20 Best Functional Testing Tools For QA In 2024

New Relic is an observability platform that offers a wide range of capabilities and integrations for monitoring, debugging, and improving the entire technology stack. While not traditionally categorized as functional testing software, it does offer features that overlap with core aspects of functional testing, particularly through its synthetic monitoring capabilities.

New Relic allows you to create and execute scripted tests that simulate user interactions with your application. This can include testing specific user flows, such as login procedures or checkout processes, to ensure they function correctly under different conditions. This type of testing is particularly valuable for identifying performance issues before they impact end users, which aligns with the goals of functional testing

This software is also ideal for teams looking for robust monitoring, observability, and performance optimization features.

Testim Automate is an automated testing platform for fast authoring of AI-powered stable tests and tools to help you scale quality. The tool uses AI to identify and lock in visual elements, allowing you to increase test stability of UI functional tests. Your tests can be extended with custom JavaScript that can run in or out of the browser.

Testim tests are recorded and then edited in its visual editor, allowing you to better organize your test cases. The tool offers AI-based locators that automatically lock in elements, and test steps are discrete objects that can be configured, shared, grouped and parameterized, providing you and your team with the means to streamline your processes within your application lifecycle. Testim also helps keep tests clean by identifying duplicate test steps to be replaced by shared objects.

The cost of Testim begins at $1000 per month. The tool also offers a free version with up to 1000 test runs per month.

Sauce Labs is a comprehensive continuous testing cloud for web and mobile applications that allows you to complete both manual and automated testing through a variety of testing channels. The tool provides a real device cloud so you can test across multiple devices. Sauce Labs also offers enterprise security and a proprietary data center. 

Sauce Labs offers a variety of automated and manual testing methods, ensuring full test coverage of your applications. The tool provides a cross browser testing feature, which allows you to test end-to-end on various browsers. Sauce Labs also offers the ability to complete automated mobile testing so you can write tests for various devices to ensure your application runs smoothly.  

Sauce Labs offers integrations with platforms such as Github, Jenkins and Bamboo, as well as chat applications such as Slack.

The cost of Sauce Labs starts at $39/month for the Live Testing package. The tool also offers a 28-day free trial. 

Leapwork is a no-code regression testing tool that allows your team to create and execute tests across a variety of environments without the need to have coding experience. The tool is cloud-based, and offers testing in both web and desktop application environments within the same workflow. Leapwork is simple to implement within your team, and provides a growing base of written documentation, videos and articles. 

Leapwork provides an array of features such as debugging, parallelization, compliance management, approval process control and recurring tests. The tool allows you to record processes and test cases in context, validate the test steps and input data. Leapwork will then build the processes in a graphical flowchart with logic, making it easy for the non-technical members of your team to review and take action. 

Leapwork integrates with platforms such as Microsoft Azure DevOps, Jenkins and TeamCity. 

Leapwork provides customized pricing upon request. 

Watir is an open source automated testing library that is based on Ruby, and supports Ruby scripting which makes it easy to learn and implement within your team. The tool interacts with your web browsers (Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox and more) by performing tests on your DOM by clicking links, filling forms and validating the text. Watir also supports multiple domains and provides a test recorder, allowing you to record the steps you have executed manually.

Watir allows you to automate any user interface no matter the technology. The tool implements OLE (Object, Linking and Embedding) protocol over COM (Component Object Model) architecture, allowing you to facilitate communication between your browsers and Ruby, eliminating the need for an external server. Watir also allows you to execute dynamic object creation and manipulation.  

Watir is fully open source and free to use. 

Selenium is a test automation framework that encapsulates an array of tools and libraries that enable web browser automation. The tool offers easy interaction and manipulation of HTML elements, allowing you to tweak and customize your tests the way you want to write them. Selenium also provides ease of infrastructure management by providing the test environment to your team.

Selenium interacts with your applications via desktop and mobile browsers, allowing you to execute Javascript code, making it easier to test the dynamic components of your DOM. In addition to Javascript, you can use multiple programming languages such as C#, Python, Ruby and Java with Selenium. This allows for easier implementation within development teams as any developer with expertise in any coding language can use the tool.

Selenium is fully open source and free to use.

SoapUI is an open source functional testing tool that supports API solutions and requirements-based testing. The tool boasts a smart and intuitive interface, allowing a non-technical team member to easily navigate. SoapUI can handle anything from manual calls to automated, and supports parallel execution. 

SoapUI offers a smart endpoint explorer feature, which allows you to the web service in which you wish to test and after hitting send, you receive instant raw data. The feature then allows you to select your desired method from the same pane, as well as save the REST endpoints of URL requests. Finally, URL requests can be made in both JSON and XML formats. 

SoapUI is fully open source and free to use. 

SmartBear ReadyAPI is a functional testing tool that is specifically designed for testing APIs, and works well with DevOps and agile methodologies. ReadyAPI provides you with API functional testing, API performance testing, API security testing and API Web Virtualization to ensure end-to-end quality for all web services. The tool also supports functional security and load testing of RESTful, SOAP, and GraphQL.

ReadyAPI can be integrated into any environment and has a Smart Assertion feature that you can use to create bulk assertions against a vast amount of end points quickly. The tool provides flexible automation options for integrating API testing into you and your team’s CI/CD pipeline during every build. You and your team have the ability to create comprehensive and data-driven functional API tests and can also execute parallel functional tests and job queuing using only their command-line.

ReadyAPI provides integration with platforms such as Jenkins, Git, and Docker.

ReadyAPI starts at $685/year and offers a 14-day free trial.

TestComplete is a GUI functional testing platform that caters to mobile, desktop and web applications. The tool provides flexible solutions for your testing requirements, and allows you to script in multiple languages such as Javascript, Python and VBScript. TestComplete provides the ability to test elements of any GUI including PDFs, charts and mainframe. 

TestComplete offers the ability to build complex tests through record and replay capabilities. This allows you to record your test run and go back to modify it before hitting play. The tool also provides you the ability to map objects from screen and display objects which allows you to monitor any object in addition to providing you all possible Xpaths for that object. 

TestComplete provides integrations with platforms such as Cucumber, ReadyAPI and Selenium.

The cost of TestComplete begins at $2,720 per year, and offers a free trial. 

QA Wolf is a platform and service that specializes in automated end-to-end testing, which is a key aspect of functional testing. The platform automates the testing of user interactions with web applications to ensure that all functionalities perform as intended. By simulating real user behaviors, QA Wolf validates the functionality of various features within the application, ensuring that it meets the required specifications and works correctly from a user's perspective.

When tests fail, QA Wolf generates detailed bug reports that include video recordings, screenshots, and trace logs. The platform also supports running multiple tests in parallel, speeding up the testing process and providing faster feedback on the functionality of different features. Furthermore, all testing is designed and deployed by QA Wolf's expert team, even offering 24-hour monitoring and maintenance of the entire test suite.

Pricing is available upon request. Integrations include GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Jenkins, CircleCI, Jira, Asana, Linear, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Travis CI, and Azure DevOps.