Published at: August 1st, 2020
Last updated: March 23rd, 2023
By: Noa Segol
Introduction:
Test management tools are designed to assist companies in their efforts in managing their testing activities. With the abundance of testing tools available, managing all aspects of testing has become a growing challenge. Such as, the need to incorporate not only traditional, scripted testing, but also elements of exploratory testing, as well as automated testing.
With so many test management tools to choose from, it can sometimes be difficult to choose the right qa tool, and decide what the relevant criteria to base your decision on are.
Before making a tool selection, we recommend that you follow our step by step guide on how to evaluate software testing tools:
- Evaluate your current situation: There is no one size fits all in life nor in the test management tool selection process. The first step should be identification of your current situation, how you are currently working. Versus, the areas where you’d like to improve using the newly selected tool.
- Define your requirements from the test management tool itself: The right QA tool should be the one that addresses your needs. This may be different from the needs of other organizations that are larger/smaller. Or organizations that have different regulation requirements, work with a different approach and have other tools in its tech stack.
- Establish an evaluation team that will be in charge of the tool selection process.
- Start hunting possible testing platform: using lists of test management tools and articles like this one.
- Read public testing tool reviews: Make sure you pay attention to areas which other users have identified as less ideal for the QA tools you are evaluating.
In this article, we have reviewed the major elements that need to be considered when selecting a test management tool. We regard important test management items: integration capabilities, with Atlassian Jira and others, as well as its ability to function as a stand-alone full-cycle ALM solution. Data visualization capabilities- reporting and dashboards. Main features of each product, deployment type, price level as well as other softer elements such as the support, training, and certification offering.
This article is a list of the top test management tools in the market that were reviewed by our team. For each test management tool you will find:
- General information including list of available integrations and information about automation support, pricing and deployment method.
- Main features to help you see the unique value each test management tool has to offer.
- 2-3 main customers that are using the test management tools to help you better understand the market status of the tool.
- Pros & Cons - we summarized the information we researched to help you make a wiser decision.
Test Management Tools:
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PractiTest
PractiTest is an end-to-end test management platform that centralizes all your QA work, processes, teams and tools into one platform to bridge silos, unify communication, and enable one source of truth across your organization. With PractiTest you can make informed data-driven decisions based on end-to-end visibility provided by customizable reports, real-time dashboards, and dynamic filter views. Improve team’s productivity; reuse testing elements to eliminate repetitive tasks, plan your team’s work based on AI-generated insights and enable your team to focus on what really matters. PractiTest helps you align your testing operation with business goals, and deliver better products faster.
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Integrations:
Built-in Jira Integration with Jira cloud, Jira Server, Jira Data Center, and a no-plugin option for large scale organizations. In addition, the system also integrates with ClickUp, Pivotal Tracker, Azure DevOps, YouTrack.
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Automation support:
There are several ways to integrate automation with PractiTest. This includes the use of REST API, xBot - an internal automation framework to schedule and execute automation tests and FireCracker for automatic import of XML test results.
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Pricing:
Price starts at $49/user per month for the Team level with a minimum of 5 testers per month.
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Deployment method:
Secure Cloud only solution. Certified as SOC-II and ISO27001 compliant
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Main features:
- Hierarchical filter trees for smart data management
- Reusability of tests between test sets
- Advanced reporting and dashboards that can be externalized to non-users
- Most advanced Jira integration plus integration with other leading bug tracking and project management tools
- Multiple options for automation integration
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Main customers:
Rakuten, AIA, NYTimes, Wendy’s, McAfee
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Pros/cons:
Pros:
- All in one solution to orchestrate all testing types: scripted, exploratory and automation
- Smart data management capabilities that help organizations of large scale testing
- Reporting and dashboards are granular and provide great visibility
- Enables anytime anywhere access with a secure and compliant cloud solution
- Top-notch professional support and customer success team
Cons:
- Only supports cloud deployment - no On-premise options available.
- User management capabilities still need progress
- Not a part of a large scale organization
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Micro Focus ALM
This product evolved from a product originally developed by Mercury interactive as “Quality Center”. They were later purchased by HP, transformed its name to Application LifeCycle Management (ALM) and recently was acquired by Micro Focus.
Integrations:
No built-in Jira Integration, can be offered through a third party, smooth integration with the other Microfocus tools.
