With businesses needing to digitally transform at scale, manual testing processes pose a major bottleneck due to lengthy development cycles. This urgency has led 66% of IT professionals expressing interest in low code platforms that can accelerate delivery through easy test creation and maintenance.^1
Why Low Code Testing Delivers Better Quality and Speed
Below are 5 major benefits organizations realize by adopting low code test automation:
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Accessible to non-coders: Instead of programming, test cases are created visually for services, UI flows, API behaviors etc. This empowers product experts beyond just developers and QA to define test coverage.
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Faster test creation and flexibility: New test scenarios can be added 5-10x more rapidly compared to coded automated checks.^2 Tests can be updated quickly as requirements change.
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Higher test coverage: With low code tools, tests can be defined early and evolve in parallel across the dev cycle instead of just validating at the end. This drives shift-left testing.
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DevOps integration: Tight integration with CI/CD pipelines enables continuous validation as code progresses instead of just staging/prod. Issues are caught and fixed faster.
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Consistent quality: By enabling test automation across the delivery lifecycle, low code delivers reliable, regression-free updates while increasing release velocity.
These factors explain the rising interest in low code test platforms. Next, let‘s explore what capabilities your chosen tool should have.
Key Factors for Choosing A Low Code Test Automation Solution
With a number of tools to choose from, focus on testing platforms that align with:
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Your app stack: Native integration with your workloads – web, mobile, microservices, ERPs etc.
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Test authoring experience: Easy visual modeling of test cases across roles – QA, dev, product teams.
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Test reusability: Create modular test components that can be reused across multiple test scenarios.
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Data-driven testing capabilities: Dynamic test data sets instead of static values aids comprehensive scenarios.
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Scheduling and orchestration: Flexible options to run tests on-demand, timed, event-triggered or via CI/CD pipelines.
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Detailed reporting and analytics: Test results, defect analysis, coverage metrics to iteratively improve test quality.
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Pricing model: Per user, test volumes or test environments depending on scale needs.
These parameters will help you thoroughly evaluate test automation vendors across technical capabilities, creation flexibility and TCO impact.
Next let‘s do a side-by-side analysis of leading options.
Comparison of Top 5 Low Code Testing Solutions
While there are dozens of test automation platforms, below few focus extensively on enabling low code capabilities:
| Tool | Visual Authoring | App Coverage | CI/CD Integrations | Analytics | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Testifi | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Web, Mobile, Desktop, API | Jenkins, CircleCI, GitHub | Reports, Coverage Metrics | Per User |
| Tricentis Tosca | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Web, Mobile | Jenkins, Bamboo, TeamCity | Customizable | Enterprise |
| Parasoft | ⭐⭐⭐ | API, Mobile | Jenkins, TeamCity | 150+ Reports | Per Capability |
| Katalon | ⭐⭐⭐ | Web, API, Desktop | Jenkins, CircleCI | Customizable | Free & Enterprise |
| Perfecto | ⭐⭐ | Web, Mobile | Jenkins, CircleCI | Customizable | Usage Based |
While all platforms offer common capabilities, exploring their unique strengths can help determine most aligned option.
Specialized Capabilities of Top Low Code Testing Tools
Beyond common validation features, delve into differentiated testing functionalities of each platform:
1. Testifi
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Broad coverage: Validates Web, Mobile, Desktop, IoT and API apps using same visual test authoring.
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Built-in static analysis: Identifies code quality issues early including bugs, security gaps to enable shift-left testing.
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Understands domain models: Express test scenarios using business terminology without coding or underlying app changes.
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Optimized analytics: Contextual failure diagnosis, coverage gap analysis, remediations to improve test effectiveness.
2. Tricentis Tosca
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Model-based automation: Instead of recording test steps, models entire business scenarios for modular re-use across test cases.
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Optimizes existing tests: Assesses current test suites and helps improve maintainability, stability and coverage.
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Built-in risk assessment: Analyzes which test cases provide maximum coverage for least effort using AI to optimize regression suites.
3. Parasoft
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API security analysis: Discovers vulnerabilities in API app logic flows and integrations.
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Runtime error detection: Identifies integration gaps, data leaks, infrastructure misses in production apps.
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Compliance enforcements: Confirms adherence to standards including OWASP Top 10, CWE.
4. Katalon Studio
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Record and playback: Logs actual user journeys which can be reused across multiple test scenarios without changes.
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Reusable test objects: Central repository of page elements, credentials, test data for consistent test steps.
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Built-in defect management: Tight Jira integration to streamline confirmation and resolution management.
5. Perfecto
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Physical mobile/web testing: Validate functionality, UX/UI flows on actual devices hosted on Perfecto cloud infrastructure.
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Automatic reporting: Screenshots, videos logs enable visual root causing instead of debugging errors.
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Live app monitoring: Track app usage, adoption and performance metrics across real user traffic.
As we‘ve explored, Testifi, Tricentis, Parasoft, Katalon and Perfecto have distinct testing strengths across code quality, test optimization, security compliance and real world validation.
Picking the platform that aligns with your primary objectives will ensure maximum ROI.
Emerging Low Code Test Automation Capabilities
In addition to current feature sets, low code tools are rapidly expanding capabilities leveraging AI/ML advancements:
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Autonomous self-healing tests: Machine learning detects test failures, automatically fixes selectors/locators and re-runs validations without manual oversight.^3
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Automated test documentation: Platforms auto-generate detailed specs of test scenarios, inputs, assertions cutting tedious documentation needs.
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Voice-driven test orchestration: Natural language interfaces like "Run Purchase Order Validations" trigger predefined automated test suites on-demand.
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Smart test data management: Data pipelines feed real-world data directly into test suites vs. static values for valid edge case coverage.^4
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AI-based test recommendation: Analyzes code changes, logs, failures to prompt highest risk test cases that need to be prioritized for running.
These innovation areas will continue elevating low code testing productivity and accelerating release velocity.
Key Considerations for Low Code Test Automation Success
While low code test platforms enable accelerated delivery and reliability, focus on three areas:
Cross-team adoption: Drive usage beyond just QA/test engineers to enable business user testing. Product owners can validate requirements without delays.
Incremental test authoring: Start small with critical happy path scenarios. Rapidly augment coverage for negative, boundary and alternate data conditions.
Analytics-driven improvements: Use actionable reporting insights to continually refine test stability, performance and effectiveness.
Getting these factors right will ensure your test automation initiative stays on track and delivers business outcomes.
The Bottom Line
This guide provided a comprehensive overview across:
- Benefits of low code test automation
- Evaluation criteria for choosing solutions
- Comparative analysis of top vendors
- Unique capabilities of tools like Testifi, Tosca, Parasoft, Katalon and Perfecto
- Emerging innovation areas like ML-driven test optimization
- Best practices for driving adoption and outcomes
Equipped with these learnings, organizations can empower both technical and business users to rapidly create, update, execute tests across the delivery lifecycle. This enables quality at speed to meet digital transformation needs.
References
- “The State of Application Development.” Outsystems. 2020.
- Test Automation Platforms Research Methodology. AI Multiple. 2022.
- 5 test automation trends to keep an eye on. TechBeacon. 2022.
- Gartner Predicts the Future of Application Development. Gartner. 2022.
