Testing your web apps and sites across browsers is absolutely critical – both for catching issues before launch as well as ensuring optimal ongoing performance. With such a diverse landscape of browsers and devices in use today, inconsistencies and conflicts that impact user experiences abound.
The key is leveraging the right cross browser testing platform for your needs to efficiently test across your full swath of target browsers and uncover any issues with functionality, display, speed and more before customers encounter them.
This complete guide will compare the 10 top solutions available in 2023 to help you make the right selection. We’ll explore:
Contents:
- Why Cross Browser Testing Matters
- Core Capabilities and Testing Types
- 10 Leading Testing Platforms Compared
- Key Evaluation and Selection Criteria
- Tips for Getting Started Quickly
- Final Recommendations
Let‘s dive in…
Why Cross Browser Testing is Critical
Simply put, people expect your web apps to work flawlessly regardless of browser or device they opt to access them from. When functionality fails or display appears broken, customers quickly go elsewhere.
Consider these statistics that reinforce why testing across browsers is so critical:
- 60% of people will abandon a site after just 3 seconds if page load delays exist – often caused by cross-browser conflicts. source
- An effective cross browser approach helped Radial improve web app performance by 53% leading to 76% higher conversions. source
- 92% of users will abandon brands after just 1-2 bad site interactions. source
With browser market share spread across not just Chrome but also Safari, Edge, Firefox and others, testing solely in one browser fails to catch a huge range of issues real customers will endure. For example:
Now that the critical importance of testing across browsers is clear, let‘s explore top solutions…
Comparing the 10 Best Cross Browser Testing Tools
The leading options provide instant access to thousands of real desktop and mobile browser and device combinations to test against. Capabilities span manual live testing, automated testing, performance validation, custom simulations of real-world conditions, integrations with CI/CD pipelines and more.
Here we compare 10 top solutions available in 2023 against critical criteria like support coverage, ease of use, scalability and pricing models to reveal the ideal fit for your needs.
What Browsers and Devices Do They Support?
Comparing the supported browsers, operating systems and devices ensures your key targets are covered:
| Platform | Browsers/OSs Supported | Devices/Resolutions |
|---|---|---|
| LambdaTest | 2000+ | Android and iOS phones/tablets |
| Shells | 1600+ | Mobile, tablet, laptops, desktops |
| BrowserStack | 3000+ | Mobile, tablet, laptops, desktops |
| Testsigma | 2000+ | Mobile, tablet, laptops, desktops |
| TestingBot | 3000+ | Mobile, tablet, laptops, desktops |
| Ghost Inspector | Chrome, Firefox | Laptops, desktops |
| TestGrid | 1000s via integrations | Mobile, tablet, laptops, desktops |
| Sauce Labs | 1000s | Mobile, tablet, laptops, desktops |
| Mabl | Chrome, Firefox, Safari | Laptops, desktops |
| Perfecto | 3000+ | Mobile, tablet, laptops, desktops |
TIP: Ensure your most critical target browsers are covered at minimum. Testsigma, LambdaTest and BrowserStack lead in raw count.
Manual Live Testing
Interactive, manual live testing remains critical for exploratory validation across browsers:
| Platform | Instant Access | Debugging Tools | Network Customization |
|---|---|---|---|
| LambdaTest | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Shells | ✅ | ✅ via Sauce | ✅ |
| BrowserStack | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Testsigma | |||
| TestingBot | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Ghost Inspector | via Record & Replay | ✅ | |
| TestGrid | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Sauce Labs | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Mabl | via Record & Replay | ✅ | |
| Perfecto | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
LambdaTest, BrowserStack, TestingBot, TestGrid, Sauce Labs and Perfecto fully support robust manual live testing leveraging instant access and advanced customization.
Test Automation Capabilities
Automating testing as part of CI/CD pipelines is also imperative to prevent regressions:
| Platform | Selenium & Browser Driver Support | Framework Support | CI/CD Integrations |
|---|---|---|---|
| LambdaTest | ✅ | PyTest, Junit, Mocha | ✅ |
| Shells | ✅ | ||
| BrowserStack | ✅ | Jest, Jasmine, Mocha | ✅ |
| Testsigma | Record & Playback | ✅ | |
| TestingBot | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Ghost Inspector | ✅ | ||
| TestGrid | ✅ | PyTest, Junit | ✅ |
| Sauce Labs | ✅ | PyTest, Junit | ✅ |
| Mabl | Scriptless | ✅ | |
| Perfecto | ✅ | PyTest, JUnit, NUnit | ✅ |
LambdaTest, BrowserStack, TestGrid Sauce Labs and Perfecto lead here again offering robust automated testing tools that integrate within modern devops pipelines.
