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With so many different cloud testing tools available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. You know you want to evaluate the performance, security, and functionality of your cloud-based applications but need to figure out which tool is best. I've got you! In this post I'll help make your choice easy, sharing my personal experiences using dozens of different cloud testing software with various teams and projects, with my picks of the best cloud testing tools.

What Are Cloud Testing Tools?

Cloud testing tools are software used for testing the performance, scalability, and reliability of applications hosted in cloud environments. These tools simulate real-world user traffic and various operational conditions to assess how cloud-based applications perform, ensuring they meet the necessary quality and functionality standards.

The benefits of cloud testing tools include cost savings, as they eliminate the need for physical infrastructure for testing. They offer flexibility to test applications under diverse conditions and loads, accurately reflecting real-world usage scenarios. These tools enable rapid testing and deployment, facilitating a faster time-to-market for applications. Additionally, they provide comprehensive insights into application performance and security, helping to ensure a consistent and secure user experience across different platforms and geographic locations.

Overviews Of The 10 Best Cloud Testing Tools

Here’s a brief description of each cloud testing tool to showcase each one’s best use case, some noteworthy features, screenshots, and pricing information.

Best for real-time performance insights for cloud-based applications and infrastructure

  • Free plan available
  • From $25/user/month (billed annually)
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Rating: 4.3/5

New Relic is all about application performance management and monitoring. It's a tool that's designed to help you keep an eye on your software and make sure everything's running smoothly. It's like having a 24/7 watchdog for your apps, making sure they're performing at their best and alerting you if anything goes wrong.

Why I picked New Relic: There are a few standout features that really make New Relic shine. First off, it's got real-time analytics. This means you can see exactly what's happening with your software, right as it's happening. It's also got an intuitive dashboard that makes it easy to understand your data. Plus, it's got a great alert system that lets you know if anything's going wrong, so you can fix it before it becomes a big problem.

New Relic Standout Features & Integrations

Features include backend monitoring, Kubernetes monitoring, mobile monitoring, model performance monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, log management, error tracking, network monitoring, vulnerability management, and browser monitoring. 

Integrations include over 500 apps, such as AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Jenkins, CircleCI, Travis CI, Slack, PagerDuty, and other monitoring and analytics tools like Grafana, Datadog, and Splunk. It also has an API you can use to build custom integrations.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Integrates seamlessly with popular dev tools
  • AI-powered anomaly detection and intelligent alerting
  • Wide range of monitoring capabilities

Cons:

  • Added complexity from reliance on agents installed on application servers
  • Bit of a learning curve

Best highly-customizable, automation test tool

  • 30-Day free trial and free plan available
  • From $399/Monthly
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Rating: 4.6/5

Testsigma is an open-source automation tool that provides QA teams and test engineers with the ability to customize tests for a variety of test profiles, whether they want to execute data-driven, regression, cross-browser, mobile, or continuous testing mechanisms.

Why I picked Testsigma: Although Testsigma works out of the box, it is highly configurable for a variety of end-to-end tests. It gives testers the flexibility of going code-agnostic, creating simple test scripts, or adopting AI-driven auto-pilot test maintenance. 

Testsigma is ideal for development teams who are burdened with executing various test suites with a plethora of test scenarios. Testsigma’s SDKs and APIs help them to both customize and automate the process to meet their requirements. 

Testsigma Standout Features and Integrations

Features include AI-driven test automations, cross-platform compatibility, cloud-based testing, continuous integration, reporting, multi-language support, and collaboration tools. 

Integrations include Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI, Jira, Trello, BrowserStack, Sauce Labs, Scrum, Kanban, Appium, Selendroid, Postman, and Swagger.

Testsigma offers customized pricing upon request. Testsigma is free to use with some feature limitations. 

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Open source, ease of use along with cross-platform compatibility.
  • Flexible, with multiple programming language support.
  • No coding experience is required to use Testsigma.

