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Appium vs Ionic comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Appium
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Regression Testing Tools (6th)
Ionic
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Appium is 5.5%, down from 8.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ionic is 7.7%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Siddartha Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 30, 2022
It's easy to launch applications.
I rate Appium eight out of 10 for ease of setup. When I first began using the product, I would rate it as six out of 10. Appium is challenging to set up for iOS and Android, but we can manage iOS automation on the Mac from Macintosh Missions. In Missions, we need to open our Appium project on the next board and create something like a bundle diary. The bundle diary from Appium doesn't work for outputs, so it should not work for our daily routine. We need to change the bundle ID and build the iPhone application. There are two ways to set it up. You can update the Appium server for HD and need to do programming and training. It will come in after 30 seconds or more.
Dansteve Adekanbi - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 17, 2024
Great user acceptance and reliability, multiple teams not required, with prompt customer service
As a developer, I would say one of the improvements is more plugins. More plugins give you the ability to do more interactions with the framework over the library. As a user, I would say more flexibility in terms of look and feel. So far Ionic is very fluid. You might not really know, it is web-based technology. I know recently it has gone through a lot of updates, but it can also be improved and become stronger. Ionic allows you to get the best customization ever, but there is nothing like having more. The more customization you get, the easier it is for you to be able to build more quality apps.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The automation part is extremely helpful in streamlining our processes."
"What I like about Appium right now is that it's like Cypress in the sense that............. to test the components in the way I want them to be tested."
"I haven't explored other solutions in this particular area, but what I like best about Appium is the fact that it shares functions with Selenium. The extension of Selenium functions allows me to use all of the methods that exist in that domain, and it just makes it simpler for me. I've been using Selenium for some time as well, so using Appium just seems like a natural fit for me."
"It has great documentation and excellent community support."
"Appium helps me to do as much as much as I want to."
"We do not need to pay for the solution. It’s free."
"The most valuable features of Appium are the in-built functionality, which we can use in our code. For example, move back, move front, navigate one page before, and navigate one page ahead. You can do this by using the in-built functions from Appium."
"Appium has easy interaction with mobile."
"Ionic's best feature is that it's not necessary to write your own custom codes as all the hybrid is provided by Angular."
"Being able to have one set of code is valuable. I don't have to recode for different platforms. I don't have to recode for Xcode, Angular, or Android. So, the biggest feature for me is that it's a hybrid system, and I can have one set of code, and then the tool sets that are in there convert my code for Xcode or Play Store. It makes work a lot easier."
"Because it's a hybrid mobile app framework, it is easy for us to develop iOS as well as Android apps for our customers with the same resource skills. We didn't have to have separate iOS teams and Android teams to build the apps. We still have to use the Apple Xcode for iOS, but the main development happens with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. We don't have to write separate code bases in scripts for iOS and Android. We create apps using web-based technology."
"The solution can support many languages."
"The most valuable feature is the one code deployed to all solutions, which means you do not need to have multiple teams."
"Ionic is easy to upgrade and is helpful for design purposes. It also is quite common and easy to use. It is a very reliable application. It's easy to write on and print. The UI is easy to use as well. My organization chose to go with Ionic because we can access both Android and iOS applications."
"The main value of this solution for our business, is that it is a hybrid product that allows us to write code that is compatible with IOS, Android, and web documents."
"The most valuable feature of Ionic is the ease of use and the simple connection of the applications. Additionally, the documentation is good in the Ionic application, and beginners can easily learn and download their own application using Ionic. Everyone can easily switch out, their domain, from native applications to hybrid applications."
 

Cons

"Appium could improve by enabling record and run techniques similar to what they have in other licensing tools, such as Micro Focus. We have to all write the code, and then we can proceed."
"One area where I think Appium could improve is in addressing security concerns for our data. Currently, we're unable to use cloud solutions like CloudForm due to security restrictions on our servers. We also face challenges in updating packages for the same reason. It would be beneficial if the solution could provide better support for auto-reporting and easier connections to mobile device farms."
"The installation part of Appium is somewhat clumsy, requiring numerous dependencies and configurations."
"There is always a concern about the amount of code that is required to enhance the automation process. The idea of having less code or no code is what we would like to see in future updates."
"Image recognition could be improved. We have some images in our mobile applications. It should be able to run from the cloud, so we can automate the catcher."
"We need some bug fixes for nested elements."
"An application developed on the Unity platform, such as a gaming application, objects are moving in that case. Interacting with those elements is still lacking in Appium. Appium doesn't have the internal library to play with the Unity platform. That is a huge lack right now."
"Stability is an area that needs some improvement."
"There could be better support for augmented reality and other things. Geolocation and background app activity are some of the things that are a little more clumsy at the moment and could be improved."
"Ionic could improve in the Native mode because while we do testing it is difficult to find the root cause of problems. It could be more user-friendly."
"There is a lack of a community environment."
"Ionic's UI component doesn't always look like the native mobile app."
"Documentation for migrations and compatibility is insufficient."
"The documentation could be improved."
"The navigation within this solution could be improved; it is currently quite complicated to move through the different tabs."
"Ionic would be improved with dynamic design features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We found out that we could explore features of the solution for 30 days trial. We can switch to a permanent license later if we want."
"The solution is open-source."
"The solution is open source."
"As far as I know, Appium is a free solution. It's not for commercial use."
"It's completely 100% free, and there are no hidden fees."
"It's open source, so it's completely free."
"The pricing of Appium is fine."
"The price is good for people to be able to make a favorable decision for the value."
"Ionic is an open source solution, and there are no hidden fees."
"The solution's open source option is free with no licensing fees."
"The starting cost for the enterprise option is around one hundred dollars per month."
"I think most of the plugins for Ionic are open source, and you can do a lot with many of the basic features. However, if you need to use a premium plugin for something like extra scroll list functionality, Ionic will ask for a certain sum of money."
"You can use the free version, but if you still want to buy it, the price starts from $499/month."
"You don't have to pay anything except for certain projects. For example, Appflow has some costs related to it but you don't have to use it. You can also pay for extra support."
"Ionic is an open-source solution, it is free."
"We pay 50,000 dinars per month."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Insurance Company
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend Appium?
I do recommend Appium. It is an open-source solution and completely free of charge. We use Appium and Appium Studio as our base for any type of mobile automation for testing. It has a great interfa...
What do you like most about Appium?
Appium helps me to do as much as much as I want to.
What do you like most about Ionic?
Being able to have one set of code is valuable. I don't have to recode for different platforms. I don't have to recode for Xcode, Angular, or Android. So, the biggest feature for me is that it's a ...
What needs improvement with Ionic?
When they jumped from version 3 to version 4, 5, and 6, they introduced something called Capacitor, which is basically the tool that you use to convert your code to Xcode, etc. They have a few plug...
What is your primary use case for Ionic?
We are using it for mobile applications that we are publishing to iOS, Huawei, and Google Play Store. It's a very nice hybrid framework for mobile applications.
 

Comparisons

 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nuvizz, Coupa Software, Eventbrite, Evernote
MRA, Napa Group, Sworkit, Airbus, Sense Corp, Interactive Gaming Company, Pacifica, Untapp'd, Diesel, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Find out what your peers are saying about Appium vs. Ionic and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.