20 Software Testing Tools by Category

Software testing tools can be broadly classified based on their purpose and usage.

Below is a categorized list of tools for Automated, Manual, Functional, and Nonfunctional testing. Each tool entry includes its type (open-source or commercial), supported platforms or test types, key features, and CI/CD integration support.

Automated Software Testing Tools

Automated testing tools help software QA teams and developers create and execute tests with minimal human intervention. These tools are used for automating test cases for web, mobile, desktop, or API platforms. They often integrate with development pipelines to run tests automatically on code changes.

Selenium WebDriver

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web (multiple browsers, OS)

Key Features:

• Supports multiple browsers & OS
• Multi-language APIs (Java, C#, Python, etc.)
• Large community and plugin ecosystem

CI/CD Integration: Yes (via Selenium Grid, plugins)

Appium

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Mobile (Android, iOS), Mobile Web

Key Features:

• Automates native, hybrid & mobile web apps
• Cross-platform with one API
• Supports multiple languages
• Active community

CI/CD Integration: Yes (CI plugins & server API support)

Cypress

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web (JavaScript front-end)

Key Features:

• Modern E2E testing for web
• Real-time reloads & auto-waiting
• Time-travel debugging with snapshots
• Built-in screenshots & video recording

CI/CD Integration: Yes (CLI and Dashboard for CI)

Katalon Studio

Type: Commercial (freemium)

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web, Mobile, API, Desktop

Key Features:

• All-in-one automation (built on Selenium/Appium)
• Low-code and scripting modes
• Built-in keywords and reports
• Integrates with Jenkins, Jira, etc.

CI/CD Integration: Yes (built-in CI/CD integrations)

TestComplete

Type: Commercial

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Desktop, Web, Mobile

Key Features:

• Scripted or scriptless (record/playback) UI tests
• Supports multiple scripting languages (JS, Python, VB)
• Object recognition for UI elements
• Parallel test execution

CI/CD Integration: Yes (integrates with CI/CD tools like Jenkins)

Manual Software Testing Tools

Manual software testing tools primarily support test case management, execution tracking, and reporting for tests executed by humans. They often integrate with issue trackers (for logging bugs) and can also interface with automation results. These tools help organize test plans, test cases, and test runs for any application type (web, mobile, desktop, etc.).

TestRail

Type: Commercial

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web-based (Test Management for any app)

Key Features:

• Centralized test case management and planning
• Real-time reporting & metrics
• Integration with Jira and other tools (e.g. defect trackers)

CI/CD Integration: Yes (API for results integration, Jenkins plugins)

TestLink

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web-based (Test Management)

Key Features:

• Manage requirements, test cases, and executions in one place
• Supports manual & automated testing (via integrations)
• Custom fields and user roles for flexibility
• Defect-tracker integration (Jira, Bugzilla, etc.)

CI/CD Integration: Yes (integrates with automation frameworks and CI tools like Jenkins)

Zephyr (for Jira)

Type: Commercial

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web (Jira plugin; manual & BDD tests)

Key Features:

• Native integration with Atlassian Jira
• Create and execute test cases inside Jira; real-time test metrics & dashboards
• Support for BDD (Cucumber integration)
• Scalable for enterprise teams

CI/CD Integration: Limited (primarily via Jira workflows and BDD automation results)

Tricentis qTest

Type: Commercial

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web-based (Agile Test Management)

Key Features:

• Comprehensive test management for manual & automated tests
• Real-time integration with Jira and other ALM tools
• Advanced reporting and analytics
• Supports Agile workflows (scrum, DevOps)

CI/CD Integration: Yes (supports automated test results and CI pipeline integrations)

Xray (for Jira)

Type: Commercial

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web (Jira plugin; manual & automated)

Key Features:

• Manage manual and automated tests as Jira issues
• supports BDD with Cucumber (write tests in Gherkin)
• plan test executions across environments
• requirement traceability and rich reports

CI/CD Integration: Yes (REST API to pull in automated test results from CI pipelines)

Functional Software Testing Tools

Functional testing tools are used to verify that software features behave as expected (correct outputs for given inputs). They can be used at various levels – from unit testing to API testing to end-to-end UI testing. Below are tools for different scopes of functional testing, covering web UIs, mobile apps, APIs, and code-level tests.

