Decades of Leadership in the Software Testing Industry

AscentialTest has been forming in the minds of our founders for several years. After building QA Partner/SilkTest at Segue Software in the 90s, they got the opportunity to use their product extensively in the field. As consultants implementing test automation with various tools for more than 10 years, they’ve formed a thorough assessment of the state of the field. What they found surprised them: automated tests were too expensive to build.

Furthermore, the requirement for programming skills to move beyond the superficial tests that can be recorded left out too many members of the team. They also discovered that a large portion of test development time is spent ‘writing code’ to workaround object recognition deficiencies. Some users estimate that time to approach 80%. Clearly this explains why the decision to adopt automation is not always straightforward. With a fresh understanding of the challenges and our heads full of ideas, we’re energized and excited to bring about the next paradigm shift in test automation.

Brian has been working in the field of test automation for more than 30 years. Brian began as a QA Engineer using the testing tools available in the early 1980’s. He joined Segue Software in its infancy and served as the EVP of R&D during that company’s golden years. Brian formed Star Quality, a consulting firm specializing in test automation in the late 90s. After 12 years of experience in the trenches, he’s excited to be building the next generation testing tool that will increase the productivity and and effectiveness of test and development teams.

Dave is a pioneer in the field of automated testing. Dave developed ATF, one of the first automation tools, more than 20 yeas ago. He was a founder and Chief Architect of Segue Software, Inc., the original creators of QA Partner/SilkTest. Dave believes that no testing tool can be easy to use without a solid foundation. That’s why he is committed to providing AscentialTest’s universal agent with the most powerful object recognition engine in the industry.

Pricing Plans - Solo Testers to Large Enterprise Teams

Not seeing a pricing package that fits your needs? Want to compare us directly to a competitor’s offering? Tell us more, let us take a shot at providing a custom or lower cost package.

Subscription

Solo Testers

Starting at $200/mo

“The Selenium Killer”

Subscription

Teams

Starting at $380/mo

Subscription

Unlimited

Starting at $6k/mo

Perpetual License

Teams

Starting at $8.4k

Perpetual License

Unlimited

Other Resources

Upcoming Webinar

Building Reusable Verification Tests

Tue, Jun 25, 2024 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT

The participant will learn:
* How indirection and dynamic instantiation are used to build generic test steps
* How to create universal verification steps and functions
* About built-in functions that provide information about the current state of the target application
* How metadata can be used to set object-related test data
* How to create a test that walks the main menu of an application, opening and closing each dialog

See How We Achieved an 83% Five Star Rating on Gartner

See how AscentialTest compares to the competition, using 18 key features and functions and across 14 different development platforms

  • Supported Platforms (14)
  • Integrated Test Planning
  • Object Recognition
  • Object Repository
  • Test Frameworks
  • Foreign Language UX
  • Drag Generations of Actions
  • Reusable Steps
  • Scripting
  • Manual Testing
  • Parallel Execution
  • Integrated Defect Tracking
  • Test Localization
  • Test Portability
  • Test Management
  • Test Execution Management
  • Integrated Version Control
  • Integrated Test Management

Eggplant

Gartner 5 Star Reviews:

0 %

TestComplete

Gartner 5 Star Reviews:

0 %

Tosca

Gartner 5 Star Reviews:

0 %

Ranorex Studio

Gartner 5 Star Reviews:

0 %

Features

Platforms

Still playing with Selenium? 

AscentialTest is easier to learn, easier to use, and easier to maintain.

Software testing isn’t a puzzle to be solved, it is a job to be done. What is Selenium costing you in terms of wasted time? See below.

