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SmartBear TestComplete vs Visual Studio Test Professional comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 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

SmartBear TestComplete
Ranking in Functional Testing Tools
9th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Regression Testing Tools (5th), Test Automation Tools (6th)
Visual Studio Test Professi...
Ranking in Functional Testing Tools
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Test Management Tools (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Functional Testing Tools category, the mindshare of SmartBear TestComplete is 4.8%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visual Studio Test Professional is 0.6%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Functional Testing Tools
 

Featured Reviews

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.
ALFONSO LORENZO-RODRÍGUEZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides extensive extensions and plugins for seamless AI product development
Our primary use case for Visual Studio Test Professional is as a development tool. We develop software primarily in Python, specifically for applications related to artificial intelligence. We use frameworks like PyTorch for training models and developing applications using these models. This tool…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"SmartBear TestComplete performs some self-healing and has a feature called OCR (optical character recognition)."
"The most valuable features are the desktop and mobile modules."
"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."
"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."
"It is very easy to maintain tests with this tool. It covers all necessary items in the test plan. The most painful item in testing is maintenance. When changes occur, the tests should be maintained."
"The product has many features."
"Customer service and technical support responsiveness are high. Everyone is very professional."
"The solution helps improve the stability of our product. It also decreases the work of our manual quality assurance engineers."
"The setup is easy and straightforward."
"The documentation is easy, and it helps us solve our problems."
"The solution is very useful for compiling existing projects and developing new projects."
"Visual Studio is highly powerful. It's probably the best software development tool on the market."
"The ability to quickly make your own components has been valuable."
"It is a very common and strong product. A lot of support is available for this product."
"Visual Studio is an exemplary integrated development environment that stands out due to its exceptional features. It allows for the seamless selection of the appropriate programming language for the specific development tasks at hand. This facilitates a swift and effortless transition between languages, providing a highly efficient development experience."
"One of the best documentation in the world."
 

Cons

"The integration tools could be better."
"The solution needs more training manuals or some form of online forum for learning. It needs more documentation."
"The solution’s customer support should be improved."
"What is currently missing from this solution is better support for mobile testing."
"Error handling features in the tool are a little limited."
"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."
"If that engine could better identify more XPaths automatically and make the process more flexible, that would be better."
"Occasionally, image comparison results in failures, possibly due to issues with resolution or font size on the server side, which can be challenging to identify."
"Sometimes, the solution hangs, so its performance could be improved."
"One of the problems with this solution is you need to be highly technically skilled to operate it, it is not for everyone."
"Visual Studio Test Professional is a little pricey."
"The integration with Git needs improving because it is a bit disjointed and unpredictable."
"I would like to see more integration in the solution."
"The vendor must release a lightweight version of the solution."
"The pricing of this solution should be lowered."
"Visual Studio Test Professional could improve by having better integration with external databases."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It costs a few hundred per year, but I am not sure. It is not at all expensive as compared to other tools."
"The product is becoming more and more expensive."
"The price of SmartBear TestComplete could be less. The main challenge is when it comes to node-locked. They should use a subscription model, such as a monthly-based subscription or, a quarterly-based subscription. Their floating license is very expensive, and this high price should be reduced or provide, at a minimum, a subscription model."
"It comes with a high cost."
"It is approximately $6,000 a year."
"My advice so far, is that while it’s not quite as powerful and easy to use as UFT, its price tag more than makes up for it."
"The licensing costs are in the range of $1,000 to $3,000."
"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."
"The pricing is expensive."
"Visual Studio Test Professional is not an expensive solution."
"For the cloud services option, you buy a subscription per account or per user. This costs around $52 a month per person."
"There are two versions of Visual Studio Test Professional: Community and Professional. We are currently using the Community version, but if we start working on a commercial product, we will consider upgrading to the Professional version. We need to identify how we will proceed with our projects, and based on that, we will decide on our licensing."
"There is a paid version of the solution as well as a community version that is free."
"The tool is affordable."
"We use the solution’s community version, and the solution’s pricing could be cheaper."
"The product is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What do you like most about Visual Studio Test Professional?
The most valuable features of the solution are its ease of use and availability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visual Studio Test Professional?
The tool is free, resulting in no costs associated with its use. The absence of price makes it cost-effective.
What needs improvement with Visual Studio Test Professional?
The product needs contextual help integrated within its interface. Currently, I need to search online to find out how to use certain functions. This feature would save time by providing direct assi...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cisco, J.P. Morgan, Boeing, McAfee, EMC, Intuit, and Thomson Reuters.
Transport for Greater Manchester, Ordina, Bluegarden A/S, CLEAResult, Jet.com, OSIsoft, Australian Taxation Office, BookedOut, Tracasa
Find out what your peers are saying about SmartBear TestComplete vs. Visual Studio Test Professional and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.