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The Missing Blockchain User Guide

Not All Marketplaces are Created Equal: Tales of a Marketplace Founder

245 Tools & Resources for Travelers and Digital Nomads

What do we look for while traveling to a new place? We look forward to a new thrilling experience but at the most economical rate. Imagine that you can find all of it on one platform, A Home away from Home. Airbnb is a travel app which provides a platform for apartment rental opportunities all over the world. Airbnb serves as a tempting marketplace for owners of property and people seeking short-term accommodation. Airbnb has changed the way people tend to look for apartments. It provides captivating opportunities for property owners and travelers. This digital platform serves as an interactive environment for people i.e. the Hosts who earn by renting their property to guests who are looking for affordable accommodation. Airbnb is functional over 190 countries worldwide. That’s the major reason that in no time, it has completely conquered the global market. Airbnb business model canvas Major associates: — People who own a house or property and want to lease/rent them. Airbnb receives Commission from hosts upon every booking. Host — Travelers, families going for a vacation and or official work who want to stay comfortably at affordable prices. They receive a commission from guests upon every booking. Guests — Airbnb has a varied network of freelance photographers in most of the cities across the globe. Once the host lists their place on the portal, these photographers are hired to take high-quality pictures of the property. They are directly paid from the Airbnb portal. Freelance Photographers Target audience Travelers who need a simple affordable place Business travelers Travelers with families Travelers looking to explore new places. People looking for extra income who can hosts to earn. Channels of Distribution Website Mobile app on both iOS and Android platforms Digital marketing Social media Promotions Cost Structure Maintenance of the online platform Employees (Airbnb has over 2000 employees) Online payment platforms like to MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal Marketing and promotional activities Insurance According to the latest stats, the company now has: Over 100 million users 640,000 hosts Around 2 million listings 500,000 guests stay per night via Airbnb 10 billion miles of travel to Airbnb destinations 191 countries and 65,000 cities Airbnb are actively involved in. Estimated revenue of $900 million Image Source: Dribbble Required features to be included in an App like Airbnb Guests/Travelers — The users are supposed to log in with their pre-registered IDs or create a new account by filling their details like name, number, etc. they can also sign in via their email address or social media channels. Log-in / Sign-up — Edit, manage and update personal profile information like email id, mobile number, date of birth, gender, permanent address, etc. The account password can also be changed. Manage account — Like any other messaging app, Airbnb provided instant notifications for chats. Chat and push notifications — Users can look for desired accommodation by filtering their travel like Dates, room type, price range, required amenities etc. Search Filter — Users can communicate with their host via messages even before booking their stay. They also have the liberty to accept or decline offers and create new requests. Host interaction — Users can select the payment method and can access the receipts and pay details of the transaction. They can also view every transaction history. They can switch to the desired currency too. Payments — Missed out a place due to high rental or non-availability. No worries, you can wishlist them and get notified if the rental falls. Create wish lists/Saved — Also, the booking done by a user can be checked. It can a past cooking or an upcoming one. Booking — Coupons can be used during checkout. These coupons can be earned by referral codes. Coupons — Airbnb simplifies the booking process with maps. They help in showcasing the location with rentals, around the area the user wishes to stay in. Maps — Users can view the FAQs sections and ask for help in case of any confusion with the booking or in case of seeking any booking or hosts related help. Help — Users can share their experience with the hosts by rating and reviewing them. Rate and Review — Users can invite friends to through social media accounts to download the app. Sharing Image Source: Dribbble — George Vasyagin New Additions These features can also be added to make it stand out even the more. — Users can receive messages to notify them about their booking and also promotional offers. Receive SMS Notifications — While making an app like Airbnb, more social media channels and payment methods can be integrated with it. Supplementary Hosts App — The Host can fill in their details and register themselves by listing their vacant property. Registration — The hosts are supposed to log in with their pre-registered ids or create a new account by filling their details like name, number, address etc. They can also sign in via their email address or social media channels. Log-in or Sign-up — Edit, manage and update personal profile information like email id, mobile number, address, etc. The account password can also be changed. Manage Personal page and profile information — The listings i.e. the property details like the amenities available and pricing can be handled under this section. New pictures can be uploaded whenever required. Manage listings — All the upcoming bookings can be seen in a systematic way, in form of a calendar view. Each date of the month will showcase the bookings. Booking Listing — This is a passage for accepting or declining the user’s request for your space. Request — Hosts can freely communicate with their guests through the chat feature. They can revert to all the queries of the guests even before booking or confirming their stay. Create and send new requests to guests. Messaging feature — Each guest can be rated and reviewed according to their behavior and conduct. Rate and review guests — This helps in adding or removing information in the account. Account Details — Guest can view