20 Best Service Virtualization Tools in 2025
10 Best Service Virtualization Tools Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 20 tools reviewed.
As software development complexity continues to increase, organizations need multiple teams of software engineers to get things done. Consequently, software teams deal with too many dependencies that slow down development speed. To reduce bottlenecks and significantly decrease the cost and time of building and testing software, companies resort to service virtualization tools.
Service virtualization tools help organizations speed up work and boost productivity by synching tasks across multiple teams and overcoming the limitations of task dependencies. Keep reading to learn more about service virtualization and go through my review of the 10 best service virtualization tools.
Why Trust Our Software Reviews
Best Service Virtualization Tools Summary
This comparison chart summarizes pricing details for my top service virtualization tools selections to help you find the best one for your budget and business needs.
| Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best for removing dependencies and bottlenecks | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 2 | Best for simulating REST and SOAP services | 30-day free trial | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 3 | Best for simulating the behavior of unavailable systems for faster parallel development and testing | Not available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 4 | Best for both developers and testers | Free trial available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 5 | Best for creating and hosting test environments and scenarios | Not available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 6 | Best open-source, cross-platform service virtualization tool | Not available | Free to use | Website | |
| 7 | Best for creating and managing virtual services | 14-day free trial | From $107.92//license/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 8 | Best service simulation software for building mock APIs | Free plan available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 9 | Best tool for building and using APIs | Free trial + demo available | From $14/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 10 | Best for test environment management | Free plan available | Pricing upon request | Website |
-
Docker
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.6 -
Pulumi
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8 -
GitHub Actions
Visit Website
Best Service Virtualization Tool Reviews
Below are my detailed summaries of the best service virtualization tools that made it onto my shortlist. My reviews offer a detailed look at the key features, pros & cons, integrations, and ideal use cases of each tool to help you find the best one for you.
OpenText, by Micro Focus, empowers you to create realistic simulations of APIs and virtual services. The software speeds up dev and testing, removes dependencies, and gets rid of bottlenecks.
Why I picked OpenText: I recommend OpenText because it’s user-friendly and allows you to boost efficiency by testing early. It lets you design and publish virtual services with flexibility and scalability. The tool features a wide protocol and simulation coverage. OpenText helps you to get to the market with DevOps and continuous integration-ready capabilities.
OpenText Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features: It allows you to conduct mobile testing with simulation. The software has a library of reusable simulation assets and skills-based tools. Access to this library makes simulation design and maintenance easier. The simulation infrastructure is secure, scalable, and extensible with customer-focused innovation.
Integrations include Microsoft Teams, Google Cloud Platform, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Jile, Adlib, SAP Cloud Platform, ActiveControl, Cognizant, and Veritone Discovery.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- User community
- Flexible and scalable
- User-friendly
Cons:
- Service virtualization management features should be improved
- Customer service needs to be faster
AutoStub is a service virtualization software that helps you create a functional mock, which allows you to work with APIs before they are fully ready. It helps you speed up development and reduce build time by overcoming the drawbacks of dependent components.
Why I picked AutoStub: I selected AutoStub because it’s highly customizable, fast, and simple. It allows you to customize what you create according to your needs. You can define the number of request/response pairs to be generated and can also make changes to the request/response data based on your needs. As a result, it’s easy and flexible to use. With AutoStub, you enjoy the flexibility of building adaptable mock services based on your team’s specifications or needs.
AutoStub Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include handling multiple test scenarios together. The tool comes with industry-standard capabilities that facilitate the building of virtualized environments, from designing and prototyping to documenting and testing. It works with adaptable, leading technologies. AutoStub features Swagger 2.0 and WSDL files, which are industry-leading standards and future-ready to adapt to evolving specifications.
Integrations: AutoStub allows you to integrate with other software development tools.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very customizable
- Simple and intuitive UI
- Helps speed up API development
Cons:
- Long customer service response time
- The documentation should be improved
Broadcom
Best for simulating the behavior of unavailable systems for faster parallel development and testing
It has service virtualization capabilities that allow you to implement parallel development and testing by creating virtualized environments to simulate the functionality of unavailable systems or components.
