In an agile market, regression testing is critical for maintaining a high quality of software. The success of any software depends on how successful was regression testing. While functional tests are essential for ensuring the proper functionality of the software, regression testing slows us to ensure stability after every sprint at each stage.
Regression testing is necessary to verify that updates or new code don’t affect existing features. The testing team can’t ignore the regression cycle because any bugs they fail to detect bugs will directly reach the end users. So, regression testing is necessary for ensuring the reputation and credibility of a company.
For this reason, our team has compiled a list of the best regression testing tools available in the market. We will analyze the meaning of regression testing and highlight key features, pros, & cons of regression testing tools.
Table of Contents
- Regression Testing Definition
- When Is It Useful to Perform Regression Testing?
- Top 5 Regression Testing Tools
- Regression Testing at PFLB
Regression Testing Definition
Regression testing is a type of software testing technique where we use incremental validation for testing a product. Its purpose is to validate new changes in a product and verify that they don’t affect the product’s existing functionality during development. Testers must add new test cases for every new feature so they can cover all features effectively.
Developers benefit from regression testing not just because it identifies issues within the software, but also because it reflects on changes impacting the system behavior. That said, it also creates a challenge for testers as they must create or select test cases that are more realistic, repetitive, and relevant.
Although we use regression testing in all kinds of testing models, it is more successful in Agile Testing. If applied correctly, we can reduce the testing cost significantly in the long run by using regression testing. It plays a key role in building confidence in software as it reduces the risk of unintended side-effects.
With the demand for new features rising every day, the scope of regression testing will also increase. However, as that happens to do regression testing manually will not be viable. This I why it’s best to rely on an automation framework and testing tool that meets your testing requirements effectively.
When Is It Useful to Perform Regression Testing?
Regression testing can be helpful in a number of scenarios; here are some of them worth noting:
- In software that always needs to add new features.
- For minimizing manual testing efforts
- To verify fixes of bugs reported by customers
- For testing product enhancement
- When you are expecting changes related to a product’s performance
Top 5 Regression Testing Tools
There are several regression testing tools available in the market. However, out of hundreds of tools, you must choose the one that ensures smooth running of test cases of your product. Here is a list of the top regression testing tools available in the market.
Selenium
Selenium is perhaps one of the most well-known software testing tools available in the market. It offers a set of exciting software testing features and allows us to adopt a varied approach to support test automation.
You can use this tool to incorporate impeccable regression testing functionalities specially designed to test different types of web applications. Selenium cleanly automates browsers for web applications’ automated testing.
At the same time, we can use this tool for comprehensive browser-based automation suites, as well as for quick bug reproduction scripts, regression testing, and management of multiple environments from a central point.
Key Features
- Selenium offers high flexibility
- Compatibility with Several Web Browsers
- Supports Numerous Programming Languages
- Ease of Webpage Navigation
- Ease to Categorize and Use Web Elements
- Better Handling of Dynamic Web Elements
Pros
- Free
- Integrated with Agile, DevOps, Continuous Delivery workflow
- Supports mobile testing
- Wide range of supported languages, platforms, and browsers
- Huge community
- Large library of plugins
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- No built-in image comparison
- No tech support
- No reporting capabilities
Pricing
Free (Open-Source) | Offers Sponsorship options
Sahi Pro
SahiPro is an excellent automated regression testing tool. It allows you to test Web, Mobile, Java applications and Windows Desktop.
With this tool, you can carry out quick and reliable automated regression testing. The tool is compatible with agile development environments. It not only enables automated functional testing of web applications, but also provides supports REST API and web application automation, by default.
The environment offered by the tool is well-suited for multi-browser or cross-browser testing. Even if you have complex web 2.0 applications that rely on dynamic content and several AJAX scripts, you can easily use this tool to test them.
Moreover, Sahi Pro can function exceptionally on any modern browser that supports Javascript. With the help of this tool, you can test desktop, mobile apps, as well as web browsers. These attributes make this tool one of the few options with tester focused automated regression testing.
