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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
8th
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
10th
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 February 2026, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Appium is 3.0%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Apple Xcode is 2.9%, 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 (%)
Appium3.0%
Apple Xcode2.9%
Other94.1%
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

"I haven't explored other solutions in this particular area, but what I like best about Appium is the fact that it shares functions with Selenium. The extension of Selenium functions allows me to use all of the methods that exist in that domain, and it just makes it simpler for me. I've been using Selenium for some time as well, so using Appium just seems like a natural fit for me."
"Appium's wide support of programming languages is valuable."
"It can be used with different programming languages."
"The solution helps with test automation. We focus mostly on Java."
"The most valuable feature is that it's easy to launch applications. Appium has everything that Selenium has. So many good tools support Appium. We can take some Excel sheets and use them to fill out the text box that's in there. We can also take screenshots of failures."
"Appium helps me to do as much as much as I want to."
"It runs completely flawlessly and seamlessly every day."
"The solution is easy to use."
"Xcode has quite a bit of code error checking built-in, which is great. It also goes a step further and suggests fixes."
"We like the ease of access and navigation that this solution provides."
"Xcode is pretty smart. It's easy to set up and works perfectly on Android."
"The most valuable feature of Apple Xcode is that it is up to date."
"The tool's most valuable features are debugging and code management."
"It is stable and user-friendly."
"It is complete and relevant to the job at hand."
"Apple Xcode is one of the most advanced tools which helps you write code and has integrated AI ability."
 

Cons

"If it had more facility for configuration it would be a spectacular solution."
"It needs to accommodate applications that use React.js and AngularJS."
"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."
"The user interface needs improvement because there are issues when setting up environment variables."
"We haven't been able to fully leverage Appium for multiple reasons. I think number one is just that the tests take a long time to run. We have had some issues around just the results themselves and how predictable they are, but those are not issues with Appium directly."
"We need some bug fixes for nested elements."
"The tool needs to add a dependency manager."
"The installation part of Appium is somewhat clumsy, requiring numerous dependencies and configurations."
"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."
"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."
"It consists of multiple components and needs a simplified process. This particular area could be more stable."
"It is a bit challenging to sign in."
"As Apple has introduced more and more features on top of Xcode, it sometimes, but very rarely, hangs."
"The size of Apple Xcode could improve. It is too large."
"There is a drag-and-drop visual system, but as soon as you do something dynamic, then you are unable to use it."
"We would like a 'light' version of this solution to be developed, as it currently uses a lot of memory space."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We found out that we could explore features of the solution for 30 days trial. We can switch to a permanent license later if we want."
"There is no license for this solution because it is open-source."
"The price is good for people to be able to make a favorable decision for the value."
"Appian is open-source, which is not licensed."
"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."
"Appium is free and open-source."
"As far as I know, Appium is a free solution. It's not for commercial use."
"We don't have to pay for Apple Xcode's licenses."
"There are no licensing costs for Xcode and no hidden charges. You just download it."
"It has an annual renewal."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
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.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.