Why I picked Broadcom: Broadcom helps you conduct component-level performance testing. It lets you create virtualized environments to emulate dependent components. As a result, you can isolate the system under test and execute performance tests at any stage of your software development lifecycle (SDLC). It allows seamless software integration, which helps you extend its capabilities to make creating mock services faster and easier.
Broadcom Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include full-stack API testing, multi-protocol support, and mainframe virtualization. Broadcom enables you to mainframe virtualization. The software lets you virtualize many mainframe dependencies, including several mainframe access protocols and within CICS itself.
It supports multiple protocols, including REST, SOAP, XML, and JSON. With full-stack API testing, you can run tests across your entire infrastructure to ensure your APIs are functioning properly at layers of multi-tiered applications.
Integrations: Broadcom allows you to integrate with software development, including Jenkins, Docker, and Eclipse IDE.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Easily validate APIs in multi-layered apps
- Seamless integrations
- Support for multiple protocols
Cons:
- More comprehensive documentation needed
- Steep learning curve
Traffic Parrot is an API and service simulator. It’s designed to help you accelerate software development and delivery of high-quality software by simulating APIs, services, and systems.
Why I picked Traffic Parrot: The tool provides virtualization features you need to fast-track digital transformation. It helps you institute an efficient workflow in which development, QA, and operations teams can work in parallel. Traffic Parrot helps you get things slowing down development and testing out of the way by simulating dependent systems.
This approach enables you to automate manual processes, unblock test automation, and find issues before production, thereby reducing capital-intensive defects.
Traffic Parrot Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features: Traffic Parrot comes with ready-made API mocks and sandbox environments. The third-party read-to-use API mocks it provides help you to get started quickly with no need to build them in-house. Additionally, you can outsource the creation of API mocks to Traffic Parrot.
You can integrate with virtualization solutions, like WireMock and Mountebank, and other development and testing tools. Other great features include record and replay, dynamic responses, request matching, and configurable secure access credentials.
Integrations include Jenkins, Docker, Azure DevOps, TeamCity, Bamboo, Git, GitLab, Bitbucket, AWS, and Kubernetes.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Built-in security features
- Compatibility with third-party tools
- Simple web user interface
Cons:
- Beginners struggle with some difficult settings
- Limited workflow customization
Tricentis Orchestrated Service Virtualization (OSV) helps you to record and simulate services that your system depends on.
Why I picked Tricentis OSV: The tool enables you to avoid possible issues that come with services that your system is dependent on. It helps you unblock your tests when a service is not ready, unavailable, or expensive to access. Tosca OSV provides components that let you create, store, host, and edit your test environments and scenarios.
Through software integrations, the capabilities of this tool can be expanded or improved. For instance, you can integrate OSV with Tosca Commander via an AddIn and include Tosca API Scan into your OSV test activities.
Tricentis OSV Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features: Tricentis OSV has a monitor that lets you manage service virtualization from a central place. With OSV Monitor, you can keep an eye on your OSV environments, OSV scenarios, and record the communication between your system under test and the real service. The tool features a host and database; OSV Host houses the OSV environments that you create for testing purposes, while the OSV Database stores all service virtualizations you use for simulations.
Integrations include Jenkins, Selenium, Cucumber, VersionOne, Jira, Azure DevOps, Zendesk Suite, ServiceNow, SpiraTeam, and Test Modeller.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Seamless integrations
- Centralized service virtualization management
- It’s easy to use
Cons:
- Long customer support response time
- More tutorials required
Mountebank is an open-source service virtualization tool that uses imposters to act as on-demand test doubles, allowing you to test as you would with traditional stubs and mocks.
Why I picked Mountebank: Mountebank is easy to install and use without any platform dependencies. It comes with an intuitive UI that lets you explore the API interactively. It features fun and comprehensive documentation; new users can get started without spending weeks trying to figure out the tool. The documentation has a lot of examples, enabling beginners to learn faster and get started quickly with minimal challenges.
