A Comparison Study on Current No-code/Low-code Automation Tools in the Market

The Automation Problem

Automating processes and keeping up with the state of the art on information technology has become increasingly important nowadays. However, one of the reasons companies struggle to keep up with these advancements is due to a shortage of qualified, talented developers. All this sets a tendency towards inefficiency at the operational and time-to-market levels, compromising competitivity in a substantial manner.

This is where no-code and low-code technologies come to the rescue.

By eradicating the coding phase to a highly quantifiable extent, no-code or low-code solutions promote better and higher human participation in the industry, minimizing the necessity to hire programmers, and thus reducing the costs in staff hiring and training.

Defining Specific Concepts

The rest of this article begs the need to define what exactly is no-code and what exactly is low-code.

To begin with low-code, we may state that it is a practice paradigm or visual approach in which software development is done in a greater deal aided by graphical user interface elements and actions, like menus, buttons, drag-and-drop and pull-down features, etc., while maintaining the traditional coding practice to a reasonable minimum, thus, while being better suited for experienced developers, low-code platforms serve both part-time and full-time programmers.

On the other hand, the no-code approach, while being quite similar to the low-code, it differs from it in the sense that platforms based on it don’t require programming skills at all, therefore, they are ideally suited for business people and non-programming employees, but also for hybrid teams which may consist on both.

So, while no-code solutions can save the day to basically any one in a development team, low-code can scale to enterprise-level applications with complex business logic, connect to different data sources and integrate with external APIs and other applications.

Defining What is The ‘Right’ Tool

So, while in the previous sections of this article we have raised the issue of automation and made clear some basic concepts, from here on we will dive deep into what the market has to offer and to whom with respect to automation tools.

Do We Know When to Use What?

Low-code and no-code have each one their own advantages, therefore, due to the similarities between them, making a decision is not straightforward. The best approach is to evaluate the current requirements and make a choice based on them.

Some criteria to think about at the time of making the decision:

• The objectives of utilizing low-code or no-code software.
• The target user base, and their programming skills.
• The extent and complexity of a given project.
• The requirement of custom integrations with external and internal applications.
• The stipulated delivery time.
• The level of control users desire to gain over the code.
• If the application involves handling confidential data or stress on security concerns.

The main questions to ask are: What is the purpose of the app, and who will create it? Even though both questions are crucial, it’s best to prioritize a goal-oriented method over a user-oriented one. Therefore, the purpose of the app carries more weightage than the developers.

While both questions are essential, it is beneficial to prioritize a target-driven approach over one that focuses on the user. The primary considerations are: what is the aim of the application, and who will be responsible for its creation? Consequently, the app’s objective takes precedence over the developers.

Low-code platforms are often preferred for complex use cases involving the integration of different on-premise or cloud applications, demand customer care or looking after business-critical needs, or require enterprise-wide deployment. Even without the required expertise in programming languages, partnering with IT teams or participating in training programs can be the key to overcome any difficulties.

What The Market Offers Today

Following, we will present a brief selection of what are today considered the best codeless or low-code test automation tools in the market.

Katalon

Rather a set of tools (Studio, TestOps, TestCloud), Katalon supports web, desktop and mobile testing. Equipped with a recording tool to capture GUI objects, it can make them reusable by storing them in a repository, since Katalon follows the Page Object Model design pattern.

Studio has an interesting interface, which consists of an interchangeable (visual/script) view for creating test cases, widening the creative possibilities.

It supports modern web technologies like HTML, HTML5, JavaScript, Ajax and Angular, as well as the most popular browsers. Although it has the capability for desktop apps testing, it is limited to Windows 10.

TestOps facilitates test planning, clear reporting and integration with other apps, environments, testing frameworks, and the CI/CD pipeline, while TestCloud will be a good match when performing tests across multiple platforms, browsers and devices.

Last but not least, Katalon uses AI for seal-healing, which assists in alerting critical UI mismatches, doing visual comparison methods while also running in parallel with functional tests.

Perfecto

Perfecto puts the stress in driving development through testing (shifting left) in order to boost digital experiences across several industries (finance, healthcare, retail).

