Top 10 best automation tools for mainframe testing

Most companies choose mainframe systems for their larger scale computing purposes and operations that require high availability, reliability, and security. Incidentally, these companies usually belong to industries like banking, finance, insurance, travel, retail, and other critical areas, where massive amounts of data are processed multiple times.

For a mainframe tester, it is his second nature to look for more advanced and automated testing tools that offer complete support to web technologies. Why? Because they eliminate the need to employ traditional debugging tools, which lack speed and efficiency in meeting today’s demand for frequent and better product releases.

Unlike legacy tools, automated mainframe testing tools, on the other hand, are very easy to use, flexible, cost-effective, and offer higher code quality with fewer errors, resulting in a higher quality product.

If you work for a mobile app development company that utilizes mainframes, these high-quality automation testing tools come handy as they help mainframe testing teams fulfill any kind of digital demand for companies. In this post, we will quickly look at the top 10 automation mainframe testing tools available in the market today.

1. Subject7

A familiar name among the latest automation tools, Subject7 is a simple, cloud-based SaaS test automation platform that offers an end-to-end test mechanization via a sequence of commands. This script-free, language-agnostic tool with an intuitive web interface is designed to help non-technical testers as well as test automation engineers and can create complex automated test scenarios in no time.

Features:

  • Integrates easily with REST, JIRA and Jenkins competent DevOps pipeline
  • Uses open-source standards like Appium & Selenium for driving mobile & web
  • The web interface is straightforward to use that makes it applicable for non-coders
  • Email notifications, team collaboration, and video recordings, etc
  • It has a test repository for all your automated and manual test cases.
  • It supports API testing, browser testing, native mobile app testing, sikuli tests, and more.
  • On-the-fly test creation and execution
  • Parameterization and data-driven testing
  • Modularizing Test steps
  • Cloud Run, Scheduled executions and Alerts
  • Test Reporting and Archiving – Video recording

2. LambdaTest

LambdaTest is a scalable, cloud-based, cross-browser testing platform built for both manual and automated software testing. It enables you to seamlessly test your public or locally hosted website or web app across 2000+ different browsers, browser versions, operating systems, and resolutions. It gives you a quick view of how your site will look and test the layout on one click across 36 different devices. Additionally, the platform also enables you to run Appium and Selenium scripts across mobile browsers, on both iOS and Android, on a scalable online Selenium Grid.

Features:

  • Fully automated and live interactive.
  • The interface is brilliant and easy to understand
  • A vast collection of browser and mobile devices for real-time testing
  • Programmed screenshot testing on full 25 combinations each time
  • Tools such as Slack, JIRA, Asana, and Monday.com enable a single-click bug logging
  • Live interactive testing possible through VM & it is hosted on the Lambdatest cloud
  • Assimilation with numerous CD/CI tools such as Travis CI and Circle CI
  • It lets you compare the design and HTML images.
  • The platform ensures seamless collaboration with its one-click integrations with tools such as Asana, BitBucket, Jira, Github, Gitlab, Trello, and Visual Studio Team Services.

3. HeadSpin

HeadSpin is another leading Connected Intelligence Platform that offers Mobile, 5G, Web, and IoT solutions. It integrates with all automation and testing frameworks, unifying monitoring and testing networks, applications, and devices. With HeadSpin, you can test, monitor, and analyze any application, running on any device, on any network, anywhere in the world.

Features:

  • Local code profiling & debugging
  • Remote debugging
  • Localization testing
  • More than 500 parallel tests
  • Access to more than 300 devices over more than 30 countries on shared cloud device
  • Regression testing
  • Allows mobile testing under real-world conditions
  • Ensures 100% uptime
  • No SDK – Just plug and play
  • Zero-day OS and device support
  • Integrates with your CI/CD process
  • Reproducible environment for performance and user experience issues

4. ZeuZ

ZeuZ is an all-in-one, robust test automation platform to create complex test workflows for web, mobile, desktop, APIs, and cloud apps. This AI-assisted, automation testing framework is scriptless and straightforward for manual testers and very robust as it comprises all kinds of features in a single space. The framework is equipped with intelligent debugging, collaboration features, CD/ÇI integration, rich reporting, etc.

Features:

  • Extendible & API with custom scripts and actions
  • Over 500 actions and commands
  • Cross-platform: mobile, API, web, desktop, IoT & cloud services
  • 3rd-Party Integration (JIRA, GIT, SVN, Jenkins Slack, MKS, MQC, etc.)
  • Test script recording, built-in waiting mechanisms and object identification powered by AI
  • Advanced debugging like step testing, drill-down and intelligent issue grouping
  • All-in-one: run & manage functional, UI, +automated, regression, performance and tests that are data-driven
  • Private cloud-based software management and test execution
  • 100s of sample test cases and built-in help
  • Easy to use, simple UI with advanced configuration
  • Re-usable templates and predictive intelligence (auto-suggest a test to execute)
  • Image comparison and debug panel
  • Root cause analysis with logs
  • Notification and triggered results
  • Support for various type of tests: Sanity, Regression, Security, Stress and Load, End-to-end testing
  • Rich text documentation

5. TestArchitect

TestArchitect is a codeless test automation framework that is both easy to use and powerful. This automation framework emphasizes on scaling up the automation productivity and coverage by influencing keyword-driven testing. You can reuse 400 platform-agnostic, pre-coded actions to create a single test that can work with multiple OSes, GUI apps (desktop, web), non-GUI apps (CLI, DB, Web Services) and images.