Mountebank Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features: Mountebank is a cross-platform service virtualization system with native language bindings. It stands out from the crowd because it’s non-modal and multi-protocol. The tool offers service virtualization for free without any platform constraints. Mountebank is evolving some amazing features in the pipeline with the help of talented open-source developers.
Integrations include C#, Clojure, Delphi, F#, Go, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and Ruby.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Available for free
- Comprehensive documentation
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Slow response to questions from users
- More product information required
Smartbear ReadyAPI Virtualization has a service virtualization capability that allows you to create, run, and manage virtual services.
Why I picked ReadyAPI Virtualization: It allows you to create virtualized environments of web services easily and quickly. The tool helps you achieve this by streamlining the process of building the working mocks of a system or microservice with industry-leading virtualization technologies. With ReadyAPI, you can fast-track client code development and test creation even when some components of the real API aren’t available yet. It lets developers and QA engineers work in parallel.
ReadyAPI Virtualization Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features: ReadAPI Virtualization supports a wide range of virtual services, including SOAP services, REST services, JMS services, JDBC databases, and TCP services. It gives you the flexibility to create mock services to emulate the behavior of any of the popular virtual services. Other stand-out features include support for data sources, discovering APIs, and routing requests.
Integrations include Docker, Slack, Jira Software, Git, Jenkins, Selenium, Azure DevOps Server, TestComplete, and TeamCity.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Flexible and scalable
- Wide range of software integrations
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Faster customer service required
- Pricing is a bit high
WireMock is an open-source tool that is used to create virtualized environments or virtual APIs. It’s designed to help you create stable test and development environments for API simulation.
Why I picked WireMock: WireMock makes creating virtual APIs very easy. It increases the pace and cost-effectiveness of building a product by freeing you from dependency on unstable or unavailable APIs. This enables you to develop or implement the testing process with confidence, while significantly decreasing your costs.
It provides pre-built mock API templates, which help you get things done faster. All you need to do is browse through the library of API templates, find the API that you need, and create a working virtualized environment in minutes. It’s that easy!
WireMock Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include advanced request matching, dynamic response templating, and record/playback. WireMock comes with a variety of extension points. You can extend and customize the tool according to your needs. Its extensibility allows you to expand the capabilities to create mock services following your team’s needs and preferences.
Integrations include IntelliJ, Spring Boot, Python, Java and JVM, Node.js, Golang, Android, Rust, Groovy, Kotlin, and Kubernetes.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Pre-built API templates
- Very extensible
- Good documentation
Cons:
- Long customer support response time
- Takes time to learn
With over 25 million users, Postman helps you build, test, debug, document, and monitor APIs. It provides the tooling that enables you to simplify API creation and improve collaboration across QA and development teams.
Why I picked Postman: Postman is built to help you streamline and accelerate every stage of the API creation lifecycle. From design, testing, documentation, and mocking to discovery, it provides everything you need to get things done quickly and collaboratively. It offers a centralized platform used across teams, enabling various teams to work together and stay in sync with access to resources to execute tasks.
Postman Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include API repositories, workspaces, and governance. Postman’s API repository helps you store and monitor your API specifications, documentation, test cases, and other API-related assets. It features a full-lifecycle approach to governance, which enables you to adopt industry-standard best practices and fosters collaboration among teams.
With the workspaces, you can organize your API work and keep tabs on what your teams are doing. Postman comes with different forms of workspaces, including personal, team, partner, and public workspaces. This enables you to assign workspaces based on role or position and keep everyone in the loop with collaborative tools.
Integrations include Azure API Management, Apigee, APIMatic, AWS API Gateway, Azure DevOps, BigPanda, Bitbucket, CircleCI, and Coralogix.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- It improves collaboration
- Friendly pricing
- It’s extensible
Cons:
- It can be difficult to navigate at times
- More automation features required
Parasoft Virtualize helps you build the virtual equivalents of your web services that behave just like the real thing. It allows you to create realistic simulations and verify services with the right data.
