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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:
 

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
75
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the features that I like is Object Recognition. It worked very well, and it allowed me to create a dynamic expert based on my requirements."
"The initial setup of Katalon Studio was easy."
"The best thing about the solution is that there is a record and playback functionality."
"This is a product that is well ahead of its immediate competition in features and functionality."
"Katalon Studio is easier to use compared to SmartBear TestComplete."
"The most important feature is the Jenkins integration; it is pretty straight forward and allows us to run nightly builds."
"The solution is easy to learn."
"I personally like the 'Object Spy' feature of this tool. It makes it easy to find an element on the web page."
"In TestComplete, I saw a conformed package of a tool that kept everybody in consistency. The team was able to regenerate further tests without having to manipulate more code because the record feature is great."
"The ease-of-use and quality of the overall product are above average."
"Selenium integration."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"This company offers end-to-end capabilities for test suite creation and execution. One feature that I particularly appreciate is the tagging system. Tags are highly valuable, as they allow you to assign tags to your test cases. When there's an impact in a specific area, you can search for and run all test cases associated with that tag. I find this functionality very useful."
"The product has many features."
"The ability to run a whole suite of tests automatically (which we did overnight)."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is regression testing tools."
 

Cons

"Katalon doesn't support testing of hybrid applications. It's a limitation."
"It seems to lack a few requirements that a typical customer would want. Compared to other solutions, this product is lacking."
"I can say that in my company, we struggle a lot with iOS automation."
"Currently, I'm the only one who can use it because I have a Mac. It is giving a hard time to my team members who are on Linux. My team members are using Linux, and Katalon doesn't support Linux very well. It keeps on crashing. It crashes and shuts down almost every time they save their work, so they are not able to use it. It should have good support for Linux. We don't know what the problem is. If the Katalon team can pick up this issue, it will be very helpful."
"It would be helpful if they can integrate a feature for performance testing."
"What it lacks is the Selenium Grid capabilities."
"Support options need improvement. It is sometimes hard to find a solution to any given problem, thus you are forced to use another solution."
"We have had some issues when it comes to stability, which is something that needs to be improved."
"What is currently missing from this solution is better support for mobile testing."
"Headless testing would be a big improvement."
"There could be API interfaces with this tool."
"One notable drawback is the absence of native integration with Git."
"The code editor, though following eclipse-style, is still a work in progress and gives a very poorly formatted code once viewed via other editing tools."
"We were testing handheld barcode scanners running WindowsCE with many menus of warehouse functions, and our biggest problem was the timing between input and responses."
"I didn't use it very heavily. One issue that I found was that there wasn't a quick way or a button to move Visual Basic scripts to TestComplete. We have a lot of such scripts in our organization, and it would be very useful to have some option to easily move these scripts. It is currently possible to convert these scripts to TestComplete, but it is not easy. I have to write some code, but everything is not available immediately."
"It is very hard to read the test log generated by TestComplete Executor if the log file is very big. TestComplete Executor is a small tool for just running the TestComplete test framework (not for developing)."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"It is freeware software, so start using it."
"The tool is affordable."
"The tool is free to use."
"We were using the free version of this tool."
"Katalon Studio is a free tool."
"Katalon Studio is less expensive than other solutions, such as Micro Focus UFT."
"The approximate cost is around $8,000."
"The option we chose was around $2,000 USD."
"Overall, for us, the cost of the TestComplete platform and the three extra modules is around $8,000."
"It comes with a high cost."
"The pricing is pretty reasonable."
"The license price for a physical machine is cheap, and for virtual machine, it is very expensive."
"The solution's licensing cost has increased because it has moved to some new SLM-based licenses."
"Buy modules on demand. If you have a four-person team and they will each automate tests only 25% of the time, it's better to buy a floating licence and share the tool during the work day."
"It is approximately $6,000 a year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
33%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
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 don't know much about the pricing, however, I think it's cheaper.
What needs improvement with SmartBear TestComplete?
The recording function, when using Python, could be improved, as it does not work well in recording testing.
 

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: February 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.