Playwright

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Web (Cross-browser: Chromium, Firefox, WebKit)

Key Features:

• Modern web automation by Microsoft
• Supports multiple browsers with one API
• Works in multiple languages (JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, C#, Java)
• Auto-wait and robust element handling
• Built-in tracing and debugging tools

CI/CD Integration: Yes (CLI runner integrates easily into CI pipelines)

Postman

Type: Freemium

Supported Platforms/Test Types: APIs (REST, SOAP, GraphQL)

Key Features:

• User-friendly API testing and documentation tool
• Create and run requests for various API types
• Automation support via Newman (command-line runner)
• Environment variable management for different configs
• Team collaboration and monitoring

CI/CD Integration: Yes (Newman CLI can run tests in CI; Postman Enterprise offers CI integrations)

Cucumber

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: BDD for any platform (with compatible automation frameworks)

Key Features:

• Behavior-Driven Development framework using Gherkin syntax
• Test scenarios written in plain language for clarity
• Works with many languages (Java, JS, Ruby, etc.) and test frameworks
• Generates detailed reports of scenario outcomes

CI/CD Integration: Yes (commonly used with CI to run BDD scenarios via JUnit, TestNG, etc.)

JUnit

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Unit/Integration testing (Java)

Key Features:

• Widely-used framework for Java unit testing
• Uses annotations to define test methods
• Provides assertions to verify expected results
• Supports grouping tests into suites and generates reports
• Integrates with IDEs and build tools (Maven/Gradle)

CI/CD Integration: Yes (integrates with build pipelines for CI; e.g. run via Maven Surefire in Jenkins)

Tricentis Tosca

Type: Commercial

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Enterprise (Web, Mobile, Desktop, API)

Key Features:

• Model-based test automation platform
• Supports end-to-end testing including UI and API
• Built-in service virtualization and test data management
• Advanced analytics and dashboards for results
• Script-less approach suitable for non-coders

CI/CD Integration: Yes (designed for continuous testing, integrates with CI/CD pipelines)

Nonfunctional Software Testing Tools

Nonfunctional testing tools target aspects like performance, security, compatibility, and reliability of software rather than specific features. Below are tools used for performance/load testing, security testing, and environment compatibility testing.

Apache JMeter

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Performance & load testing (Web, APIs, DB, etc.)

Key Features:

• Java-based tool for load testing functional behavior and performance
• Supports multiple protocols (HTTP, HTTPS, SOAP, JDBC, LDAP, TCP, etc.)
• Full GUI for test plan design and recording
• CLI mode for headless test execution and integration
• Comprehensive HTML reporting

CI/CD Integration: Yes (CLI mode for running tests in CI; can integrate with Jenkins, etc.)

Micro Focus LoadRunner

Type: Commercial

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Performance testing (Web, protocols)

Key Features:

• Enterprise-grade load testing tool supporting a wide range of protocols and application types
• Simulates realistic user load with detailed performance metrics and analysis
• Provides rich reports and bottleneck identification
• Supports distributed load generation (on-premise or cloud)

CI/CD Integration: Yes (integrates with CI/CD tools; supports pipeline-triggered tests)

OWASP ZAP

Type: Open-source

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Security testing (Web applications)

Key Features:

• Open-source web application security scanner
• Acting as an intercepting proxy
• Passive scanning (monitor for issues without attacking) and active scanning (aggressive tests for vulnerabilities)
• Spidering tools (including AJAX crawler for JS apps) to discover pages
• Fuzzing support to find injection flaws; extensible via add-ons and scripts

CI/CD Integration: Yes (automation via scripts and Docker for CI pipelines; ZAP CLI/API available for CI)

Burp Suite

Type: Commercial (Community edition available)

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Security testing (Web applications)

Key Features:

• Comprehensive web security testing suite (intercepting proxy for manual testing)
• Includes automated vulnerability scanner and crawler
• Tools like Intruder for automated custom attacks and Repeater for manual request tampering
• Aids in finding OWASP Top 10 issues (XSS, SQLi, etc.)
• Well-supported with plugins for additional checks

CI/CD Integration: Yes (Enterprise Edition provides CI/CD integration for automated scanning

BrowserStack

Type: Commercial

Supported Platforms/Test Types: Enterprise (Web, Mobile, Desktop, API)

Key Features:

• Cloud platform with 2000+ real devices and browsers for testing
• Supports manual and automated testing (Selenium, Appium, etc.) on diverse OS/browser combinations
• Provides local testing for dev environments and visual testing (screenshots, video)
• Offers debugging tools for mobile/web

CI/CD Integration: Yes (integrates with automation frameworks and CI pipelines for cross-browser tests)