the FAQs sections and ask for help in case of any confusion with the listing of their property or in case of seeking any booking or guest related help. Help — Hosts can invite friends to through social media accounts to download the app. Sharing — All the previous bookings and the payments received can be tracked down here. Also, the revenue generated can be estimated. Booking History Admin Panel — The admin dashboard to view all the users registered(new and old), hosts(new and old) and the photographers. Dashboard — All the new listing uploaded are scrutinised and processed further. The admin panel provides the liberty to edit, add or delete listings, according to the need. Manage new listing — All the previous and new bookings can be checked here. There’s also an update on the current status of each reservation. These can also be edited, updated or deleted. Booking History — All the feedback provided by the guest and hosts can be viewed here. Any complaints with regard to the hosts or guests can be processed here. Feedback and complaints — All the details of the previous and current activities can be observed here. These detailed insights help in future decisions. Insights The Technology required for building an app like Airbnb Image Source: Dribbble — Ruby, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3 — Ruby on Rails — React.js — RSpec, Capybara, PhantomJS — PostgreSQL — Braintree — Twilio — Amazon S3, EBS — Amazon EC2 — Nexmo Programming languages Application Framework JavaScript Framework Automation Frameworks SQL data storage Global Payment Messaging & Communication Cloud Storage Cloud Hosting Voice and SMS API for SMS, Voice and Phone Verification Know the major Competitors With the growing popularity of Airbnb, there are several more who offer short-term home rentals platforms out there. We have covered the most prominent, Airbnb like hosting platforms. Check out these alternatives! Homeaway Homeaway has over a million listings around the globe and its presence in 190 countries. It is considered to be the main competitor of Airbnb as it provides all the services that Airbnb offers and also has its own insurance program. it’ owned by Expedia and it operates regional sites like VRBO, TravelMob and VacationRentals. It has a lot of upscale listings. FlipKey Flipkey is a major company run by TripAdvisor. It has a large number of users and the highest quality manual verification program by the websites employees. The “vacation rental marketplace,” as called, has been expanding with almost 3,00,000 properties in about 160 countries. It doesn’t offer shared rooms but has unique property filters like dog-friendly, kid-friendly, or waterfront property. Roomorama This Singapore-based vacation rental company may not be as large as Airbnb but offers about 80,000 properties worldwide. All their apartments and homes are instantly bookable. They focus mainly on the security and claim all their hosts are 100% verified. The guests can take advantage of local deals and perks which is not yet a feature at Airbnb. How much does it cost to build an app like Airbnb It is a task to analyze the of a mobile app like Airbnb. The entire design of the app is split into several parts based on the specifications required. The cost of development of a popular app like Airbnb depends on the following factors: cost of development Image Source: EngineerBabu If the team is small and functional, the process can go smooth. Let’s say, the project manager handling more than his part. Else, other than a designer and developer, a lot more people like project manager, system administrator, quality assurance member will be required in the team. The size of the team The cost of building an app like Airbnb fluctuates based on different platforms. iOS, Android both need different app screens to adjust the app too. All this is decided based on the target audience, device environment, etc. Moreover, android app development takes a little more time than iOS as it has more devices to be tested against. The number of platforms the app is being built for Another important factor in development is the features and functionalities one wishes to incorporate. Basic features like past booking history, reviews, and ratings, data of the hosts, communication between the host and traveler, etc. occupy a lot of space and result in a surplus charge. Features and Functionality of the app Airbnb being a big app, has to look good to attract the customers all around the global market. It should leave a long lasting impression on the mind of the viewer to lure them into making reservations. The app should be easy to use and the design has to be engaging. Another aspect os the design is whether its standard or customized. New, unique visuals can be added instead of the stereotype backdrop. New designs will definitely shoot the development price. Design of the app The most vital point is, where are you looking for the developers. The place or location of the developer is one of the deciding factor. Also, the cost will vary based on the experience of the developer and his/her expertise. Developers Any technical complexity that you desire to add, be it simple, medium or high, will affect the costing. Different features like geolocation, data sync, booking calendar, in-app calling, etc. will definitely give a raise to your budget. In-app purchases and any other special features. Above, was just a basic analysis of the factors that might affect the cost of development. To determine the pricing of the application, an estimated development cost will be calculated with the approximate time required for creating each feature. The development time is calculated in hours and the rate per hour varies from company to company. Each company has its own rate per hour. I am considering an average price of development per hour $30, based on worldwide standards. Now let’s assume we are building an app solely for iOS platform. 