SmartBear vs BrowserStack: Finding the Right Fit for Your QA Needs

If you work with APIs as a software developer, tester, or quality assurance professional, chances are you are familiar with Browserstack and SmartBear. These are two widely used API testing tools that offer a variety of features to help streamline the API testing process. While both tools have their unique strengths, it is important to understand their differences to determine which one is the best fit for your specific project needs.

Let's dive into the comparison!

In the world of software testing, there are many tools and platforms available to help you ensure that your applications are reliable, secure, and performant. Two of the most popular tools for testing web and mobile applications are SmartBear and BrowserStack. Both platforms offer a range of testing solutions and services, but they differ in their features, pricing, and user experience.

In this article, we'll take a closer look at SmartBear vs BrowserStack, and compare their strengths and weaknesses to help you choose the best testing solution for your needs in 2024.

What is BrowserStack? Key Features.

BrowserStack is a cloud-based testing platform that provides web and mobile application testing solutions. It allows developers and QA professionals to test their applications across a variety of browsers, devices, and operating systems. With BrowserStack, users can access a wide range of virtual machines and real devices for testing, including the latest versions of popular browsers and mobile devices. The platform also offers integrations with popular testing frameworks like Selenium, Appium, and Espresso, making it easier to incorporate into existing testing workflows.

As of 2021, BrowserStack has over 50,000 customers worldwide, including companies like Microsoft, Twitter, and Airbnb. However, the exact number of users who utilize the platform is not publicly available.

Advantages of Using BrowserStack 

BrowserStack offers several advantages that help streamline and enhance the testing experience:

• Cross-Browser Testing: BrowserStack offers a fully managed cloud platform with real devices, enabling easy scaling of cross-browser testing without the hassle of managing infrastructure.
• Simplified Setup: There is no need for in-house grids or complicated configurations. BrowserStack eliminates code changes and ongoing maintenance, simplifying your setup process.
• Quick Integration: BrowserStack's SDK integration is seamless, allowing you to start testing within minutes without extensive configurations.
• Parallel Testing: Run hundreds of tests simultaneously, increasing the speed of your test suite execution by over 10 times with parallel testing.‍
• Global Scalability: Effortlessly scale your testing across BrowserStack's robust global infrastructure, which spans 19 data centers worldwide.

What is SmartBear? Key Features.

SmartBear is recognized for offering robust and user-friendly testing solutions that assist developers and QA experts produce top-notch software products. Its services cover multiple phases of the software development process, such as functional testing, performance testing, API testing, security testing, and service virtualization. Infosys.com reports that SmartBear has a user base of more than six million software professionals and is utilized by over 22,000 organizations across 194 countries.

Advantages of Using Smarbear 

SmartBear provides a range of advantages designed to enhance automated testing across various platforms:

• Automated UI Test Building: Scriptless Record and Replay functionality supports playback on desktop, web, and mobile applications.
• AI-Powered Object Recognition: Leverages element property recognition and AI-powered visual recognition to identify dynamic UI elements.
• Keyword-Driven Testing: Offers a flexible solution for building tests without code.
• Continuous Testing for DevOps: This tool features a Command-Line Interface, REST API, and integration with tools like Jenkins and Azure DevOps.‍
• Parallel Testing: Executes tests in parallel across multiple machines with a comprehensive master report across all runs.

Smartbear vs Browserstack: Detailed Comparison

User Interface and Ease of Use

BrowserStack is known for its user-friendly interface. The platform supports most browsers and operating systems, making it versatile for different needs. The platform lets users quickly switch between devices, with browsers behaving like real ones. Installing applications from various platforms is easy, and having separate TestFlight options adds convenience.

SmartBear also provides an intuitive user experience, especially for API management. It offers a centralized source of truth for all APIs, improving the design and cataloging process. The platform supports version control, which helps teams manage API evolution effectively. Importing and validating OpenAPI specifications is straightforward, making it easy for users to work with their APIs.

Mobile and Desktop Testing Support

SmartBear and BrowserStack provide tools and platforms for both mobile and desktop testing.

SmartBear offers various testing tools that support testing across multiple platforms, including desktop and mobile devices. For example, TestComplete and CrossBrowserTesting support automated testing on desktop and mobile web applications, while ReadyAPI supports testing of APIs across desktop and mobile devices.