Cons:

  • It still poses a challenge to automate complex tests.
  • Some of its desired features aren’t included in the open-source version.

Best cloud mission control center for apps

  • From $40 monthly per build concurrency

Visual Studio App Center is a comprehensive Microsoft cloud platform for building high-quality applications for a diverse range of platforms, whether on Windows, Android, iOS, Cordova, UWP, or macOS platforms. 

Microsoft has described App Center as “the next generation of Xamarin Test Cloud.” As a result, it incorporates the features and functionality of Xamarin Test Cloud while adding more features, such as the ability to execute a Launch Test on real devices with the App Center Test service.

In addition, App Center provides an SDK, the infrastructure to build, test, distribute, and securely deploy apps. During tests, App Center allows you to monitor real-world usage so you can collect crash and other pertinent analytical data. 

App Center makes it easy to test and release your app on various app stores, including Google Play, Apple’s App Store, open betas, Microsoft Intune, and even for private distribution. While Visual Studio App Center is a Microsoft product, it nevertheless supports a wide range of languages such as C, C#, Python, and NodeJS.

Visual Studio App Center Standout Features & Integrations

Features include automation, continuous monitoring, rich diagnostics, continuous integration and deployment, cross-platform testing, automated testing, distributed testing, code signing, analytics, crash reporting, and notifications & alerts.

Integrations include Azure DevOps, GitLab, and Bitbucket. Others include popular bug trackers like VSTS, Jira, and GitHub. 

Visual Studio App Center is free to get started, and many of its features remain so. However, if you add concurrent builds, you’ll be billed $40 monthly per build concurrency. In addition, running UI tests in the cloud requires $99 per month per standard test device concurrency.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • A cool platform and environment for delivering world-class mobile and desktop DevOps experience.
  • It is centered on a great IDE, which is very popular among developers.

Cons:

  • It lacks video recording for tests executed in the cloud.

Best cloud performance testing application

  • 30-day free trial
  • Pricing upon request

CloudTest is a performance-testing platform from SOASTA, the US subsidiary of Akamai Technologies. It provides organizations with production application readiness from the convenience of the cloud. 

Why I picked CloudTest: SOASTA CloudTest effectively leverages cloud computing resources so DevOps can focus their time and effort on delivering product features rather than building tests. CloudTest provides various forms of cross-platform support with browser recording (WebUI/Ajax), messaging (HTTP(s)), and SOAP/REST API service connectivity. It is ideal for enterprises, especially for large-scale testing. 

It aims to make testing in production feasible, safe, and easier through its ability to span dozens of cloud providers seamlessly. However, it also facilitates low-level performance tests that make it possible to detect and identify performance issues much earlier in the development lifecycle.

CloudTest Standout Features & Integrations

Features include custom dashboards, scaling tests worldwide, big-data analytics, unlimited processing, dynamic ramp, traffic simulation, load simulation, multi-user test aggregation, real-user scenarios, and drag-and-drop test cases.

Integrations include Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI, VMware, Hyper-V, Apache JMeter, Gatling, Nagios, New Relic, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, MySQL, MongoDB, Apache, Nginx, Tomcat, Glassfish, as well as Network appliances such as firewalls, load balancers, and routers.

You need to contact Akamai sales for a pricing quote for CloudTest. CloudTest provides prospective customers with a 30-day free trial.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Provides organizations with the ability to test and validate code in production
  • Takes web application performance seriously
  • User-friendly interface design

Cons:

  • Display of graphs on reports need improvement.
  • Users complain of missing information with regard to load testing.

Best cloud distributed tracing tool

  • Free To Use

Spring Cloud Sleuth is a real-time distributed tracing tool for Spring Boot. It is a layer over a Tracer library named Brave and provides auto-configuration for enhanced logging. DevOps and QA testers can subsequently use these logs to trace requests. 