Features:

  • The spreadsheet IDE is intuitive
  • Built-in integrations to Visual Studio/TFS/Test Manager, Quality Center, Jira, Zephyr, etc. for better QA/Automation process.
  • Operating systems are Android, Windows, iOS, macOS, etc
  • Codeless automation utilizes Action based testing which is a contemporary form of
  • keyword-driven testing for low maintenance costs & elevated reusability
  • Supported platforms: mobile testing, computer vision testing, desktop, API, cross-browser, etc
  • More than 400 pre-built actions for cross-platform automation
  • Powerful extensibility using C#, Python, Java
  • Selenium WebDriver integration
  • Automate web browsers in Windows, Linux, and Mac.
  • Extend Selenium WebDriver capabilities.

6. Squish

Squish is a software automation testing framework, built on Eclipse, which can provide a feature-rich integrated development environment for GUI testing. It is the best cross-platform tool for automating functional regression system tests & tests of HMIs (Human Machine Interfaces) & GUIs (Graphical User Interface).

Features:

  • Record and execute tests with a single click
  • Review interactive Test Results describing errors and highlighting corresponding lines in the script
  • Quickly organize your Test Suite, dragging and dropping Test Cases to the desired order of execution
  • Create and maintain local and global scripts, verification points and test data from a single interface
  • Inspect your application objects using the object Spy
  • Set breakpoints, stepping through scripts, monitoring variables and recording Snippets, or additional actions
  • Interact with application objects, methods, and scripting language-specific commands using Squish Console
  • Integrations with CI-systems & Test management
  • Dependable and robust object identification & verifications
  • Full control through command-line tools
  • Test script recording
  • Full support for BDD or Behavior Driven Development
  • Full support for web, desktop, embedded and mobile platforms
  • Robust IDE or integrated development environment
  • No dependency on visual appearance or screenshots

7. TestCafe Studio

TestCafe Studio is a simple and easy-to-use tool for software testing automation. It is best for mobile app development as it enables us to craft, maintain & run automated web tests with no code. You do not need WebDriver or any other browser plugin for this. You can just install it and start creating end-to-end tests with the help of a visual recorder and without writing test code.

Features:

  • Completely integrated visual web test recorder
  • Automated generation of element selectors
  • Completely cross-platform product
  • Cross-browser & cross-platform – tests can be run on Linux, Android, Windows, iOS, macOS & within Chrome, Safari, IE, Firefox and Edge
  • Built-in waiting mechanism
  • No code is required because of the integrated visual test recorder
  • No requisite for browser plugins and WebDriver
  • The tool creates a selector for every page element utilized in the test & offers a list of substitute selectors that wrap numerous test scenarios

8. ACCELQ

One of the highly sought-after automation testing tools, ACCELQ is a codeless and cloud-based test automation platform that flawlessly automates web testing and API. Probably, ACCELQ is the only continuous testing platform that seamlessly automates API and web testing without writing a single line of code.

Features:

  • Easiest and most sustainable for automating web and API testing
  • Ensures a design-first approach with inbuilt modularity; No need for custom frameworks
  • Automates all aspects of Quality lifecycle from Test Design to Test Planning & execution
  • Enables manual testers and business analysts to automate without the need for programming
  • Enables in-sprint automation with industry-first virtualized abstraction for functional testing
  • Seamlessly integrates in your ecosystem of Tools like Jira, TFS, Jenkins, Bamboo, etc.
  • Salesforce test automation & faultless support of custom objects & Salesforce lightning
  • Rapid development possible due to test automation that is AI-based
  • Nonstop test automation platform enables CD/CI integration with Jenkins, JIRA and DevOps
  • 3x quicker test development & 80% lesser maintenance for various test automation assets
  • API and UI Test Automation in the same simplified flow
  • API Test Case Management, Test Planning, Execution and tracking governance
  • CI Driven regression suite executions
  • Dynamic Environment management
  • Directly correlate Business process and corresponding API for complete coverage

9. Zephyr

Zephyr is another prevalent test management tool, which offers efficient end-to-end solutions for all agile teams and of every size. Zephyr is designed to keep pace with quickly evolving agile organizations and the industry shift to DevOps and continuous testing agility. It provides flexibility, insights & visibility for releasing better software and at a faster pace.

Features:

  • The clearest, cleanest UI on the market: HTMP 5
  • Top-to-bottom configuration flexibility
  • Web service APIs
  • Authentication and deployment option
  • SSL powered security
  • 24/7 global support
  • Real-time, stand-alone Jira integration
  • One-click integrations with test automation workflows
  • Multi-project & comprehensive test repository
  • Predictive analytics
  • Scalability to support 50,000+ users
  • One-click integration with Confluence, Bamboo, JIRA, Jenkins, etc
  • DevOps dashboards & advanced analytics
  • Options of server, data center deployment, cloud, etc

10. TestCraft

TestCraft is an AI-powered, codeless, Selenium test automation platform, which enables testers to craft completely automated test situations without any coding. Its unique visual modeling allows for faster test creation and execution while eliminating test maintenance time & cost.

Features:

  • Nothing to install (SaaS)
  • Easy to master.
  • Available integrations with Test Management, Issue Management, CI/CD, Notifications Communication.
  • Ideal for manual testers teams.
  • Includes features such as hierarchical view, move & copy, parameterized testing, requirements-based testing, security testing, supports parallel execution, and Unicode compliance.
  • Offers business hours support, and 24/7 live support.