1. The Team A minimum team will include: 1 UI designer 1 iOS developer 1 back-end developer 1 project manager 1 Quality Assurance Engineer The app architecture Image Source: Dribbble — Sarah Chudawala Next, we determine the app architecture. Every project commences with initial action steps. We can calculate the hours per step by diving the app into different components based on the overall app resources, modules and technical base used. 20 hours — Project setup 20–25 hours — REST API implementation 10 hours — Database model 10 -15 hours — Implementation of services and libraries Development effort estimation — The basic step is registration so that the user will be able to access the app. To start using the app, it would be seeking the agreement of the user with the conditions and policies besides the other fundamental details. This would consume around 10 to 12 hours. Registration/login feature 2. User Profile The user profiles will be of two kinds, guest and host (owner of the place). Both have to create their profiles by filling in their personal details like- Name Gender E-mail address Birth date Telephone number Permanent living address Personal description 3. Filters The listings and search filters can be used by hosts as well as users. A host can add information on the house type, room type, accommodation details, photos, pricing, etc. if user is looking for a place to stay in, they will require details about housing like location, check in and check out dates, house type, and size, amenities, host language, photos of the home, price range, etc. as this feature is vast, developers can take up to 24 hours to build it. Image Source: Dribbble 4. Accommodation Description After the filtered have been chosen, a wide variety of search results will pop with various options and description of the rooms you wish to stay in. The variants are as follows- Photos Map with the location Accommodation Host Profile Amenities offered or available Rating Reviews Price Terms and conditions Available dates 5. Maps Maps allow the users to freely search for a perfect location, check various spots on the maps, and spot a place to stay. Map localization helps to see the routes, neighborhoods, and amenities in proximity to the location. All these help in choosing the desired place to stay in. 6. Settings The users can customize and configure their preference under this feature. The settings menu allows you to control the following functions- Push notifications SMS notifications Updates on rental options in a specific area Conversation with the host(messages) Wish-lists Payment method and currency 7. Invite Friends A user can easily invite a friend to download the application and join it. 8. Add to Favorites This is a fundamental feature by which the user can bookmark certain results and add them to favorites and view them later. 9. Translate Feature This feature helps the user to translate the description of the rooms into their preferred language. It is enabled through the Google translator, the text is sent to google translator and translated into the chosen language. 10. Guide Feature This personalized feature shows the sites and neighborhoods around the chosen location. It shows the locations around that can be visited. 11. Property Listing Once you sign up as a host, you need to fill in all the required details, the app will show you the approximate rent you can charge for your house/apartment/room. 12. Back end The server-side part of the app is very crucial as the product requires time to configuration from both client and server side. The client side is how it will virtually interact with a user and the server side includes its functionalities, server connections, etc. the back end is the most time-consuming part of the entire process. So, what’s our grand total? Image Source: Dribbble — Ueno. After having dealt with all features and modules, we have reached an estimate of the development cost. each a total cost of $28140 — $30840. Which is approximately $29000 — $31000 considering the $30 per hour as the average rate for counting the cost. However, this can vary depending on the mobile app development company and the technology they use. Moreover, the hourly rates differ from country to country. After looking at all the aspects and stages of development, we may say building an app is not an easy and swift task. However, if all the things are lined up in a proper manner, not only will it be super successful but also very affordable. In case you have some queries about the cost of building an App Like Airbnb, let us know your exact requirements here and we will let you know the estimate. EngineerBabu, being an experienced app development company, Airbnb-like apps are now just a piece of cake for us. If you wish to hire our team of experts, we are just a call away! Our clients are highly innovative and we respect them for coming up with innovative challenges for us. Spare some time to know about our creative solutions to various technological challenges with our case studies here. Did you hear what our clients have to say about us? Get to know us better by reading the work experience of our clients with us. Here is our complete library of innovative mobile apps which we have developed for our clients across the world. Feel free to ask for a demo and we will help you with it. We would love to be your app development partners. Please drop a detailed inquiry about your requirements and our team will get back to you as soon as possible to discuss further on the development. On a scale of yay to nay, how helpful did you find this guide? Please share your views in the comment section below and we would appreciate your efforts. Did we miss out on an aspect or two? We’d love to expand our knowledge. Originally Published on . EngineerBabu Blog — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Read My Other Related Articles 1. How to Build an app like Uber? , Also on Hackernoon 2. How to Build a Food-ordering App like Zomato? , Also on Hackernoon 3. How to Build a Mobile App like Instagram? , Also on Hackernoon 4. How to Build an e-Commerce App : Entrepreneur’s Guide , Also on Hackernoon 5. How to Build a Dating App? , Also on Hackernoon I am Mayank, Cofounder of EngineerBabu . Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn | mayank@engineerbabu.com (About EngineerBabu — Medium ). In addition Help startups, enterprises, and owners to grow their business by building high class IT solutions. 95% of projects developed by them were completed on-time. , Win most innovative Premier Design Award, selected in Y-Combinator 2016 & 2017. EngineerBabu 30+ funded by VCs

How to build an app like Airbnb?