Feature/Function

AscentialTest

Selenium

Time Cost

Tool setup and configurationNo setup or configurationRequires knowledge of required development environments and programming conceptsSeveral Days
Test frameworkAutomatically generated. Users begin creating tests right awayMust be custom-built and then tested. Frameworks can take weeks or months to complete.Several Weeks
Browser supportEdge, Firefox, Chrome. Handles all web application components including dynamic tablesIE, Firefox , Chrome, Opera. Does not handle all web components, e.g. popup windows, dynamic tablesVaries based on complexity
Non-browser based
application support
Yes, including windows, dotNet, PowerBuilder, Terminals, Java and many othersNoDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Coding experienceNone requiredYes. Requires experienced staff with skills to integrate the framework and code testsSkillset is costly
Software costLicense and annualFree maintenance fee 
Script generation time Drag and drop acceleratesScripting is time-consuming test developmentOngoing costs are high, easily take 4 or 5 times longer to develop tests
Test maintenance Abstraction and encapsulation results in high reuse and low maintenanceHigh, tests are difficult and costly to maintainOngoing costs are high, Easily take 4 or 5 times longer to maintain tests
Test Execution Time30 to 40% faster than SeleniumExecution time is slowTests run 5x faster on AscentialTest
Object recognition
/repository
Powerful object recognition with a multitude of attributes used to identify objects. Built-in Repository. Dynamic objects recognizedUses xPath, id, name and others, but not very effective. Repository not available. Dynamic objects are difficult to recognize reliablyTwice as long to define objects
Image-based object recognitionYesRequires third-party tools and coding to implementDays to build or search for and implement a third-party solution
Test Data tablesProvides built-in data tables that automatically handles data types of any level of complexityRequires use of external data tablesDays to search for and implement a third-party solution
Startup and recoveryBuilt-in and customizable.No. Must be called for each test.No solution in Selenium, each test starts a new browser
Drag & Drop UIYes, making test development quick and easyNo, uses a code editorScripting takes 2 or 3 times longer than drag & drop
Distributed testingYes, single or multiple remote targets can be controlledPossible, but requires skill-set and coding to configureDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Scheduling testsBuilt-inA lot of code must be written to implement schedulingDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Batch executionYes from Plan, Suite or Test SetYes, but knowledge required to run through Pom.xmlDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Image capture/compare Yes, includes masking and toleranceRequires third-party tools and a lot of code to implementDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Integration with SVNBuilt-in, including external non-AscentialTest filesA lot of custom code must be written for integration and management of filesDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Integration with JIRABuilt-inA lot of custom code must be written for integrationDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Integration with JenkinsYesYes 
Test reportsStandard and custom reports available for test results and metricsNoDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Test managementBuilt-inNoDays to build (or search for and implement a third-party solution)
Dependence on access to target applicationTests can be developed using snapshots when target application is unavailableApplication must be available to develop tests 
Software upgradesZeenyx provided installerUser must manually track upgrades for their IDE, webdrivers and any plug-ins being used 

Solo Testers - Get Started Now

Full Platform + 2 Extensions: $200/mo

...Or Start a 30 Day Free Trial

Get Started Today: 6 Month Free Trial

Click here to download the Host ID generator. The download package includes full instructions. Please send us your details below to speed the process along.

Get a Competitive Quote

Our Distribution and Consulting Partners

Appeon

Cigniti

Loop Software

Marlabs

Matryxsoft Tech

Novalys

OCS Consulting

Loading...

What We Are Up To Next

TFS/Azure Integration

Check our new Azure extension for executing AscentialTest command lines in the Azure Marketplace.

We look forward to offering additional integration with Microsoft’s Team Foundation Server and Azure through defect tracking and version control soon.

Omnis Studio

Automated testing support for OMNIS Studio is coming soon. All OMNIS elements will be supported including complex grids, list boxes, tables and tree views.

Custom Objects

Add automated testing support easily for your custom application elements by responding to simple test API messages with json strings. This feature will open up the possibility of testing any GUI element and  will be offered free of charge.

Test Debugger

Set breakpoints in your automated tests, view global and local variables and execute statements to make it easier to debug tests running on any of our supported platforms.

Thank you for submitting your inquiry!

We will get back to you ASAP.  We aim to respond to all inquiries within 24 hours.