Why I picked Parasoft Virtualize: With Parasoft Virtualize, you can create reliable and predictable virtual environments with extensive support for more than 120 message formats and protocols in the industry. Best of all, there is no scripting required. It lets you go beyond basic mocking and stubbing to building advanced API and service simulations.
The tool offers an intuitive codeless interface that fosters collaboration among teams. Teams can visualize results, making fast failure detection and debugging possible. The reporting goes beyond test results to show metrics that help you understand the health of your environments and the ROI of service virtualization.
Parasoft Virtualize Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include test environment management, which helps you manage the virtual assets you create with an intuitive web interface. From configuration to monitoring performance, it provides the tooling you need to control every aspect of the test environment. Parasoft Virtualize also comes with test data management features that enable you to avoid testing conflicts and data pollution.
Other exceptional capabilities of this software are advanced reporting and analytics and integrated API testing.
Integrations include AWS, Jira Software, Docker, Dynatrace, GitLab, Jenkins, Kubernetes, Kafta, Apache Tomcat, and AppDynamics.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Advanced reporting features
- Simple, intuitive interface
- Support for many message formats and protocols
Cons:
- More tutorials are needed for beginners
- Some complicated settings
Other Service Virtualization Tools
Here are some additional service virtualization tools options that didn’t make it onto my shortlist, but are still worth checking out:
- CloudShare
For creating virtual training and demos
- SoapUI
For API mocking and scriptless API testing
- BMC COPE
For creating and maintaining multiple IMS development and test systems
- Unmock.io
For testing API integrations using simulations of external APIs and microservices
- IBM Rational Test Virtualization Server
For continuous testing earlier in the development lifecycle
- Mocky.io
For cloud-based mock management
- Hoverfly Cloud
SaaS API simulation solution
- HCL OneTest
For virtualizing middle-tier and back-end applications and services
- Wilma
For supporting the development and testing of services or components
- Mockito
Mocking framework for unit tests written in Java
Service Virtualization Tool Selection Criteria
When selecting the best service virtualization tools to include in this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points like integration capabilities and ease of use. I also used the following framework to keep my evaluation structured and fair:
Core Functionality (25% of total score)
To be considered for inclusion in this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases:
- Simulating service behavior
- Testing without full system access
- Supporting multiple protocols
- Enabling parallel development
- Reducing dependency on external systems
Additional Standout Features (25% of total score)
To help further narrow down the competition, I also looked for unique features, such as:
- Real-time service monitoring
- Customizable virtual environments
- Advanced data modeling
- Integration with CI/CD pipelines
- Support for legacy systems
Usability (10% of total score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Intuitive user interface
- Clear and concise documentation
- Customizable dashboards
- Responsive design
- Minimal learning curve
Onboarding (10% of total score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered the following:
- Availability of training videos
- Interactive product tours
- Comprehensive documentation
- Access to webinars
- On-demand chat support
Customer Support (10% of total score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered the following:
- 24/7 support availability
- Multi-channel support options
- Fast response times
- Knowledgeable support staff
- Access to a community forum
Value For Money (10% of total score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered the following:
- Competitive pricing
- Flexible pricing plans
- Transparent pricing structure
- Discounts for long-term commitments
- Free trial availability
Customer Reviews (10% of total score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered the following when reading customer reviews:
- Overall satisfaction ratings
- Commonly mentioned pros and cons
- Feedback on ease of use
- Comments on customer support
- Frequency of updates and improvements
How to Choose a Service Virtualization Tool
It’s easy to get bogged down in long feature lists and complex pricing structures. To help you stay focused as you work through your unique software selection process, here’s a checklist of factors to keep in mind:
| Factor | What to Consider |
|---|---|
| Scalability | Can the tool handle your current and future workload? Evaluate if it supports growth without performance loss. |
| Integrations | Does it integrate with your existing systems? Check for compatibility with key tools in your workflow. |
| Customizability | Can you tailor the tool to fit specific needs? Look for options to adjust settings and configurations. |
| Ease of use | Is the interface intuitive for your team? Consider tools with simple navigation and minimal training needs. |
| Implementation and onboarding | How quickly can you get started? Assess the availability of resources like tutorials and support during setup. |
| Cost | Does the pricing align with your budget? Compare pricing models and consider total cost of ownership. |
| Security safeguards | Are data protection measures in place? Verify compliance with industry standards and data encryption practices. |
| Support availability | Is help available when you need it? Look for 24/7 support and multi-channel communication options. |
What Are Service Virtualization Tools?