“The Building Blocks of Online P2P Marketplaces”

April was rich in important news. Google launched new features for conversational interfaces, including Dialogflow Enterprise Edition. This cross-platform suit simplifies chatbot and voice-agents development and support. Sharing economy disrupts traditional business models as home sharing becomes a new hospitality trend. Marriott enters the private rental segment with one of its existing brands. Let’s talk about these and some other news and trends that defined this month in the technology world. Amazon goes international The retail giant, Amazon, beyond the USA, Western Europe, Middle East, Singapore, and Australia. The company added new shipment destinations and now shoppers can use Amazon services across more than 100 countries. Nevertheless, the retail giant isn’t establishing local presence. Amazon just made its products available for shipment in new regions via the mobile app that helps customers calculate full shipment cost and additional fees. expands operations Amazon’s expansion is an important sign for the eCommerce industry: The US retail wars go global. In April, some rumors claimed that both Walmart and Amazon are , an Indian eCommerce company. Later in May, Walmart has beaten Amazon in competition for Flipkart. The offline retailer will buy 77 percent stake in the Indian eCommerce company for $16 billion. In India, the online retail market is expected to reach $200 billion by 2026. And both companies attempted to establish operations in India, nevertheless, both competitors didn’t succeed. Amazon invested billions to compete with Flipkart, while Walmart managed to open only 21 physical stores across the country being constrained by foreign investment policies. And finally, the rumors have been confirmed: Walmart is about to buy the Indian online retailer. Flipkart will benefit from the merge with the offline business of Walmart. interested in buying Flipkart Google boosts conversational interface offerings Google makes generally available. Dialogflow is a development suite to build AI-based conversational interfaces. The technology comprises 30+ pre-built templates, which speed up projects delivery. Dialogflow simplifies the development of text and voices applications, and is simple enough, that it can be used even by engineers having no prior experience with conversational interfaces. Dialogflow Enterprise Edition Dialogflow targets these four main areas The new technology is built as a cross-platform solution, which ensures that it can be used across major devices and supports Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Facebook Messenger. The expansion of Google cloud services and the cross-platform nature makes the suite even more competitive as businesses have to spend less money on supporting their products. Lyft expands operations in corporate travel Lyft with American Express Business Travel. Currently, corporate travelers can book ground transportation from the online cub company. But American Express officials claim that this collaboration will redefine traditional resale model in ground transportation as Lyft allows for building highly personalized ride sharing programs. announced its integration Being a direct competitor to Uber, Lyft is focusing a significant part of its efforts on the business travellers. As a result, Uber’s share in ground transfers on Certify, popular travel and expense management platform, declined from 99 percent in 2014 to 81 percent in Q1, 2018. This is yet another sign for traditional ground transport providers to start transforming their businesses. Otherwise, such digital ride-hailing companies as Uber and Lyft will crowd out the taxi and car rentals from the market. Marriott launches home sharing product The home sharing market is a hot spot on the travel industry map, as it attracts large OTAs and major hospitality brands. Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, , and Hyatt have already embarked on home sharing. Some of them own home sharing brands, like Expedia with HomeAway, some operate under their own brands, like Airbnb. AccorHotels The USA private accommodation rentals market has been valued at $32 billion in 2016. Phocuswright expects that the homesharing industry will grow to $37 billion by the end of 2018. The sharing economy has helped Airbnb grow from an ordinary startup into the travel industry giant, looking for ways to compete with Expedia, Booking Holdings, and other major players. Recently, Marriott joined the competition. The hotel chain with Hostmaker: Marriott clients will be able to book any of 200 shortlisted homes placed on Hostmaker via TributePortfolioHomes.com, one of Marriott’s portfolio brands. The rentals available for Marriott’s clients meet all safety, design, security, and service standards. Guests will also receive 24/7 dedicated support, in-person check-in, and participate in the loyalty program. Marriott operation model is quite unique as they are looking to transform one of the existing brands into the home sharing expert. launched a pilot project Ant Financial is close to becoming $150 billion company A Chinese startup, Ant Financial, is close to becoming . Fintech company plans to raise about ten billion dollars. As a result, its valuation will reach $150 billion. It is twice as much as Goldman Sachs, the world-famous investment bank. Ant Financial operates in business payments, wealth management, and microfinancing. The company has already been backed by Alibaba that owns about 30 percent stake. It also reached profitability earning $2.1 billion in profits last year. the largest startup in the history Ant Financial mega round is a sign of the renewal of the fintech activity in China. As fintech regulations become more transparent, the investors are ready to pour money into the industry. Today, increasingly more Chinese unicorns can successfully