Why I picked Cloud Sleuth: Cloud Sleuth makes it possible to trace the request propagation within microservices. Cloud Sleuth's most important use case is diagnosing cloud-based applications, which tend to be complex, especially since the advent of microservices. Microservices are notoriously difficult to test and debug. This is because one action by a user can trigger a cascade chain of downstream microservice calls.

It is ideal for identifying logs that pertain to a particular application request, thread, or job.  

Cloud Sleuth Standout Features & Integrations 

Features include distributed tracing, trace data reports, data visualizations, test controller, cloud resource monitoring, and multi-cloud support.

Integrations include Zipkin, Logback, SLF4J, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), GitLab, Jenkins, Elasticsearch, Splunk, MySQL, and MongoDB.

Spring Cloud Sleuth is free to use.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Easy to identify where logs emanate from.
  • Excellent for troubleshooting distributed applications.
  • Can export trace data to Zipkin to provide tracing visualization.

Cons:

  • Free platform means limited-to-none customer support
  • Outdated UI

Best continuous cloud testing platform with open source compatibility

BlazeMeter allows DevOps to run open-source-based performance tests at a massive scale with ease. It is popular with large enterprise organizations that must run and execute end-to-end unified agile methodology for continuous testing. 

Why I picked BlazeMeter: BlazeMeter tests web, mobile, or API endpoints with shift left quality early and often. It allows you to create new tests or reuse existing test scripts while producing detailed reports on an open source platform. In cases where DevOps need to verify performance at a later time, BlazeMeter provides the capability to schedule and run tests at a later time. 

BlazeMeter’s most common use case is to test and monitor CI/CD pipelines.

BlazeMeter Standout Features & Integrations

Features include continuous integration, test recorder, seamless scripting, automation, and infrastructure as code option. 

Integrations include Apache JMeter for cloud load testing. It also integrates with CI/CD tools such as Jenkins.

BlazeMeter provides three pricing tiers, namely: Starter (Free), Basic ($99/month), Pro ($499/month), and Unleashed. You’ll need to contact BlazeMeter sales for a price quote on Unleashed.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Allows QA teams to import tests from JMeter.
  • Clean interface and easy to use.
  • One of the best tools to run open-source tests from the cloud.

Cons:

  • Its Google Chrome extension needs improved stability, especially during test recordings.
  • Doesn’t provide versioning control of test cases.

Best cloud testing service for multiple browsers and devices

  • From $0.17 device/minute

AWS Device Farm is a real-time application testing service that allows QA professionals to improve the quality of web and mobile apps. Device Farm allows you to do these without the hassles of managing or provisioning any infrastructure.

Why I picked AWS Device Farm: AWS Device Farm allows you to test on both real and physical devices, in addition to simulated environments and emulated devices, with almost the same level of effectiveness. To speed the execution of test suites, AWS Device Farm lets you simulate test scenarios with multiple browsers and devices and run concurrent tests on them.

You have the ability to use AWS Device Farm to test your scripts with its in-built frameworks, so you don’t have to maintain or even write test scripts. Additionally, employ automated tests that allow you to run tests, collect action logs, web driver logs, and video recordings, reproduce issues and fix problems faster—all in parallel. 

AWS Device Farm Standout Features & Integrations

Features include protocol decoding, live capture, offline analysis:, deep packet inspection, display filters, and advanced analytics. 

Integrations include tcpdump, TShark, libpcap, AirPcap, WinPcap, Snort, and Nmap.

AWS Device Farm pricing is divided between testing on mobile devices and testing on desktop browsers. The pricing for testing on a desktop browser is more straightforward, priced at a pay-as-you-go rate of $0.005 instance per minute. 

With regard to testing on mobile devices, it provides three pricing tiers, namely: Pay as You Go ($0.17 device per minute), Private Devices (starts at $200 per month), and Unlimited Testing (starts at $250 per month).

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Easy testing with multiple devices.
  • Productive integration with CI/CD pipelines.
  • Convenient pay-as-you-go option.

Cons:

  • The costs add up quickly if you use it substantially.