It provides mobile and web testing, supporting all modern devices and the most popular browsers, plus an AI (Scriptless) component for test maintenance

Perfecto strives to improve CI/CD procedures and continuous testing to boost digital experiences. In the early stages of the SDLC (shift left philosophy), the advanced reporting tools guarantee issue capture and in-depth analysis for them. It can power high-quality apps across different industries, from finance, healthcare, to retail, all encompassed in a highly friendly front end UX.

Some of its downsides are probably the cost of license and the limited test coverage report.

testRigor

One of the key features of testRigor is that non-technical users can create end-to-end tests scripts by writing in plain English (natural language), thanks to generative AI implementation. Its testing capabilities encompass web, mobile, desktop, APIs and more.

Other adavanced features about testRigor are Intelligent Test Generation, which uses AI to generate test cases based on patterns derived from user and application behavior. For test maintenance, Adaptive Regression Testing can automatically adjust the test coverage by identifying the areas of the application on which changes may have impacted. Advanced Detect Analysis identifies defect patterns derived from test results.

Another strong point of testRigor is its web testing support over a huge amount of combinations of mobile and desktop devices, browsers and OSs, and its capability to integrate with many ticketing and management systems and CI/CD platforms.

Ranorex

Ranorex is an all-in-one platform and the company’s flagship product, Ranorex Studio, is oriented towards E2E UI testing, which supports web, mobile and Windows desktop platforms.

While suited for beginners thanks to its visual interface, experienced users can also take advantage of a complete IDE, plus the ability to integrate with some of the most popular CI/CD, test and issue management tools.

Some notable components of Studio are, Ranorex Driver, a solution which, among other things, helps extend automation to Windows desktop apps. Ranorex Spy, an extension which simplifies testing and maintenance by scanning UI elements, thus, gathering vital data on the tested application which is stored in an object repository.

Ranorex DesignWise accompanies Studio. By writing Gherkin scripts, DesignWise users can create tests in an easy and efficient way, as well as applying a BDD approach.

AccelQ

AccelQ is a cloud-based tool is efficient for API, web and mobile applications testing. Focused on continuous testing, it comes packed with a feature called Quality Driven Development which suits ideally in an agile project by implementing tests in an automated E2E process.

Its Codeless Script feature lets testers use built-in commands and building blocks.

AI is implemented to manage mobile element identification, formation of element selectors and self-healing element identification, which exponentially enhances reliability.

Its Data Type feature is a domain-specific item with a defined classification structure. This allows for the generation of test cases with all permutations.

It supports integration with Azure CI/CD pipeline, TeamCity, and bug tracking tools.

In spite of being a no-code tool with good potential, its pricing may be somewhat one of its downsides.

Opkey

Opkey supports testing on web, mobile, Windows desktop apps, APIs and, interestingly, it also incorporates a test builder for mainframes and the capacity to automate Citrix applications, all packaged with a no-code, drag-and-drop, user friendly interface.

Opkey can plug into Oracle environments and use test discovery to analyze coverage and suggest tests. Its One-click test creation comes with 30,000 pre-built cases which notably increase testing speed. The Impact Analysis feature alerts the team on which tests may suffer impact before pushin gchanges into production. Self-healing scripts can be created quite easily with just one click.

The in-built reporting and ticketing system provides for efficiency and ease of use, not requiring to leave the platform in order to use it.

Opkey can also integrate with very popular test management systems and CI/CD tools, as well manage device farms.

Avo

Avo presents itself as a Next-Gen AI powered automation platform.

With smooth integration, compatibility across platforms, and user-friendly UI, Avo Assure enables users to test across the web, mobile devices, mainframes, ERPs, Salesforce, and other platforms/environments thanks to its pre-built automation.

It offers end-to-end testing, in-sprint automation, CI/CD integration, and promises test maintenance efficiency thanks to its Upgrade Analyzer –which supervises code changes– and Impact Analysis features.

Test automation, as well as test maintenance and every other aspect of its Continuous QA is driven through AI. Its AI-Powered Smart Recorder can capture all elements on the go while navigating through applications.

Elastic Grid Execution assists for running parallel tests across several devices and browsers.

Smart Scheduling, provides test execution during non-business hours, improving productivity plus economizing time and resources.

mabl

mabl jumps into the market as a solution that may revolutionize testing.

