Top 10 Tools for Testing Website

The evolution of technology has revolutionized everything related to it. A great example to justify this claim is to analyze how far websites have come in the modern generation. During the early years of the internet, websites were only used to display a specific set of information.  However, with technological advancement, websites have become more interactive. This means it can change its data and information according to the user inputs. It has also given rise to a new technology known as web applications. Web applications can function like normal apps but the users do not need to physically download them on their devices. This means that it not only helps to save the storage on native devices but also helps to save a lot of time loss and hassle. The process of testing website is very important in using all these features.

In this article, we will focus on the best tools for testing a website. We will also try to analyze the importance of the testing process as a whole.

Importance of Testing Website

When the internet started to roll out in 2010, the websites were fairly simple with the intention to only portray a specific set of data. So, testing wasn’t an important function as errors and bugs were not present on these simple sites. However, with the advancement of Technology, the number of power users began to rise. So, the consumers wanted more and more functions from a website. This integration multiplied the complexities of these websites. Moreover, the websites also started to function as apps and remove the hassle of unnecessary downloads. It was during this time the companies began to realize the importance of a comprehensive testing process. So, tools started to come into the market for these testing purposes.

Best Tools for Testing Website

There are thousands of tools available in the market for testing websites. This huge number of options often confuses first-time testers. So, we have gone through almost all of these tools and shortlisted the top ten:

• LambdaTest

LambdaTest is a platform to check whether a web application is cross-browser compatible. To understand the basics, cross-browser compatibility testing is the process of ensuring that a web application performs smoothly irrespective of the device, operating system or browser version. LambdaTest helps the developers to initiate parallel testing in the test environment.

You can run parallel testing as the process of initiating multiple test instances at the same time. An analysis of experts reveals that parallel automated testing can help the developers to finish all the test cases within two days. With LambdaTest, you can conduct test cases on more than 3000 different browser versions using frameworks like Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Appium and more.

• Test IQ

Test IQ stands on the goal to help developers test the smoothness and seamless functioning of their web applications and softwares irrespective of the device or physical specifications. It also ensures that the developers can provide an engaging experience to their end users. This process of testing is known as crowd testing. It is one of the most popular forms of finding out all the loose ends that might be present on a website.  However, the testers must have a good amount of development knowledge to utilise the full potential of crowd testing. Due to its unique features, many organizations are using this tool to help their web applications perform better and faster. Some other features of Test IQ include feedback from real users, faster release cycles and the ability to test on real devices. 

• Selenium

Selenium is probably the most popular open-source website testing tool that is available in the current market. Open-source tools are those that are freely available and do not require any form of licensing fee. These tools contribute a great deal to supporting small companies and individual creators. The ability to perform Automation Testing is one of the major advantages of using Selenium. Automation Testing is the process of automatically conducting test cases with the help of automated test scripts. These scripts are very easy to develop and maintain. Moreover, they can also be used in other development projects.

Selenium is a test suite that provides different tools like the Selenium integrated development kit, Selenium remote controller and the Selenium WebDriver. Each of these tools has a specific purpose and helps in a different phase of the development process. The Selenium grid is also a major component of this test suite.

• WebLOAD

WebLOAD is a web application performance analysis tool. Using this tool, the developers can verify the load-handling capabilities of a web dedicated application. Load handling is the process of analyzing how many total users can the application handle at a given point. It also analyses how many tasks can a user initiate on the application before it gives up. Using this tool, the developers can also find out the major bottleneck that might be present in the application. Bottlenecks need to be sorted out as they can have a serious impact on the functioning of the application. Lastly, the developers can also integrate this tool with other tools like Jenkins and Selenium to further improve the testing capabilities. So, we can say that this tool is adequate to meet all the testing requirements of a company. 

• Acunetix

Acunetix Is a web application testing tool that specializes in finding out the security issues that may be present in the application. It consists of a special security scanner that can run more than 4500 different security integrated test cases. Security is one of the important concerns for multiple applications that specializes in banking, eCommerce and others. These applications have to store multiple sensitive user data including their financial credentials. So, the developers need to ensure that these applications do not perform any form of a data leak. Moreover, it is also important to ensure that these applications are also immune from any form of third-party attacks.  

• Netsparker

Netsparker is one of the most renowned application testing tools. It is famous for its ability to generate highly accurate test results. This testing tool comes with an embedded scanner to find out even the minor loophole that may be present in the application. After identifying the faults, it runs a second scan to verify whether these faults are true or false. It saves a lot of time as the developers do not have to manually run this scan. The developers also have the option to download this tool as software or use it as a web application. The web application version ensures that the developers can complete the test cases from the website itself.  The features of this tool remain the same irrespective of the version that you choose.

• Experitest

Experitest uses a cloud interface to remove the hassle of maintaining a physical device testing lab. Moreover, it is also a very expensive process to build and maintain a device lab. Currently, the cloud interface of this tool allows the developers to test the functioning of the application on more than 1000 different devices. Experitest is also integrated with Appium and Selenium to further improve the testing experience for the developers. It also helps the testers to verify the functioning of the application on any browser according to their requirements. All the tests conducted by Experitest run in real-time and also debug simultaneously. The parallel testing feature allows the developers to initiate more than a hundred different test cases at the same time.

• Watir

We can define Watir as the best tool to perform web application testing with Ruby. The most unique feature of Watir is that it conducts all the test cases the same way a human would. This means all the testing processes are conducted with respect to real human interaction. It is a very important process as it helps to improve the dependability of the web application in real-world scenarios. Some of the interactive actions performed by this tool are clicking links, filling forms and validating texts. This testing tool is also very lightweight and easy to use for new developers. Lastly, it covers almost all of the major operating systems and browsers that are currently available in the market. Watir can also perform visual testing to determine the efficiency of all the web elements according to different display resolutions.

• Ranorex Studio

Ranorex Studio helps the developers to maximize the resources for improving the efficiency of the automated test cases. It is the correct tool for web application development companies that are willing to implement end-to-end testing. This tool allows developers to initiate test cases on both simulators and real devices. End to End Testing also helps to improve the quality of the overall test cases. Currently, Ranorex Studio supports almost all the popular browsers like Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Safari. The developers can also integrate this tool with other automation testing frameworks and improve the quality of the website.  

• Serenity

Serenity has a special focus on improving the efficiency and usability of the test cases. It ensures that developers can easily maintain, store and reuse all the test scripts. It also helps to improve the flexibility of the test environment to diversify its use cases. Serenity generates a detailed test report that gives a proper inside on the performance of the application and helps in debugging process.  Lastly, it also keeps a tab on the progress of the application development process. This link helps all the different teams to coordinate and work faster. With Serenity, it is very easy to modify and implement the test cases according to the project requirements.

The Conclusion

So, we can conclude that website testing is one of the most essential processes involved in providing the utmost customer satisfaction to your end users. As a developer, you must remember that a faulty web application not only destroys its reputation but also tampers with the reputation of the brand as a whole.  In this article, we tried to discuss everything that you need to keep in mind while choosing the best website testing tool according to your requirements. It is also important for application development companies to spread proper awareness regarding this subject. As technology continues to advance, companies will have to focus more on application smoothness. This justifies the importance of quality over quantity.