seal their initial public offerings (IPOs), and it’s likely that Ant Financial will raise pre-IPO funding. SenseTime is the highest valued AI startup SenseTime is a highest valued startup now on the artificial intelligence scene. The Chinese company works on dynamic and static facial recognition, ID authentication solutions, AR platform, and BI solutions. Their customer portfolio includes around 400 businesses across fintech, automotive, and hardware industries. The company managed to during the last funding round. SenseTime will use the funding to expand operations beyond Asia and develop new AI solutions. The last round allowed the company to reach $4.5 billion in valuation. raise $600 million Over 200 AI companies got $4.5 billion funding in China during 2012–2017, which allows the country to aim for the position of the worldwide leader in AI technologies by 2030. Chinese authorities have already planned to invest over $7 billion in the next several years. These investments will create opportunities for other AI startups to repeat the SenseTime success. In China, AI companies are usually independent entities backed by tech giants as opposed to US, where AI development is mostly driven by tech giants or their wholly owned subsidiaries. Biometric technology automates cross-bordering in Mexico and the UK The biometric technology has created a lot of hype in the travel industry since JetBlue and SITA have begun testing the boarding solution that employs facial recognition. SITA kiosks take passenger photos via an embedded camera or request fingerprints and check identities using machine learning. The trend is emerging and SITA’s technology is extending biometric solutions coverage to Brisbane Airport in Australia and British Airways in Orlando International Airport. The technology has also received support from the Indian government. Finally, in April Mexican government and the travel software company across three major airports. The technology will automate border control by checking identity using fingerprint recognition. have agreed to install 100 kiosks Biometrics in travel is an attractive startup opportunity due to low competition and the early adoption phase. For instance, , a facial recognition startup, plans to partner with the government to between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The company will apply the algorithms that are already used by Iproov’s customers from the financial industry: DNB in Norway and Rabobank in the Netherlands, U.K.’s tax agency. The solution mostly uses mobile devices to take a short video record and then check identity. And the company claims that their system is 100 times more accurate than a standard identity checking procedure. Iproov solve border crossing problem Apple ambitions in healthcare are too high Apple healthcare ambitions may be overhyped. We still don’t know much about their progress in glucometer integration with Apple Watch. So far, skeptics have many doubts about the success of Apple Health, health record app. The application allows for gathering, storing, and sharing patients’ medical data. Apple Health is already connected to over 39 clinical solution providers across the USA. Although the solution seems to be a great addition to the standard EHR systems, in reality, users still receive very limited access to their records. In addition, physicians say that the initiative will have a limited impact if Android users won’t be able to participate. The situation remains controversial as claims that users are optimistic about app adoption, but skeptics imply that the functionality won’t be available for patients of small hospitals and private practices. Healthcare IT News survey Final word The sharing economy is a powerful force which changes the landscape in travel and transportation. Ride-sharing and home sharing platforms disrupt traditional business models. Uber and Lyft make consistent steps to crowd out car rentals and taxi companies from the business travel domain. Airbnb enforces other digital and traditional players in hospitality to join the private rentals segment. In order to enter the market, large travel brands establish new home sharing brands, others acquire or merge with segment incumbents. Private rentals are non-standardized, less controlled, and secure. So, major hospitality brands prefer to be perceived as separate from their apartment sharing subsidiaries. In April, Marriot broke this rule and launched the private rental product under one of his portfolio brands. This decision will boost standards and regulation activities, and as a result, travelers will get cheaper apartments, and hospitality brands will benefit from acting on the $40 billion market opportunity. Originally published at AltexSoft’s blog: Liked the story? Let us know by clapping so more people can find it! 👏 “ Technology Industry News & Trends, April 2018 ”

Technology Industry News & Trends, April 2018

According to a recent Capgemini survey, of QA teams admit to relying heavily on manual testing. While technology doesn’t yet allow us to stop manual testing altogether, it’s still an interesting statistic. Test automation exists to reduce the big-project testing process that can’t be possibly done by a human. It will notice details that humans can miss, especially on repeated tests. Yes, there are elements of software, especially its interface, that machines can’t yet properly evaluate, but when it comes to bug detection and results recording, automation holds all the aces. 48 percent Any long-term engineering entails using automated testing. When it comes to performance and repeated testing, you can’t do without automation. But then why do so many development companies still rely on manual testing? . If you’re not using open source tools, it’s hard to justify testing automation benefits. A lot of organizations simply lack the budget to acquire new software, train