Having won the AI Breakthrough Award for Engineering Solutions on four occasions, its SaaS-based test automation platform utilizes AI to enhance test coverage, boost test reliability, and minimize test maintenance by up to 90%.

With its low-code paradigm, mabl integrates automated tests throughout the entire development process for seamless workflows.

Smart element locators make it easy to identify changes in apps and test modern frameworks like React, Angular, and VueJs.

Execution confidence is boosted by combining human and machine intelligence to create smarter and more resilient tests, by adding the context of why to the testing process.

mabl uses machine learning to make tests evolve alongside the application. Its self-healing feature dynamically adapts tests to match the changes which occur on the codebase.

Supporting cross-browser testing, automatic healing, comprehensive results, API, and accessibility testing, it allows fast software teams to generate, execute, and maintain dependable tests for browser, API, and mobile web applications.

Its unified platform additionally provides data-driven and performance testing tools for scalable cloud-based testing.

Autify

Since its inception, Autify has compromised itself with three specific missions: eliminating the testing phase, increasing automation coverage and dramatically accelerating the release cycle.

It is a highly dependable, AI powered no-code/low-code test automation platform.

Via its recording extension tool, Autify lets testers easily create test scenarios by using the application as they normally would. The Test Scenario will receive all applied operations. Creating End-to-End or UI regression tests, visual assertions on elements or email testing is instantly available to everyone, independent of their experience level. With Autify, testers can automate quicker and more efficiently.

Certain sets of actions can be stored into a Step Group. This feature turns to be highly useful when users need to repeat the same actions inter or intra diverse Test Scenarios.

Autify enables users to create and execute tests on multiple browsers simultaneously. With parallel execution and AI maintenance capabilities, Autify streamlines test frequency and coverage to maximize efficiency with minimal extra effort. Parallel execution can run 10 cross-browser tests at the same time, ensuring comprehensive testing and dependable results.

Through AI driven maintenance, Autify ensures regression test scenarios stay current and precise, cutting down on time and minimizing the need for manual intervention while simultaneously boosting reliability, thanks to its ML algorithms which also learn of changes on the application UI, adapting to them and alerting the team correspondingly.

Autify’s Visual Regression automatically detects discrepancies in the user interface and performs tests, simplifying the process of regression testing and guaranteeing the quality of the software.

With Autify’s terminal environment, there is no need to set up physical devices or generate test scenarios for every device, a thing which increases test frequency and coverage.

Integration with services like CircleCI, Jenkins, Webhook, TestRail, and Slack are all supported and work seamlessly, making E2E tests a smooth, 100% reliable and efficient process.

Among the things that make Autify stand out in front of its competitors, we can enumerate these:

• Its interface is fully no-code, absolutely user friendly with typical GUI visual actions like drag-and-drop, drop-down menus, copy, paste and more.
• Fast-paced development requires frequent updates to the user interface. Autify’s Visual Regression detects differences and performs tests without the need for maintenance.
• Autify records actions such as shaking the device and suspending/resuming the app in the background/foreground.
• Autify supports Shadow DOM elements, which are becoming the norm in Salesforce, plus, users can also test apps available on marketplaces such as Salesforce AppExchange.
• For experienced tester who need more control over the test design, Autify provides JS Steps and JS Snippets, which help the tester deal with the complexities of the DOM, enabling them to perform multiple types of assertions.
• Testers can utilize environment variables to create and execute Test Scenarios. For instance, an environment variable can facilitate pre-login.
• The new Autify extension, Step Suggestions also takes advantage of ML to make it even more easy to create scenarios when time constraints are a blocker.
• Test Plan is the strong pillar of the platform, providing a wide combination of environments/browsers, plus the ability to schedule automated runs as needed.
• Its reporting/analysis tool is outstanding, giving the tester an ample panorama of crucial aspects of the process, like coverage, usage of steps, test runs, test plan runs, etc.

Above all, Autify does for an inclusive experience which opens the technology market for less experienced workers, increasing the automation coverage on every project where it is implemented, while raising the overall value of the whole team’s work.

Pricing is another strong point in Autify. While it is true that different tools available in the market have their own pros and cons, in most cases, their pricing is not really transparent. We encourage you to do some research online, avoid companies not showing clear pricing and opt for companies that are not simply tools, but have real humans and outstanding customer success behind them to support your QA team.

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