Katalon Recorder & Selenium IDE are two of the best and most used browser automation tools. However, more than 500,000 users have eventually turned towards Katalon Recorder. The figures are surprising, especially when a huge community of testers prefers to stick with selenium test automation.
Especially when Selenium IDE discontinued from Firefox 55 onwards, a large community of testers was left disappointed. Though there are so many alternatives available for selenium IDE, the team at Katalon Studio introduced Katalon Recorder for all the users who were not able to use Selenium IDE and were looking for a handy alternative to popular open-source frameworks.
The best part is Katalon Recorder is highly compatible with the latest versions of Chrome and Firefox. Moreover, it is designed to run automated updates when a new browser version is released so that all the latest features are available to the users. Besides, Katalon Recorder allows users to record actions for all the test cases with ease to capture all web elements. Also, the interface on Katalon Recorder offers great convenience to users when it comes to editing, debugging, running test cases, and test suites, which in fact is a great treat for users who prefer testing with selenium.
The Comparison: Selenium IDE Vs. Katalon Recorder
Selenium IDE and Katalon Recorder both share so many similarities when it comes to functions. However, the latter was designed to meet the expanding needs of the testing community, allowing them to have integration benefits. Here we bring you a quick list of functions that we have used to compare Selenium IDE vs. Katalon Recorder:
Similarities
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Both the tools offer record and playback features with great ease and simplicity.
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Both the tools have intelligent locators that can detect IDs, Names, & Xpath.
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Both the tools allow running autocomplete commands.
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From steps to test case and test suites, both allow easy test execution.
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Both the tools have assertion options available with them.
Dissimilarities
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Selenium IDE offers export language support for C#, Java, Python, & Ruby, while Katalon Recorder offers additional language support with Robot Framework and Katalon Studio.
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Selenium IDE supporting browsers include Firefox54 and Prior, while Katalon Recorder offers support for all the latest versions of chrome and Firefox.
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While Selenium IDE had no integration options, Katalon Recorder offers integration functions through Katalon Analytics.
Why Katalon Recorder?
Katalon Recorder is one the most useful yet qualitative substitutes for all the testers using Selenium IDE or similar open-source frameworks. However, there are so many significant reasons why Katalon Recorder has managed to gain huge popularity. Some of the few benefits that most software testing companies are trying to yield with Katalon Recorder include:
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Quick Testing: The most prominent reason why Katalon Recorder managed to gain huge popularity in a small amount of time is the ease it offers in the execution of test cases and recording. The tool is made to give huge save on time to the testers. For instance, tasks like repetitive project creation and URL specification on traditional tools like Selenium IDE tend to be much more consuming. However, Katalon Recorder allows testers to take on test operations much more quickly.
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Manual & Automation Integrations: Product development such as software or application building requires testers to have a smooth flow of manual and automation testing. However, running such integrations often gets difficult with Selenium IDE, while Katalon Recorder is built to execute automated as well as manual tests with great ease without any execution issues.
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Manage Tests With Ease: Another big benefit that you could yield with the use of Selenium IDE is the ability to access centralized test reports where you can allow your team to collaborate in the review process. Katalon’s built-in integrations and Katalon TestOps both allow users to have insights through well-designed charts with ease of sharing test results.
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Support, Upgrades, & Improvement: One big problem with the use of Selenium IDE is the lack of a dedicated team that is working on user support, documentation, & defining the roadmap for the product. On the other hand, Katalon Recorder comes with the label of Katalon, which is a leading quality assurance platform that constantly focuses on integrations that can add value to Katalon Recorder and other products.
Exploring Katalon Recorder In Detail: Features & More
The best thing that testers aligned with selenium automation testing could experience with Katalon Recorder is the similarity of the features it shares with Selenium IDE. Besides, users can also find some exporting assistance on the Katalon recorder with tools like Robot Framework and the Katalon Studio.
In case you are looking for installation links to the Katalon Recorder extension, consider following these links for Chrome and Firefox.
Curious About Selenium WebDriver?
Have a read on understanding what makes Selenium WebDriver better than Selenium IDE.
Moreover, the Katalon recorder is highly compatible with the groovy programming language configurations. The tool is highly effective for teams that are strictly working on Selenium IDE as it offers quality debugging, test recording, and test case reproduction for all the versions of Chrome and Firefox browsers.
Besides, Katalon Automation Recorder is quite easy to install as you just need to click the Add To Firefox button, and the tool gets installed on your browser within 10 seconds. Let us quickly run through all the features that you find with Katalon Automation Recorder:
- Katalon Recorder can be used for quick recording, playing, debugging test cases, with access to pause/resume and breakpoint definition
- If you need to enjoy the fastest execution speed, Katalon Recorder is made for you
- Katalon Recorder offers you compatibility on all Selenese commands, which means ease of importing tests to Katalon Recorder if you are following Selenium Automation Testing through Selenium 4.
- Katalon even allows support for HTML’s element but only for chrome
- It offers smooth flow control with commands containing if/else if/else and while
- Data-driven test support with ease of importing data from CSV file
- Futuristic reporting with access to Katalon Analytics integration, screenshots, and logs, making it easy to run advanced execution analysis for tests.
- Users could enjoy exporting Selenium WebDriver Scripts for different frameworks and languages, including C# (MSTest and NUnit), Groovy (Katalon Studio), Java (TestNG and JUnit), Python (unit test), Robot Framework, Ruby (RSpec), and XML.
- Katalon Studio allows advanced automation testing with integration support, allowing easy creation, execution, managing, and organizing tests.
In A Nutshell...
Katalon Recorder is made to cut off all the hassle that any selenium testing company tends to face with selenium IDE. It is free, easy to install, and quick. Besides, the ease of use and support on different frameworks and languages make this tool more impactful. Just like Selenium, IDE has all the features preserved with the tool, with so many new commands available to make automation more powerful.
Above all, the tool is a great help for testers who are habitual of using the Selenium testing framework, unlike other tools or software available in the market. More importantly, Katalon Recorder allows support for all the upcoming versions of chrome and Firefox offering the greatest testing capabilities to the users.
In conclusion, Katalon Recorder is a highly valuable and trustworthy tool that allows easy management of the tests making it the most pleasing alternative to selenium IDE. And if you are having trouble running repetitive automation test tasks, shifting to Katalon Recorder could help you get a boost of productivity and skills.
Need help understanding Katalon Recorder? Or having trouble managing your software project running on Selenium IDE? Or Hiring Selenium Testers? Let our experts at BugRaptors be the helping hand you need. Let’s Connect Today.
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