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We automate web applications and Android mobile applications.
We faced a lot of issues with iOS mobile application automation, especially with our React Native applications. Katalon Studio was not able to support it properly. We were able to set it up properly, but we were not able to create the scripts properly.
We've automated many projects with it. We've implemented Katalon Studio for web testing in our projects.
We integrated it with TestLink, a test management tool, and it was very easy. Katalon claims to have integration with Jira as well, but we haven't tried that yet.
We also integrated with Azure DevOps but faced some issues with running automated test cases for Android, which required setting up a virtual machine with Android Studio. This is pending from our side, as Katalon Studio claims to have this functionality already.
I like the overall automation, as it's a functional automation tool. We've used it for functionality automation, and overall, Studio is quite good. The tool has a good record and playback feature for functionality, which saves time when creating automated tests.
It can be slow sometimes compared to others. Katalon also has an execution engine used for continuous integration (CI/CD), but you need to buy a separate license for that. Overall, we've used it in two or three projects, and there's one project in the pipeline where we've suggested our client purchase a license and give it to us, as we're a service-based company.
The automatic recording option is helpful. You can record your actions and then play with the script and fix it.
I would like to see improvements in how Katalon Studio works with iOS applications, especially with React Native applications.
The speed is very slow. It takes time. Katalon Studio also takes my laptop memory, and execution becomes slow for the script.
There are parallel execution options. I'm sure their online cloud version must be very fast, but as a service-based company, we are under NDA with our clients and can't run their code on our servers.
I would like to see iOS improve and see a more capable recording feature.
Katalon Studio has released an AI version, and I have a demo scheduled to see the new features.
My team has been working with Katalon Studio for the past four or five years. We started when it was a free toolware and continued when it became a paid tool.
We tried 9.0 with the new AI functionality, but it wasn't stable, so we moved back to 8.2.5.
I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. If you install it internally on your laptop, then there might be issues with my laptop, and not because of Katalon Studion. However, it could be different with the cloud version.
I would rate the scalability a five out of ten. It could be improved in both script creation and execution. The recording feature could be better, as we have to adjust the scripts afterward.
Compared to Selenium, Katalon Studio is faster for script creation, but execution is slow. They suggest setting up parallel execution, but that's a separate process.
My experience is mostly with Java, but compared to modern JavaScript-based tools like Cypress, Katalon Studio is slower in both script creation and execution.
Once scripts are created, they execute much faster with JavaScript.
Thre are around five to seven people. We automate web and mobile applications in one project, and web applications in the rest.
Those deployed to do automation use it every day.
The customer service and support is not great. But it is also not good. For example, I requested a 9.0 demo a week ago, and they just sent me an email about a 30-day trial. They're not very quick.
Neutral
I used Selenium with Java.
We switched because Katalon Studio was easy, and I didn't have many technical team members who were good at automation. We thought this tool would help, and at that time, it was free. It saved us time from having to install and maintain a framework, since Katalon already had everything built in, including reporting. It was easy to use.
In two projects, we used WebDriverIO. In one project, we used Playwright. In some projects, we used Selenium.
I would rate my experience with the initial setup a nine out of ten, with ten being easy.
The deployment is quick, it took around 15 to 20 minutes. Normally, we deploy Katalon on a local machine.
We downloaded the latest version, entered a key Katalon Studio sent us and executed a .exe file to install it. And we are good to go.
We normally have our IT team handle this because we don't have admin rights on our laptops.
We only need help because we don't have admin rights. So, one person is enough for the deployment.
It's self-maintained. We can deploy new versions ourselves when they come out. It's not a huge software.
We have a combination of both paid and free licenses.
We have five licenses, and we are in the process of buying six more, so six or seven people.
The prices are very high. We use it only when our clients buy it. So, Katalon Studio could improve upon the pricing.
There are open source tools as well in the market.
Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. It's easy to use, especially if you don't have a very technical team.