BrowserStack also provides a cloud-based testing platform that supports desktop and mobile testing. Their platform allows users to test web applications and websites on various browsers and operating systems, including desktop and mobile devices. Additionally, BrowserStack provides a separate mobile app testing platform called App Live, allowing users to test native mobile apps on real devices.

Supported Testing Types

Smartbear testing types include functional testing, integration testing, load testing, security testing, automation testing, and regression testing, but they are not limited to these.

• Functional testing involves testing the functional behavior of the API, ensuring that it returns the expected response for a given request. SmartBear has a powerful testing framework that enables users to write functional tests using JavaScript.
• Integration testing checks the integration between different parts of the API and ensures that data is passed correctly between different endpoints. SmartBear provides an environment where users can easily test these integrations.
• Load testing involves testing the API's performance and scalability by simulating many concurrent users or requests. SmartBear's load testing feature enables users to create and run load tests for their API.
• Security testing checks the security of the API by detecting vulnerabilities and ensuring that access controls are enforced correctly. 
• Automation testing involves automating API tests to reduce manual effort and increase test coverage. SmartBear offers automation features such as integrating with Newman for command-line testing, Jenkins, and other CI/CD tools.
• Regression testing tests the API after changes to ensure that existing functionality has not been broken. SmartBear provides features such as version control and collection runs to support regression testing.

BrowserStack has listed on its website up to 13 types including all the testings mentioned above and some more

End-to-end testing is carried out from a user's viewpoint and encompasses all users' common workflows when utilizing the product. Testers or quality assurance professionals perform these tests.

• GUI or Visual Regression testing aims to verify that the GUI aligns with the business expectations outlined in the Detailed Design Document. This type of testing centers on checking the dimensions of the buttons, input fields, and tables, as well as the alignment of the text and other pertinent content. Additionally, it confirms that the application's menu functions correctly, maintaining consistent alignment while hovering over menu and sub-menu items.
• Monkey testing involves a tester using an application randomly, simulating how a monkey might interact with the software. In this type of testing, random input values are entered without any prior knowledge or understanding of the application. The main goal of monkey testing is to identify whether the application crashes when presented with random inputs. Unlike other types of testing, there are no pre-defined test cases for monkey testing.

Both SmartBear and BrowserStack support cross-browser testing, which means that you can record tests in any supported browser and run them using other browsers. 

In its resources SmartBear even provides guides following which you will be able to:

• Run parallel tests on multiple browsers 
• Create a single cross-browser testing report 
• Do it all in a fraction of time required to prepare and run browser-specific tests

Localization Possibility 

Both Postman and BrowserStack provide features for localization testing, enabling testing of APIs or applications across different regions and languages.

Postman offers "Global Variables" that allow users to store values specific to different regions and languages, making it convenient to switch between regions and test API behavior for different locales.

On the other hand, BrowserStack enables verification of localized resources such as strings and visuals, data formats, and text inputs within tests. Users can utilize the language and locale capabilities of Appium to set the desired language and locale of the app under test.

Cloud-based or On-premises Solutions

Postman and SmartBear are primarily products that are based in the cloud.

Deploying BrowserStack on-premises is impossible as it requires a significant amount of resources, infrastructure, and maintenance that cannot be replicated in an on-premises environment. However, BrowserStack provides enterprise-level solutions that can be customized to meet an organization's specific needs, such as custom domains and dedicated IPs, to ensure secure and seamless testing within a corporate environment.

SmartBear offers on-premises solutions for some of its software testing tools, including TestComplete, its primary functional testing tool, which can be installed directly on a customer's infrastructure. Other tools, such as SoapUI, LoadUI, and ServiceV, can also be licensed and installed on-premises. However, it is worth noting that not all of SmartBear's testing tools are available for on-premises deployment, and availability may differ depending on the specific product or tool.