Best network protocol analyzer testing tool

  • Free To Use
  • Open source project and available for free

Wireshark is an open-source package tool and analyzer for network vulnerability and penetration tests. It is called a packet sniffer due to its ability to act as a network monitoring tool. 

Why I picked Wireshark: Wireshark helps both security specialists and testers obtain the precise picture of a network to troubleshoot issues effectively. Its network and telephony analysis runs on all the major OSs, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. 

As one of the foremost network traffic capture tools, Wireshark helps to resolve the root cause of packet problems, such as where there’s a network depreciation and why packets are getting dropped. 

Wireshark Standout Features & Integrations

Features include decryption support, color-coded schemes, protocol decoding, live capture, offline analysis, deep packet inspection, and display filters.

Integrations include third-party platforms such as Network Critical, Kali Linux, and EndaceProbes. 

Wireshark is free and open source.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Comes with powerful display filters.
  • An open-source security tool that’s free to everyone.
  • Provides offline analysis in addition to live capture.

Cons:

  • You can’t alter or generate packets with Wireshark.
  • It can’t be run outside a network since it doesn’t allow packet injection.

Best mobile app testing platform to test on physical devices

  • 14-day free trial
  • Starts at $39/month

Bitbar Cloud is a cloud-based mobile application testing platform that provides access to a wide range of real devices and emulators for testing and automation purposes.

Why I Picked BitBar Cloud: Bitbar Cloud is a cloud-based mobile application testing platform that offers users a number of benefits and features. One of the key strengths of Bitbar Cloud is its ability to provide access to a large pool of real devices. This allows users to test their applications on a wide range of devices and operating systems, ensuring compatibility and performance across different platforms.

Bitbar Cloud also includes advanced testing capabilities, such as parallel testing, automated testing, and performance testing. These features can help users optimize their applications and ensure that they perform well under different conditions. 

BitBar Cloud Standout Features & Integrations 

Features include real device testing, third-party integrations, scalability, customization, parallel testing, automated testing, performance testing, and automated reporting. 

Integrations include Jenkins, Appium, Selenium, JUnit, TestNG, Android Studio, Xcode, and AWS Device Farm. 

BitBar Cloud costs from $47/parallel/month and comes with a 14-day free trial.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Easy integration with popular tools and technologies
  • Customizable testing environments and configurations
  • Access to a large pool of real devices for testing

Cons:

  • More expensive than other testing solutions
  • Learning curve for advanced testing capabilities

Best cloud testing tool for versatility

  • Free for unlimited use

AppPerfect is a proprietary, fully automated performance, load, and stress test execution suite. It provides suites for various functionalities, such as load and web testing, including agentless monitoring and big-data analytics. 

Why I picked AppPerfect: AppPerfect runs on operating system platforms like Windows, Linux, Solaris, UNIX-based systems, and macOS. It can simulate thousands of tests to test your application infrastructure realistically. 

Its rich set of features is designed for both QA professionals and developers. It helps test teams identify issues and problems with a software application before it goes into production. However, no programming experience is required to use AppPerfect. 

AppPerfect Standout Features & Integrations

Features include test management, automation, test & browser recording, agentless monitoring, and generated ready-made scripts.

Integrations include Jdeveloper, NetBeans, IntelliJ Idea, JBuilder, Salesforce, and Eclipse. 

AppPerfect is free for unlimited use.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Cross-platform support.
  • GUI-enabled for smooth, user-friendly operations.
  • All-time free usage.

Cons:

  • Limited documentation provided.
  • Limited third-party integrations.

The Best Cloud Testing Tools Summary

Tool Best For Trial Info Price
1
New Relic

New Relic lets you track and prioritize issues, assign them to team members, and collaborate on their resolution.

