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Appium vs Katalon Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Appium
Ranking in Regression Testing Tools
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Development Platforms (7th)
Katalon Studio
Ranking in Regression Testing Tools
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
API Testing Tools (5th), Test Automation Tools (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Regression Testing Tools category, the mindshare of Appium is 4.8%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Katalon Studio is 17.4%, up from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Regression Testing Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Abhishek-Tiwari - PeerSpot reviewer
Has cross-platform flexibility and a record-and-play option
The challenging part with Appium is that installation can be a bit tricky. It can be challenging to set up in Android versus iOS environments. Appium has some limitations in terms of writing code using simulators and online cloud devices. I faced challenges with native based scenarios, battery turn out percentage, battery charging percentage, and memory capacity. The other challenge I faced involved codes changing from device to device. For example, the piece of code that works in iOS version 10.1 won't work in iOS version 6.0. In upcoming releases, if they can reduce some more of the dependencies like SDK, UIAutomator, etc., it would be great. That is, I'd like to see a consolidated package or bundle release that is much more user-friendly.
Anuradha.Kapoor Kapoor - PeerSpot reviewer
Functional automation features and the recording functionality saves time but the performance and script execution is slow
I would like to see improvements in how Katalon Studio works with iOS applications, especially with React Native applications. The speed is very slow. It takes time. Katalon Studio also takes my laptop memory, and execution becomes slow for the script. There are parallel execution options. I'm sure their online cloud version must be very fast, but as a service-based company, we are under NDA with our clients and can't run their code on our servers. I would like to see iOS improve and see a more capable recording feature. Katalon Studio has released an AI version, and I have a demo scheduled to see the new features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It runs completely flawlessly and seamlessly every day."
"The most valuable feature is that it's easy to launch applications. Appium has everything that Selenium has. So many good tools support Appium. We can take some Excel sheets and use them to fill out the text box that's in there. We can also take screenshots of failures."
"The interface is user-friendly, which is beneficial for users, even for those who are new to it."
"Appium has easy interaction with mobile."
"It can be used with different programming languages."
"The latest versions of the solution are stable."
"Obviously because of automation, it reduces manual testing efforts."
"It has great documentation and excellent community support."
"The most valuable feature is its automation security capabilities."
"The most valuable features of Katalon Studio are its user-friendliness and the AI smart healing capabilities."
"The automation is very fast and you don't need to be overly proficient in coding."
"It provides us daily feedback on the status (failing/working) of the core features of our websites."
"The ability to build all libraries with codes and use them in many situations has been most valuable."
"The initial setup of Katalon Studio was easy."
"The product provides ease of automation for the cloud."
"It is a good tool and provides all the essential features for our business requirements."
 

Cons

"One thing which can be really helpful is that there is some kind of a recorder made available rather than scripting everything."
"The initial setup is straightforward if you have previous experience with the solution, but it can be complicated for a novice user."
"The setup and installation were a problem for us at first."
"Appium can improve when the case fails, there should be a feature where you can generate the report from Appium. Once you're on a test case, automatically the screenshot should be captured which would avoid manual intervention. These features would be beneficial to migrate to Appium."
"It breaks down."
"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."
"We previously worked with native applications, and there weren't any good mobile app testing tools. We started working with React Native, which works well with Appium, but it would be good to see better integration; the way elements are displayed can be messy. React Native is very popular nowadays, so it's essential to have that compatibility."
"Stability is an area that needs some improvement."
"One improvement would be if it could support more programming languages such as JavaScript or Python. Right now, it is only on Groovy, which I think is not a too popular language."
"It would be helpful to have an automatic save feature."
"It is difficult to identify elements on websites that use Angular or ReactJS because they don't have an option to view source code."
"It should be faster while executing, and there are some defects, like choosing the new device with the test case."
"We have had some issues when it comes to stability, which is something that needs to be improved."
"It should be faster while executing, and there are some defects, like choosing the new device with the test case."
"During parallel execution, some reports are randomly switched."
"Now we are having difficulties in using it and had to limit our automation experts to the features that Katalon allows us to use for free. It was free access and they claimed that it would be free for all time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's completely 100% free, and there are no hidden fees."
"It's open source, so it's completely free."
"Appium is free and open-source."
"The solution is open source so it is free."
"This is an open source solution so it does not cost anything for licensing or otherwise."
"As far as I know, Appium is a free solution. It's not for commercial use."
"The solution is open source."
"Appium is open source; we can use it for free."
"The cost of Katalon Studio is expensive but it is less than some of the other solutions, such as Micro Focus UFT or SmartBear TestComplete. The cost is the main reason we are using Katalon Studio."
"I am using the free version."
"We are using the free version. We plan on getting a paid version because there is a limitation in terms of the number of users. We want to maximize it."
"The price is not high it's good."
"The tool's pricing is cheap compared to other alternatives. I would rate the tool's pricing a three out of ten."
"We were using the free version of this tool."
"There is no cost for setup or licensing."
"The tool is free to use."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Educational Organization
33%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Appium?
My experience with Appium from a pricing perspective is favorable due to it being open source, making it a cost-effective option.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Katalon Studio?
The pricing of Katalon Studio is affordable, making it a sensible option for those looking for an affordable range.
What needs improvement with Katalon Studio?
I would like Katalon Studio to develop manual test case generation using AI capabilities, as other tools like those using OpenAI are already doing this. Also, enhancing its test management aspects ...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nuvizz, Coupa Software, Eventbrite, Evernote
Coca-Cola Tesla Black Board TaTa Consultancy Services Sony
Find out what your peers are saying about Appium vs. Katalon Studio and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.