Integration Capabilities 

Both SmartBear and BrowserStack provide integration capabilities with a wide range of popular testing frameworks, development tools, and CI/CD pipelines. Some of the popular integrations include:

• Test frameworks - Selenium, Appium, Espresso, XCTest, and more
• CI/CD - Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI, and more
• Code repositories - GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, and more
• Bug tracking and project management tools - Jira, Trello, Asana, and more

Pricing and Free Trial

SmartBear offers several pricing plans for its 6 products based on the needs of its users. The plans start from $29 month for s single user up to enterprise packages which pricing is discussed individually with their sales team. As to their Percy and App Percy tools, which allow developers to catch visual regressions and UI issues early in the development process, they even offer a free plan with Percy's core features which include unlimited users and 5000 screenshots/month

SmartBear has a diverse pricing model due to big the number of products it offers, but the good news is that it provides a 14-day free trial for all of its tools, and you don't need to provide credit card details to access it. Furthermore, SmartBear has some products, such as SoapUI, that are available in a free version with limited features and functionality, which can still be useful for basic testing needs.

User Experience and Customer Support

BrowserStack offers a solid user experience with responsive vendor support. The platform's technical support is reliable, and the peer user community adds value by sharing insights and solutions.

SmartBear provides a strong user experience with timely vendor responses. The technical support is highly regarded, and the peer user community is active, helping users solve issues and improve their workflows.

Suitability for Different Users 

• Best for Small to Medium Businesses:

BrowserStack: Great for small to medium businesses needing cross-browser and mobile testing with easy setup.

SmartBear: Ideal for smaller teams needing automated UI testing and API management.

• Best for Large Enterprises:

BrowserStack: Perfect for large enterprises due to its global reach and ability to handle numerous tests simultaneously.

SmartBear: Suitable for large organizations needing detailed automated testing and API management.

• Best for Specific Industries:

BrowserStack: Works well for industries with high testing needs, like e-commerce and finance.

SmartBear: Best for industries focused on API management and detailed testing, such as software development.

Reporting and Analytics

BrowserStack offers an all-inclusive reporting tool that provides comprehensive insights into testing activities. Users can track test progress, identify issues, and manage resources more effectively. The reports offer real-time visibility into test runs and results, enabling users to monitor which tests have been executed, check the status of linked Jira issues, and view time elapsed since test initiation. Users can generate two types of reports: a summary report and a detailed report, facilitating efficient evaluation and management of testing processes.

SmartBear's TestComplete provides detailed reporting and analysis of automated test results. Users can view real-time progress and status for desktop, mobile, or web tests from a unified interface. The tool offers customizable reports that break down test results by environment settings, helping to identify areas needing attention and analyze test coverage. TestComplete integrates with various tools for sharing reports and logs, allowing easy distribution of findings to other team members and stakeholders.

SmartBear vs BrowserStack: Which Tool is Right for You?

• Considerations Based on Project Size:

BrowserStack is ideal for large projects requiring extensive cross-browser and cross-device testing. It supports testing on 20,000+ real devices and browsers, making it suitable for comprehensive, global testing.

SmartBear is better suited for smaller to medium-sized projects requiring detailed automated testing on specific platforms. It excels in GUI testing and supports desktop and web applications, focusing on detailed test reports.

• Considerations Based on Budget:

BrowserStack offers a range of plans, starting at $999 annually for desktop testing and moving up to more extensive options for mobile and automated testing. The latter is a higher investment but provides broad device coverage and scalability.

SmartBear offers various pricing plans, starting from $29 annually for app testing and reaching up to $7,463 for comprehensive packages. It is generally more cost-effective for teams focusing on GUI and automated tests.

• Considerations Based on Team Expertise:

BrowserStack is suitable for teams with a range of expertise, from beginners to advanced users. Its user-friendly interface and extensive integrations make it accessible to teams with various skill levels.

SmartBear is better for teams with technical expertise in automated testing and those familiar with keyword-driven testing and test management tools. It provides in-depth reporting and customization options for experienced testers.

Conclusion

• SmartBear vs BrowserStack: Both offer robust testing solutions, but their strengths cater to different needs.
• SmartBear Cross Browser Testing vs BrowserStack: While SmartBear excels in detailed automated GUI testing and provides in-depth reporting, BrowserStack stands out with its extensive cross-browser and cross-device testing capabilities.
• Choose SmartBear if you need focused, detailed GUI testing and are working with smaller to medium-sized projects or have specific testing needs.
• Opt for BrowserStack if you require broad, scalable testing across numerous devices and browsers, and if your budget allows for a comprehensive testing platform.
• Evaluate Based on Project Needs: Consider your project's size, budget, and team expertise to determine which tool aligns best with your testing objectives.