Key Features
- Parallel and distributed playback
- Continuous integration
- Test any browser on any operating system
- Test any Windows desktop applications
- Inbuilt Excel framework to enable non-technical professionals and business analysts to contribute towards testing
- Simple and powerful APIs
- Object spy and recorder
- Automatic logging and reporting
- Test any iOS and Android, Native and Hybrid Applications
Pros
- Smart accessor identification
- Intrinsic logs and reports
- Great scripting
- Record and playback on any browser
- Speedy and analogous batch playback
- Easy integration with build systems
- Inbuilt Excel frame
Cons
- Maintenance is a big overhead for test automation
Pricing
Sahi Pro starts at $695/year | 30-day trial |Free demo
TestComplete
TestComplete is a powerful automated testing tool that enables you to test GUI applications ranging from desktop, mobile, and web. With this tool, you can create accurate and repeatable automated tests across multiple platforms, environments, and devices, regardless of how much experience you have.
Because TestComplete allows you to use multiple languages for scripting, developers have a lot of flexibility to design automated regression testing scripts. Scripting languages like VBScript, Python, and JavaScript help you build complex tests while using record and replay capabilities.
At the same time, the tool offers out-of-the-box integrations popular CI/CD tools such as Jira and Jenkins. It also supports open-source frameworks, including SoapUI and Selenium, along with native support for BDD.
Using this tool, you can run parallel tests across more than 1500 remote test environments, increasing your test coverage and delivery speed significantly and helping you save costs. What’s more is that TestComplete’s recognition engine now supports artificial intelligence-enabled detection and testing of GUI elements, such as PDFs and charts, while also providing tools for SAP and mainframe applications.
Key Features
- Test recording
- Supports Database testing
- Automated test execution
- Integrates with other tools
- Test Visualizer
- Object name mapping
- Object-driven testing
- Data-driven testing
- Keyword-driven testing
- Development of custom extensions
Pros
- Allows you to carry out automated regression testing
- Easy to use UI
- Integrates with different software types such as mobile, web, desktop, etc
- Effective Keyword tests
- Excellent support
- TestComplete can easily integrate with your development workflow
Cons
- Can require some manual steps where you have to update test cases
- Lacks beta testing for major releases
Pricing
30 day trial | Starts from $6170
Watir
Watir (or Web Application Testing In Ruby) is an open source Ruby library that enables us to automate tests. We can use it to interact with browsers the same way users do: by filling out forms, clicking links, and validating text.
The tool offers a comprehensive automated regression testing suite. With so many features at hand, it allows us to write tests that are easy to read and maintain. At the same time, by providing access to a family of Ruby libraries, it helps us incorporate Ruby in several applications developed with different technologies.
Key Features
- Supports on Ruby Language
- It assists in simple and flexible testing
- Multiple domain support
- Inbuilt test recorder
- Easy to use web elements
- Supports browsers like Firefox and Safari.
Pros
- It’s a free Open Source tool
- Light-weight and easy to use tool
- It supports multiple browsers on different platforms
- Cross-platform OS support
- Technology independent
- Simple automated tests
- Adaptable and readable interface
- Exclusive web application testing platform
Cons
- Not suitable for mobile app testing
Pricing
Free (Open source)
IBM Rational Functional Tester
IBM Rational Functional Tester offers comprehensive features for automated regression testing. It gives us a variety of applications such as Adobe PDF documents, Java, terminal emulator-based applications, SAP, etc.
Key Features
- Supports visual editing
- Test scripting
- Earlier data detection
- Assimilation with other software
- Radical Script Assure technology
Pros
- An execution log in Html format
- Detailed information of verifications, actions, and screenshots supported by timestamps
- Quick response and good support
- A solid object inspector, playback monitor, and extensive functional library
Cons
- Installation or updates were not always perfect
- Must clean previous installations or reinstall Java if there were errors
- Limited support of browsers outside of Internet Explorer
Pricing
30 day trial | Quote based Pricing
Regression Testing at PFLB
Regression testing is an essential part of software testing, as it validates all new features and incorporates vast changes into the solution. At the same time, it helps us analyze and subsequently optimize the overall system behavior. In the end, regression testing helps us verify the completeness and functional accuracy of the application.
When it comes to the best software regression testing tool, no one solution is perfect for all situations. If you want to find the best performance regression testing tool for your company, consider reviewing each option closely and select the one that fits your needs the best.
PFLB is a software testing service dedicated to providing quality regression testing to our clients. We have served over 500 companies across a wide variety of domains that range from finance and healthcare to retail and technology.
With years of experience at our disposal, we can reduce the risk of errors in your software and ensure that your software delivers the highest quality of service while outperforming other applications.
Besides Regression testing, our company has expertise in other core software testing services, such as Manual Testing, Load Testing, Usability Testing, Integration Testing, Test Automation, and much more.
To learn more about our company, feel free to visit our website.
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