineers in test (SDETs) from all across the globe with a dockerized QA infrastructure solution containing everything required for automatic setup.
Its open-source nature allows it to be the ideal option for integration opportunities. Some of these integrations include Slack, TestRail, Jira, and most email apps.
One con is that this software requires a complicated level of programming skills; the standard of any automation depends on developer experience.