Additional Highlights
Other useful capabilities vary across providers:
- Visual Testing – BrowserStack, Sauce Labs
- Accessibility Testing – LambdaTest, BrowserStack, Sauce Labs
- Performance Testing – LambdaTest, Sauce Labs
- Local Testing – LambdaTest, BrowserStack
TIP: Ensure tool provides any specialty testing capabilities like accessibility, performance, visual or local browser testing your apps require.
Pricing and Plans
Pricing can vary greatly across solutions from per user, per concurrency models, allotted monthly minutes and more. In general costs range from:
- Basic Plans – $25+ per month with limited testing capabilities
- Standard Plans – $50+ per month with increased browser counts and testing minutes
- Enterprise Suits – $150+ per month with additional tools, customization and concurrency
- Custom Quotes – Large and complex organizations
Free trials lasting 14-28 days are common allowing ample ability to evaluate tools across your apps before purchasing.
TIP: Calculate expected monthly testing volumes and cycles to determine suitable pricing models for your team‘s needs.
Ease of Use
Ease of onboarding, learning and leveraging testing tools varies across providers as well:
| Platform | Notes |
|---|---|
| LambdaTest | Intuitive dashboards and workflow visualization |
| Shells | Integrates into Sauce Labs ecosystem |
| BrowserStack | Simple onboarding and setup |
| Testsigma | English-driven syntax minimizes learning curve |
| TestingBot | Straightforward browser access |
| Ghost Inspector | Browser extensions speed onboarding |
| TestGrid | Some initial configuration required |
| Sauce Labs | Visual user flows facilitate getting started |
| Mabl | Browser extension install simplifies onboarding |
| Perfecto | Enterprise scale can increase complexity |
Purpose built solutions like LambdaTest, BrowserStack and Sauce Labs invest heavily in intuitive interfaces that minimize ramp up time. Options like Testsigma and Mabl use browser extensions to further ease onboarding.
6 Tips for Getting Started Quickly
Follow these best practices for hitting the ground running leveraging cross browser testing tools:
1. Start with Manual Testing – Exploratory live testing uncovers the obvious issues quickly before expanding to test automation suites.
2. Define Key Browser Targets – Catalog the top desktop and mobile browsers your customers use then validate tool coverage against those upfront.
3. Run on PR Builds – Integrate browser testing sessions within PR reviews before code merges to catch issues proactively.
4. Baseline Performance – Profile site load times, JS execution and other perf metrics on known good builds as a baseline for comparisons.
5. Re-Test on Releases – Schedule smoke tests across browsers with each release to catch any regressions.
6. Grow Coverage Gradually – No need to test all platforms upfront – validate your priorities first then augment over time.
Final Recommendations
When evaluating the myriad of solutions available, BrowserStack, LambdaTest and Sauce Labs emerge as the overall leaders in features, capabilities and maturity:
-
BrowserStack – Offers exceptionally powerful automated and manual testing features wrapped in a highly intuitive interface. The Editor simplifies authoring tests without coding. Generous testing minutes plans and pricing tiers suit mid-market needs well. Integrates into all modern development ecosystems.
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LambdaTest – Leading browser, operating system and device coverage powered by a robust cloud testing platform. Intuitive dashboards facilitate all testing workflows from live testing to automation. Feature-packed offering also spans visual, performance and accessibility testing. Very generous free tier makes onboarding frictionless.
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Sauce Labs – Originally focused on test automation, Sauce has expanded significantly into manual testing as well. Key strengths include in-depth automation capabilities, visual testing innovations and strong enterprise scalability. Integrated device testing lab leverages both real mobile devices and emulators for diverse testing needs.
Reach out below for help identifying the right solution for your needs from this leading selection of top cross browser testing platforms.