Best for real-time performance insights for cloud-based applications and infrastructure

Free plan available

From $25/user/month (billed annually) Website
2
Testsigma

User customizing test runs on different browsers on Testsigma

Best highly-customizable, automation test tool

30-Day free trial and free plan available

From $399/Monthly Website
3
Visual Studio App Center

Multiple mobile device test on Visual Studio App Center console

Best cloud mission control center for apps

Not available

From $40 monthly per build concurrency Website
4
SOASTA CloudTest

CloudTest single interface dashboard.

Best cloud performance testing application

30-day free trial

Pricing upon request Website
5
Cloud Sleuth

Spring Cloud Sleuth along with Zipkin showing distributed tracing.

Best cloud distributed tracing tool

Not available

Free To Use Website
6
BlazeMeter

BlazeMeter with results of API tests.

Best continuous cloud testing platform with open source compatibility

Not available

Website
7
AWS Device Farm

Custom artifacts displayed on AWS Device Farm.

Best cloud testing service for multiple browsers and devices

Not available

From $0.17 device/minute Website
8
Wireshark

Wireshark user interface showing network packet

Best network protocol analyzer testing tool

Free To Use

Open source project and available for free Website
9
BitBar

Bitbar lets you choose real world physical devices on which to do your cloud testing.

Best mobile app testing platform to test on physical devices

14-day free trial

Starts at $39/month Website
10
AppPerfect

AppPerfect dashboard showing results of a load test.

Best cloud testing tool for versatility

Not available

Free for unlimited use Website

Other Options

Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best cloud testing tools list:

  1. Nessus

    Vulnerability management tool for the cloud

  2. Watir

    Web-browser cloud automation tool for ruby libraries

  3. Jenkins

    CI/CD testing server

  4. Tuskr

    For flexible test management

  5. BugBug

    Cloud testing tool for startups and software agencies

  6. Sauce Labs

    Cloud-based testing platform that provides automated testing of web and mobile applications on a vast array of browsers, operating systems, and devices

  7. Kobiton

    Cloud-based mobile app testing platform that provides real device testing and automated testing capabilities

  8. BrowserStack

    Cloud-based platform for testing web applications, offering real device testing, automated and manual testing

  9. SmartBear TestComplete

    Functional and automated testing platform that provides a unified solution for web, mobile, desktop, and API testing

How I Selected the Best Cloud Testing Tools

Perhaps you're wondering how I selected the best cloud testing tools for this list. To build this top 19 list, I evaluated and compared a wide range of cloud testing tools with positive user ratings.

After determining my long list of top choices, I further honed my list by using the selection criteria below to see how each platform stacked up against the next one. I also drew on my years of QA experience to pinpoint the features that add a lot of value.

Selection Criteria

Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best cloud testing tools for this article:

User Interface:

The UI and graphical interface is the first thing a customer encounters when they use an app. Therefore, it should inspire usage while making navigation and discovering relevant features easy. 

Usability: 

Ease of use and the ability to interact with a tool to accomplish stated objectives are crucial to satisfying customers. No matter how advanced a product may be, customers should find it relatively easy to use.

Software Integrations: 

In the cloud computing ecosystem, software integrations are the life force that extend the power, capabilities, and functionality of an application. You'll probably want to connect your cloud testing tool to bug tracking, task management, and collaboration software. The more robust a testing tool’s APIs and integration endpoints, the better.

Pricing:

Pricing makes a difference to customers, even as most cloud products use SaaS pricing models, which is primarily a subscription-based, pay-as-you-go payment system.

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We Do the Research—so You Don’t Have To

In conclusion, cloud testing is a valuable tool to have in your arsenal if you are in the software development industry. It can provide an effective and efficient solution for testing with minimal cost and effort. The 10 best cloud testing tools listed above offer great features and unique advantages depending on your needs. To get the most out of your cloud testing experience, it is important to understand the differences between each one and select the right fit for your project.

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Eze Onukwube
By Eze Onukwube

Eze has a master's degree in communications with over 10 years of experience as a software engineer. His playground is at the intersection of technology, process improvement, and simplifying IT concepts.