Pricing:
Expensive, but prices are not publicly available.
Deployment method:
On-premise.
Main features:
- Real-time visibility
- Process and compliance enforcement
- Easily build organizational integrations based on business needs
- Ability to manage traditional and agile projects in parallel
Main customers:
The world bank, Lufthansa, Amdocs, Accenture, Airbus
Pros/cons:
Pros:
- Enterprise oriented, syncs smoothly with other Micro Focus tools, such as UFT; Octane; Project portfolio Management; Service Manager and Loadrunner enterprise. Limited integration with other tools.
- Advanced reporting capabilities
- Bug reporting tool which is user-friendly and intuitive
Cons:
- Legacy solution. Was designed with a waterfall approach in mind, not a fit for Agile/DevOps approaches- MicroFocus has a dedicated solution for DevOps-Octane.
- No cross-browser support, working mainly on Internet Explorer. (IE).
- Very high price tag, difficult to set up with limited support currently.
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Zephyr Enterprise
Now owned by SmartBear, Zephyr was originally developed as a Jira Add-on to enhance its capabilities to support proper testing management. However, for medium-size and above organizations, with complex testing, this approach proves to be insufficient. Hence, the enterprise edition was created to better address the needs of such organizations., in terms of testing requirements, as well as, compatibility with enterprise requirements. For example, (SSO) Single Sign-On, (MFA) Multi-Factor Authentication.
Integrations:
Jira integration, Confluence, as well as automation tools such as Jenkins and Selenium.
Automation support:
Have a build-in Zbot tool for executing automation tests
Pricing:
Prices for the enterprise edition are not publicly available.
Deployment method:
On-premise or cloud.
Main features:
- Support for Agile testing
- Real-time dashboards and metrics
- Open architecture
Main customers:
Hyundai, Fujistu, eBay, Walt Disney
Pros/cons:
Pros:
- Commonly used- have a customer base of - 18,00 due to the legacy as a Jira Add-on
- Ability to map requirement to test cases to issues inside Jira
- Scalability to support thousands of test cases
Cons:
- High price tag
- Reports still have room for improvements
- Some customers report on performance issues with the system loading time and more
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TestRail
Originally developed by Gurock software in Germany, this test management tool is now owned by the Idera corporation. TestRail is a test management system and not an ALM application management solution as it does not have requirements and issue management modules. Recently, a new Enterprise edition was released, to support the needs of larger organizations, with more complex testing types.
Integrations:
Jira (Cloud, Server and Data Center), Redmine, Bugzilla, Axosoft,Lighthouse, Fogbugz.
Automation support:
Ranorex,TFS and GitHub integrations,robust API library
Pricing:
Starting from $34/users/month for the cloud version and $351/user/year for the server version.
Enterprise versions start at $60/user/month for the cloud version and $2900/year/up to 5 users for the server version.
Deployment method:
Started as a web-based application but currently support both cloud and On-prem options.
Main customers:
AutoDesk, Citrix, Airbus, Continental
Main features
- Real-time results tracking
- Test case management including test planning
- Integration with a wide range of tools
- Productivity and communication enablement
Pros/cons:
- Relatively easy to use. Easy to set up and friendly user experience
- Very customizable- which means the tool varies significantly between teams
- Traditionally had very friendly price level, hence has a strong user base
- No support for non-QA personnel, which becomes a necessity while working in Agile approaches.
- No built in requirement and issue modules
- There is a large selection of integrations they connect to, but these are rated below average.
Pros:
Cons:
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Orcanos
Orcanos is an Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and Q QMS solution. They are based in Israel. It is focused on regulated industries such as Medical Devices, Pharma, and High Tech. As a high-end product, they do not offer a free trial, only a demo to learn more about the system.
Integrations:
This tool is integrated with other solutions by Orcanos but there is no out of the box integration with external bug trackers such as Jira.
Automation support:
Easily integrate into any test automation tool
Pricing:
Starts at $990/month for up to 10 users per month. This price comes with 2 days onboarding with the Orcanos team. No free trial option, only a demo.