their employees or hire more staff, and update hardware for successful automation. It’s hard to measure ROI when you’re working on short-term goals. Cost . Using automated testing is basically writing code to test other code. Add to that the time spent setting up and maintaining the framework, developing new skills, and the road to automation has costly tolls. Sometimes it will result in having to write code more than to actually test. Time . A lot of smaller organizations don’t or think they don’t have enough expertise to unleash all possibilities of testing tools. And that’s without considering all those who don’t care about thorough testing overall and prefer focusing on releasing the product. Even if that’s the case, you will benefit from exploring solutions, specifically designed to help you test quickly and effortlessly for no cost. Lack of expertise For a full overview of both approaches and when to apply each of them, check out our article on . If you’ve considered all drawbacks and decided that you want to invest in automated testing tools to gain all the benefits, take a look at our quick comparison table before diving deeper into each framework. manual vs automated testing Manual testers work by going through a program just like a regular user, tediously exploring all screens, trying different inputs and actions to finally detect failures and record observations. While you still need humans to detect usability problems, a machine can replace a lot of long repetitive tasks with a click of a button. But first, developers must write test cases. While manual testers are not required to be skilled at coding, automated testing traditionally assumes that . This approach requires that testers know how to code to some extent. In an Agile environment, testers and developers are not separated in different departments and their skillsets are mingled. testing scripts are written by developers However, today is on the rise. Some of the tools on the market offer testing solutions with no coding required, which allow any member of the team to perform tests. This is made possible by a tool’s ability to translate written text into the programming language, hiding code under the layer of user-friendly UI. While this may be a great solution for an organization with a limited number of developers, it’s still a pretty restricted option. Without access to code, you lose on customization and detailed feedback that’s kept in the core. It’s each company’s own decision: to opt for simple and accessible solutions or enable their employees to learn the basics of some simple language like Python. codeless testing software As we’ve defined what automated testing is all about, let’s take a look at available solutions. Selenium WebDriver We won’t even try to be original and we’ll start with probably the most classic automation testing choice of all — . It’s open source (meaning free), supports multiple programming languages, including Java, Python, C#, PHP, JavaScript, Ruby, and Perl, and runs on all three main desktop platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux. It’s a robust testing tool that directly communicates with a browser to automate. The tool’s team also offers a limited but useful for prototyping plug-in — Selenium IDE, which records your actions and uses them to test accordingly in the future. Selenium WebDriver Why it’s good: the pros of Selenium WebDriver Since its creation in 2004, the tool has acquired massive support. The community is active, rich with numerous blogs, forums, and discussion boards to help find a solution to your problem. Large community. Selenium allows you to run tests on different browsers using different machines at the same time. So, you significantly reduce the testing time, which is especially valuable for big projects. Simultaneous tests. Using , an open-source tool with the same API as Selenium WebDriver, you can utilize your Selenium skills to test mobile web, hybrid, or native apps. Mobile support. Appium Where’s the catch: the cons of Selenium WebDriver Writing scripts on Selenium WebDriver requires a technically capable engineer meaning you can’t entrust automated testing to less skilled people in your team. Not beginner-friendly. There’s no possibility to check if images are displayed or loaded correctly. You’ll have to either use another library or do it manually. No image verification. When does Selenium succeed? Regardless of its numerous competitors on the market, Selenium is still considered a standard and a solid choice for any testing project. Plus, if you’re looking for a prototyping tool requiring minimum programming knowledge, you may make use of Selenium IDE. TestComplete is one of the code-less tools that we spoke about before. It’s a proprietary software that can automate testing for web, desktop, and mobile applications. TestComplete is used for data-driven, keyword, unit, functional testing, and many more, making it a comprehensive software for daily testing. It supports a wide range of languages and frameworks including VB, JavaScript, JScript, C++, C#, Delphi, Angular, Ruby on Rails, PHP, and others. TestComplete Depending on the desired modules (mobile, web, or desktop), you can customize your pricing by choosing only desktop or only mobile testing capabilities. The license is a one-time purchase, though you’ll have to pay for maintenance annually. It retails cheaper than many other tools but it can still be pricey for starting businesses. There’s a free 30-day trial if you want to try it before you buy it. You can also buy certification or online training. Why it’s good: the pros of TestComplete A built-in editor allows users of any programming knowledge to add and delete tests, modify parameters, and change test order. Ease of use. Besides using the visual interface, you are allowed to write or edit script manually if you find the editor tool