Service virtualization tools are software solutions that mimic the behavior of various components in a software application. They’re commonly used by developers and testers to facilitate testing and development without full system access. Simulating service behavior, supporting multiple protocols, and enabling parallel development help teams test efficiently and reduce dependencies. Overall, these tools provide a cost-effective way to improve software quality and speed up the development process.
Features
When selecting service virtualization tools, keep an eye out for the following key features:
- Simulated service behavior: Mimics real services to enable testing without full system access, reducing delays.
- Multi-protocol support: Offers flexibility by supporting various communication protocols used in your environment.
- Parallel development: Allows teams to work simultaneously on different components, speeding up the development process.
- Customizable environments: Lets users tailor virtual services to match specific testing scenarios and requirements.
- Real-time monitoring: Provides insights into virtual service performance, helping identify issues quickly.
- Advanced data modeling: Simplifies complex data setups and enhances test accuracy with realistic data scenarios.
- Integration capabilities: Ensures seamless connectivity with existing tools and workflows for efficient operations.
- User-friendly interface: Simplifies interaction with the tool, reducing the learning curve for new users.
- Security measures: Protects sensitive data through encryption and compliance with industry standards.
- Comprehensive support: Offers resources like tutorials and responsive customer service to assist users effectively.
Benefits
Implementing service virtualization tools provides several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:
- Increased efficiency: Parallel development allows teams to work on multiple components at once, speeding up the development cycle.
- Cost savings: Simulated services reduce the need for expensive test environments, lowering overall costs.
- Improved testing accuracy: Advanced data modeling provides realistic scenarios, enhancing the reliability of test results.
- Flexibility: Multi-protocol support ensures the tool can adapt to various environments and technologies.
- Reduced dependencies: By mimicking service behavior, teams can test without waiting for other components, minimizing delays.
- Enhanced collaboration: Customizable environments allow different teams to tailor setups to their specific needs, fostering teamwork.
- Better issue detection: Real-time monitoring helps identify and address performance issues quickly, maintaining software quality.
Costs & Pricing
Selecting service virtualization tools requires an understanding of the various pricing models and plans available. Costs vary based on features, team size, add-ons, and more. The table below summarizes common plans, their average prices, and typical features included in service virtualization tools solutions:
Plan Comparison Table for Service Virtualization Tools
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | $0 | Basic simulation capabilities, support for limited protocols, and community support. |
| Personal Plan | $10-$30/user/month | Access to more protocols, customizable environments, and email support. |
| Business Plan | $50-$100/user/month | Advanced data modeling, integration with CI/CD tools, and priority support. |
| Enterprise Plan | $150+/user/month | Real-time monitoring, enhanced security measures, dedicated account manager, and comprehensive support. |
Service Virtualization Tools FAQs
Here are some answers to common questions about service virtualization tools:
Who uses service virtualization tools?
Service virtualization systems are used by developers, QA professionals, and other software engineers. They use them to simulate missing system components to enable faster development and testing.
How can organizations ensure their virtual services stay aligned with production systems?
Establish a version control process that mirrors production changes in the virtual environment. Schedule periodic updates to refresh data models and configurations. Automating synchronization between environments helps maintain reliability and accuracy.
What is an example of service virtualization?
Service virtualization is used in API performance testing. If you want to understand the full capabilities of the API under a range of conditions and the real component you need to run the tests is not available; service virtualization allows you to model the API and run tests at any stage of the software development lifecycle.
What’s Next:
If you're in the process of researching service virtualization tools, connect with a SoftwareSelect advisor for free recommendations.
You fill out a form and have a quick chat where they get into the specifics of your needs. Then you'll get a shortlist of software to review. They'll even support you through the entire buying process, including price negotiations.