Deployment method:
Cloud, hosted on AWS
Main customers:
Netafim, Mazor Robotics, Johnson& Johnson, Zimmer
Main features:
- Simple: Easily plan, organize and execute test cases
- Continuity: Report bugs from test run
- Tracking: Powerful dashboards to track testing status
- Traceability: Link test cases to any work item, such as risk or requirement
- Generate documents: Generate test design and test results documents in a click
Pros/cons:
Pros:
- Streamlined integration with other Orcanos tools including risk management
- End-to-end traceability including requirements
- Has documentation generating capabilities with electronic signature
Cons:
- Relatively high price tag
- No free trial option to explore if the tool is a good fit for your team
- Better fit for hardware related industries
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Tricentis qTest
This test management tool which was originally released by QASymphony, is currently under the name of Tricentis, following the companies announcement of a merger at the end of 2018. It has a strong presence in the medium and large scale organizations. Offers Academy and certification.
Integrations:
Jenkins, Selenium, Jira, Soap UI, VersionOne
Automation support:
integration with other automation tools based on Tricentis qTest launch
Pricing:
not publicly available.
Deployment method:
both cloud and installed options.
Main features:
- 2-way Jira integration with various Jira options
- Exploratory testing support using Tricentis qTest explorer
- Out of the box and custom reporting based on Tricentis qTest insights
Pros/cons:
- Trusted by leading Fortune-500 global companies
- Advanced API for improved automation integration
- Ability to share tests between different projects
- Reporting- gathering useful data can be challenging
- Stability issues in regards to ongoing usage in the application
- High price tag
Pros:
Cons:
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QASE.io
This QA tool is a great starting point for small teams as it offers a free version of the system and access to external users. On the other hand, it has limited functionality in regards to reporting, and communication which is critical for larger teams so it is worth considering in cases where you expect to grow in the near future.
Integrations:
Jira, Redmine, YouTrack, Slack and Github Bamboo and gitlab.
Pricing:
Starting from free for small teams with very limited functionality, then going from $20/user/mo to a higher price tag that is not publicly advertised for the full version.
Deployment method:
cloud.
Main customers:
SeatGeek, Job Target, BlackSky.
Pros/cons:
- Free version for team of up to 3 users with 500 Mb attachments
- Ability to share information with external users
- Bug trackers integrations and API for automation
- Reports and dashboards are limited and there is no ability to add personalized dashboards
- Reusability of test steps between test cases is limited
- Some usability issues are reported by users
Pros:
Cons:
Summary:
With so many test management tools available, it is important to make sure that you select the tool which is right for your team. Take into consideration that implementing a tool is time consuming. You want to make sure that the tool you select has the ability to support your current needs. As well as, the ability to scale up with you as your organization continues to succeed and grow.
Beyond the desired technical features and abilities, there are “softer” elements to a successful test management tool user experience. Such as: customer support quality and ongoing commitment from customer success teams. These important factors should not be overlooked as they are whatensure you leverage any tool to its maximum potential. This also allows your and your team to focus your efforts on what brings value to your company and not on troubleshooting supportive software issues.
We have also included a list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding test management tools below.
FAQ
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What is a Test Management Tool?
A test management tool is a platform that allows you to run, manage and report the results of your entire testing activities: manual, scripted and automated in one central place. Advanced test management platform will also include requirements elements that will allow you to trace the overall testing coverage per business needs.
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What are the benefits of a test management tool?
Using a test management tool you can improve communication between testing team members, and between testing and RnD. You can report the results of your testing, using scheduling reports on a daily/weekly/monthly basis and display real time results via sharable dashboards that can be presented on any kitchen monitor or wiki type page.
Reusability - A test management tool can allow you to reuse elements such as tests, to eliminate the need for repetitive, tedious work and free your QA team to focus on what really matters, product quality.
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What systems do test management tools integrate with?
A good test management tool will not force you to change the tool stack you are using today. Rather, it will agnostically integrate with bug tracking tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps, Yourtrack and with CI/CD and automation tools by offering a robust API library to sync.
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Can I import existing Excel/Sheets files into a test management tool?
Many companies are currently using Excel to manage their testing and are looking for a more professional and scalable solution. Using the PractiTest test management solution, you can simply import Excel/Sheet spreadsheets containing your test cases.
This is also useful for importing user stories or requirements, that allow product owners to continue working as they are used to, while streamlining the testing process reducing the need for repetitive manual work.
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Can I sync CI/CD results into a test management tool?
Yes. Using PractiTest’s FireCracker tool, you can automatically import any J unit or N unit file to display the results from CI/CD tools, simplifying the process of CI/CD testing results reporting.