insufficient. Customization. As this is a commercial product, you can expect a high level of maintenance, customer support, and of course, updates. The documentation is also complete and you won’t have to browse through forums looking for a tip or a solution. Timely updates. While Selenium can only execute tests in a browser (and mobile apps using Appium), TestComplete supports Windows applications. Support of desktop apps. Where’s the catch: the cons of TestComplete TestComplete doesn’t allow for Mac applications testing. If you want to test iOS apps on a Mac computer, prepare to acquire some virtualization software. Though you can still test both iOS and Android apps on Windows, which applies to all frameworks we’re describing today. No Mac support. When does TestComplete succeed? If the budget allows, TestComplete can become a great tool for a team of less skilled developers. By buying modules on demand, you can customize the pricing and leverage excellent technical support. You can purchase a single license for about $4,600 and concurrent licenses for $9,000. To customize your order, you can buy each module at $2,600 apiece. Tricentis Tosca by technology company Tricentis was created with Agile and DevOps in mind. It is well-known to be an exhaustive tool for all testing needs, but it’s still easy to use it together with any testing software the company is already using. Just like TestComplete, Tosca supports mobile, web, and desktop (only Windows; Mac and Linux with virtualization tools), doesn’t require writing script but manual code writing is still possible. Tosca The sales team will help you with custom pricing though the reviews say it’s on the high side. Considering the breadth of Tosca’s capabilities, the cost may be justifiable, but you can always start with a trial to be sure. Why it’s good: the pros of Tricentis Tosca . Tosca fits perfectly in the . This is a modern approach capable of dramatically decreasing development time and running numerous tests a day. Using scheduling tools, Tosca can run test cases directly from them and then transfer the results back as an xml file. Great for Continuous Integration Continuous Integration workflow As the tool was intentionally created to be used by non-developers, it’s easy to set up and learn, allowing you to start automation tests right away. Smooth learning curve. Where’s the catch: the cons of Tricentis Tosca You won’t find a lot of community support as Tricentis’ own and Forum are the only active places to leave your message. Although the documentation is easy to navigate, you may find yourself restricted after dealing with much more popular solutions like Selenium. Limited knowledge base. Knowledge Base When does Tosca succeed? Tosca is perfect for with integration of various CI technology available. It’s a comprehensive testing tool with a low entrance point used by Accenture, Capgemini, Deutsche Bank, and many others. Agile development Katalon Studio , built on Selenium WebDriver, is considered Selenium’s logical and improved follow-on. It provides templates and common actions for keyword-driven testing, can be integrated with multiple tools for Continuous Integration, and has a rich, analytics-filled dashboard. Katalon At first glance, Katalon Studio has everything other tools lack. It’s completely free, supports web and mobile testing, runs on both Windows and Mac OS, has an active community, and a beginner-friendly UI. Let’s unpack this much-loved software. Why it’s good: the pros of Katalon Katalon hides all the complexities behind its interface but still allows skilled programmers to reach the scripting mode. Good for both pros and non-techies. Setting up is pretty easy as you only have to download additional software if you test on mobile (Appium + XCode/Node.js). Unified bundle. Katalon has a well-organized library of tutorials with images and videos to help you out. Besides the official help, you will find lots of free courses and YouTube lessons from other testers online. Abundance of tutorials. Katalon automatically transforms your testing results in handy graphs to allow you to clearly see how execution goes. Visualized reports. Where’s the catch: the cons of Katalon For now, you can write scripts only in Java and Groovy to be used by Katalon. Poor language support. Even though its knowledge base is extensive, it can’t compete with Selenium in number of users. Which means you’ll have a hard time finding updated articles and reviews. Small (although growing) community. When does Katalon Studio succeed? Katalon is actively used by startups, small and medium teams with limited tech capabilities. Even expert testers can find the tool massively useful with its long list of features and an advanced scripting mode. However, if you’re not using its paid dedicated support, Katalon is not suitable for large companies. Big projects require better and stronger support along with a more mature community, which Katalon can’t yet provide. Unified Functional Testing (UFT) , originally called QuickTest Professional, is a commercial tool by MicroFocus that was acquired by Hewlett Packard in 2006. In its report, Gartner named it one of the leaders on the market, followed by Tricentis Tosca. This collaborative and easily integrated tool allows you to execute testing using both keywords and manual scripting. It supports CI tools, provides web, mobile, and API testing, and has a smart object recognition function. UFT Magic Quadrant for Software Test Automation 2017 Why it’s good: the pros of UFT UFT makes manual testing easier by allowing developers to record previously manual tests and export them as automated ones. With its Sprinter software, you can convert execution reports to automation test cases. Automated tests from manual. UFT has a shared repository where members of you team can store artifacts, functions, and spreadsheets. Collaboration capabilities. Where’s