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Katalon Studio vs SmartBear TestComplete comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Katalon Studio offers easy automation, enabling 20% test case efficiency, cost savings, and faster delivery for budget-conscious teams.
Sentiment score
6.7
SmartBear TestComplete automation saves time, enhances client satisfaction, and boosts efficiency, with annual savings of approximately $10,000.
Once set up, only one person is needed to handle all tasks, reducing the requirement for multiple personnel.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.8
Katalon Studio's customer service is generally efficient, but technical support varies, with documentation and response time needing improvement.
Sentiment score
6.9
SmartBear TestComplete's customer support is knowledgeable but inconsistent, with delays and unresolved issues needing faster escalation and responses.
Katalon's support is not very strong unless you opt for the enterprise version.
Documentation is good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
Katalon Studio is adaptable for various team sizes, with mixed reviews on scalability, script execution, and integration.
Sentiment score
7.3
SmartBear TestComplete is scalable and adaptable, with flexible scripting, but may require licensing for wider deployment.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
Katalon Studio is generally reliable but experiences stability issues with complex models and changes; user ratings vary widely.
Sentiment score
6.9
SmartBear TestComplete generally stable, but users report crashes, memory leaks, and HTML5 testing delays in certain scenarios.
It needs more stability when test cases are executed.
 

Room For Improvement

Katalon Studio struggles with language limitations, integration issues, instability, high costs, and lacks support for various platforms.
SmartBear TestComplete faces challenges in object recognition, integrations, licensing, performance, and support across browsers and mobile devices.
Providing clearer guidance during the trial period for certification and training modules would also help.
Parallel execution is available, but not with the free version.
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.
While using SmartBear TestComplete, we are fine with the current capabilities, however, it would be beneficial to improve some performance aspects, especially the image comparison feature.
 

Setup Cost

Katalon Studio provides free and paid tiers, seen as competitive and cost-effective, but opinions on pricing vary.
SmartBear TestComplete's pricing and licensing receive mixed reviews, seen as both reasonable and costly depending on usage and modules.
The approximate cost is around $8,000.
The pricing of Katalon Studio is affordable, making it a sensible option for those looking for an affordable range.
 

Valuable Features

Katalon Studio provides versatile, user-friendly automated testing tools with robust integrations and minimal coding needed for efficient testing.
SmartBear TestComplete excels in cross-platform automation, integration, and support for multiple languages, enhancing automated testing efficiency and maintenance.
Katalon Studio has the highest number of integrations compared to other tools at a similar price point, such as Jira, Brokerstack, and Jenkins.
The browser compatibility and self-healing capabilities are excellent, which helps keep the code updated.
It is good to record and playback in low code.
The most valuable feature of SmartBear TestComplete for me is the image comparison functionality.
 

Categories and Ranking

Katalon Studio
Ranking in Regression Testing Tools
2nd
Ranking in Test Automation Tools
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
API Testing Tools (4th)
SmartBear TestComplete
Ranking in Regression Testing Tools
5th
Ranking in Test Automation Tools
6th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Functional Testing Tools (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Test Automation Tools category, the mindshare of Katalon Studio is 10.2%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SmartBear TestComplete is 5.9%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Test Automation Tools
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Prakhar Goel - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for integration automation, user-based automation, and web automation
The solution's most valuable features are the drag-and-drop feature, keyword-driven approach, and reusability of the scripts. The solution has introduced a new feature that helps us identify objects we cannot normally identify. It gives you a fair idea of objects, resolving the object recognition issue. The solution can be used to perform different tests on different machines.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
32%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Katalon Studio?
I used the trial version of Katalon Studio, which I got for free. For TestComplete, I used an internal license as my organization was partnered with them.
What needs improvement with Katalon Studio?
Extending the certification validity, especially after the trial period, would be beneficial. Providing clearer guidance during the trial period for certification and training modules would also he...
What do you like most about SmartBear TestComplete?
TestComplete has strong reporting capabilities. The reports they generate are really good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SmartBear TestComplete?
I am not involved in pricing or licensing; our management team handles these aspects.
What needs improvement with SmartBear TestComplete?
While using SmartBear TestComplete, we are fine with the current capabilities, however, it would be beneficial to improve some performance aspects, especially the image comparison feature. Occasion...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Coca-Cola Tesla Black Board TaTa Consultancy Services Sony
Cisco, J.P. Morgan, Boeing, McAfee, EMC, Intuit, and Thomson Reuters.
Find out what your peers are saying about Katalon Studio vs. SmartBear TestComplete and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.