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Appium vs Apple Xcode comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Appium
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Regression Testing Tools (6th)
Apple Xcode
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Appium is 3.1%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Apple Xcode is 3.0%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Appium3.1%
Apple Xcode3.0%
Other93.9%
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Independent consultant, at OpenText
Efficient mobile testing with intuitive emulation capabilities and a user-friendly interface
Initial setup for Appium (especially for iOS) is not beginner-friendly.Consumes too much of your host machine's resources, potentially slowing down the machine.Appium Inspector often lacks deep insight or crashes with certain app builds. Improve test flakiness by intelligently selecting robust self-healing locators,simplified installers, better documentation, GUI-based config management,smart wait mechanisms and better failure logs.
Brajmohan Papneja - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Software Engineer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Supports mobile development through advanced interface design and integrated testing tools
Apple Xcode needs a lot of main memory. Sometimes when you are working on two projects, it becomes tough to handle and the application hangs. Memory optimization could be improved because developers are working on two or three projects together, and at that time it becomes hard to handle when configurations are low. For example, if you have 8GB RAM or 16GB RAM, you need higher GB RAM capacity.In Apple Xcode, if we could connect our Jira stories and user stories that the team has worked on, developers could directly look at the user stories they have worked on and the pull request so they can see the changes done. Currently all these things are already there, but we just need to map it correctly and then we can see the code changes. When creating a larger application with many dependent frameworks, we have the Swift Package Manager which helps resolve dependencies. Sometimes it does not work, so that is an area that could be improved.Apple provides all the technical assistance and is very open about it. You just need to create a ticket and they follow up on those tickets.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The automation part is extremely helpful in streamlining our processes."
"It's an open-source solution with a very large community and available documentation."
"Appium helps me to do as much as much as I want to."
"The solution is stable."
"It has great documentation and excellent community support."
"The way Appium server interacts with mobile apps is fantastic. It provides all the information about the elements inside the app, Android as well as iOS. I can interact with the element quickly, just type some text or get some text values from the element - whether it's a drop-down, or web text, or a native element."
"Appium provides a record-and-play option, and the commands are the same as those that Selenium uses. So a person who has some exposure to Selenium will be able to write a piece of code in Appium."
"Appium's wide support of programming languages is valuable."
"Xcode is pretty smart. It's easy to set up and works perfectly on Android."
"Xcode has quite a bit of code error checking built-in, which is great. It also goes a step further and suggests fixes."
"It is complete and relevant to the job at hand."
"The tool's most valuable features are debugging and code management."
"We like the ease of access and navigation that this solution provides."
"Apple Xcode is one of the most advanced tools which helps you write code and has integrated AI ability."
"It is stable and user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of Apple Xcode is that it is up to date."
 

Cons

"We need some bug fixes for nested elements."
"They should add an in-built framework."
"There is always a concern about the amount of code that is required to enhance the automation process. The idea of having less code or no code is what we would like to see in future updates."
"Stability is an area that needs some improvement."
"It breaks down."
"If it had more facility for configuration it would be a spectacular solution."
"We previously worked with native applications, and there weren't any good mobile app testing tools. We started working with React Native, which works well with Appium, but it would be good to see better integration; the way elements are displayed can be messy. React Native is very popular nowadays, so it's essential to have that compatibility."
"Configuration-wise, there is a lot of room for improvement."
"As Apple has introduced more and more features on top of Xcode, it sometimes, but very rarely, hangs."
"There is a drag-and-drop visual system, but as soon as you do something dynamic, then you are unable to use it."
"The size of Apple Xcode could improve. It is too large."
"There should be additional documentation on App Store deployment. In terms of features, they're pretty much on top of where they need to go. I've been happy with its progress so far. As things evolve, they need to evolve to match that need."
"Apple Xcode needs a lot of main memory. Sometimes when you are working on two projects, it becomes tough to handle and the application hangs."
"It is a bit challenging to sign in."
"We would like a 'light' version of this solution to be developed, as it currently uses a lot of memory space."
"It consists of multiple components and needs a simplified process. This particular area could be more stable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's completely 100% free, and there are no hidden fees."
"The solution is open source so it is free."
"I'm unsure if there's any cost associated with Appium. I got the free package which includes the server GUI application and the inspector application, and it was free to download, and that's all I need to get my work done. I'm not aware of any additional costs associated with the tool."
"The solution is open source."
"It's open source, so it's completely free."
"As far as I know, Appium is a free solution. It's not for commercial use."
"Appian is open-source, which is not licensed."
"The price is good for people to be able to make a favorable decision for the value."
"We don't have to pay for Apple Xcode's licenses."
"You can start off using Apple Xcode for free but if you start using some more of their enhanced features, it's going to be hundreds of dollars a month. There are corporate licenses but most individual users will not be worried about the corporate license, only your CFO will or the person in charge of the software department."
"It has an annual renewal."
"There are no licensing costs for Xcode and no hidden charges. You just download it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Retailer
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend Appium?
I do recommend Appium. It is an open-source solution and completely free of charge. We use Appium and Appium Studio as our base for any type of mobile automation for testing. It has a great interfa...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Appium?
My experience with Appium from a pricing perspective is favorable due to it being open source, making it a cost-effective option.
What needs improvement with Appium?
The deployment process and configuration are quite complex and require improvement. Additionally, the wait time functionality could be enhanced as I experienced failures with longer wait times.
What do you like most about Apple Xcode?
The tool's most valuable features are debugging and code management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apple Xcode?
Pricing for Apple Xcode is free. You just need to download Apple Xcode from the App Store.
What needs improvement with Apple Xcode?
Apple Xcode needs a lot of main memory. Sometimes when you are working on two projects, it becomes tough to handle and the application hangs. Memory optimization could be improved because developer...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nuvizz, Coupa Software, Eventbrite, Evernote
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Appium vs. Apple Xcode and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.