the catch: the cons of UFT UFT uses VBScript as its scripting language. However, having a reputation as one of the easiest languages to use and code with, it may not be such a big con, especially for pros. Only one language supported. The tool is one of the priciest on the list, considering it doesn’t allow for testing desktop apps like TestComplete does. Despite being less than reasonable, it can be a huge stepping stone for many developers. A year’s seat-based license will cost you $2,500 and a concurrent one — $3,500. UFT doesn’t offer any group discounts though they may provide one in their custom enterprise package. Price. Just like several other testing tools that we’ve featured, UFT can’t be used on a Mac without additional software. Only Windows support. When does UFT succeed? Big teams can leverage its collaboration and web/mobile/API testing features when working on a larger project. To benefit from UFT and justify its price, you need an established testing framework or must be ready to set one up. Watir Despite its open source and basic nature, (Web Application Testing in Ruby) is used by such huge companies as Slack, Yahoo!, and HomeAway. Watir is limited to web apps, works only on Windows, and is targeted to executing simple and easily maintainable tests. Watir Why it’s good: the pros of Watir Watir is one the few tools that allows writing scripts in Ruby programming language. Ruby is very popular for testing since it’s user-friendly, easy to learn, and fast to code with. That’s why it may be a big plus from Ruby developers. But if Ruby is not your language of choice, there’s also a way to use Watir. Script with Java or .NET and still leverage Watir’s simplicity with its sister-software: Watij and WatiN. Choice of languages. Where’s the catch: the cons of Watir Watir doesn’t try to be something more and it seems to be fine to those who swear by it. However, it can only be used in combination with other tools. May be too simple. There are not many complaints about the software online but there’s not enough written overall. Not only is it hard to find fellow developers, the documentation and contributed content is limited to what Watir lists on its website. Small community. When does Watir succeed? Ruby developers will find Watir very enjoyable to use (unless we’re talking about Watij or Watin). As you can see from , companies of any size can successfully implement it in their testing efforts. If you want flexibility and are building your testing toolkit, Watir may be worth a try. the list of its users Ranorex is one of the most expensive and most comprehensive tools we’re covering today. It supports web, desktop (Windows only), and mobile testing, a of technologies and languages to choose from, automation both for inexperienced users and advanced testers, and customization with third-party frameworks. Ranorex very long list Why it’s good: the pros of Ranorex You can make Selenium WebDriver in the Ranorex environment and leverage the capabilities of the biggest automated testing framework. Such close integration allows Ranorex to fix all pain points Selenium still has. Selenium WebDriver integration. To successfully use Ranorex in CI development, you can easily integrate it with Jira, Jenkins, Bamboo, or TeamCity, the most common continuous integration services. Seamless integration with CI tools. Visual interface testing is a complicated task usually delegated to manual testers. Ranorex automates it by using object recognition and following different user scenarios while freeing testing staff from repetitive tasks. Complex GUI testing. It’s a fairly inexpensive tool for the amount of functionality it offers. You can grab it’s one user license for $2,800 and add additional machines and users for an extra $850. Price. Where’s the catch: the cons of Ranorex Ranorex is yet another framework that doesn’t run on Mac OS and doesn’t allow for testing Mac apps. No Mac support. When does Ranorex succeed? Brands like Siemens, Lufthansa, Cisco, Dell, and IBM trust Ranorex to automate their testing. With this tool, you can have an all-in-one environment that can be easily expanded with more popular technology. It might not be the first choice for a small development team, but companies with large budgets can safely invest in Ranorex. Final Takeaway There’s a lot to consider when choosing a testing software since most of it is costly or requires additional learning. Use our guide to filter different options and find the ones your team would love to use. Make sure you request free trials of proprietary tools to allow your testers to ease into the workflow before the official testing begins. Let’s quickly recap the key points you and your team should consider when choosing an automation tool: As you can see, not all options offer a wide range of scripting languages to choose from, so it may be a quick no from you to the tools that don’t offer your preferred technology. The market is especially small for Mac users, so you may want to consider getting a virtualization program. Platforms and languages. . You definitely want some flexibility when it comes to your testing staff. Even if you’re not yet planning to invite less skilled testers to your team, the time may come when you want your expert developers to work on more demanding projects. Select a solution that provides this freedom. Coding skills CI is becoming a norm in the development and testing world so it’s better to focus on tools that were built to work smoothly in an Agile environment. See which of your preferred scheduling tools they support and what other capabilities your team can make use of. Continuous Integration. 👏Originally published at AltexSoft’s blog: Liked the story? Clap us so more people can find it! “ Comparing Automated Testing Tools: Selenium, TestComplete, Ranorex, and more ”

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