What are the top free and not-free automated test tools?

What are the top free and not-free automated test tools?

What are the top 10 free automated tools for functional and regression testing, as well as the ones used to test Web applications? Which of the most popular automated tools are not free? Which ones are actually used by test engineers regularly and with success?

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Waitir, Selenium, Quick Test Pro (QTP) and Ruby are the top automation tools I'm exposed to, working with or hearing about these days. I cannot add more to the list to create a top 10 list because no one I know or am aware of is working with other tools at this time.

People consistently talk about Waitir and Selenium for their flexibility and extensibility but I cannot comment directly as I have not personally worked with either. Ruby is usually used by the developers but I have heard reports of people using it for test automation. QTP is a tool I can comment more readily about because I have direct experience with the tool. Please do not take this as a tool endorsement or preference. As an independent consultant, my tool exposure has more to do with client preferences and what's already in house. "It's interesting that you would ask about tools that are not open source. So you want to spend money?! I'm going to make a guess that your company is uncomfortable with open source for some reason and wants a purchased product. I have seen this type of preference at some companies. QTP, owned by HP is not open source.

A suggestion regarding tools: sometimes automation is best solved by a collection of tools and not just one purchased tool. I think we forget this sometimes, especially when we pay good money for a tool and then pay for training. But small simple utility-like tools are bits of "automation" and can provide great value. Perlclip is the best example of a small utility that is so helpful. I have Perlclip on every computer that I own and find it to be one of the sweetest simplest utilities to use.

For more information, see James Bach's site about testing utilities and Danny Faught's years-long tools research and list.

This was first published in May 2009