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Appium vs Katalon Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 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 Regression Testing Tools
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Development Platforms (8th)
Katalon Studio
Ranking in Regression Testing Tools
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
API Testing Tools (4th), Test Automation Tools (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Regression Testing Tools category, the mindshare of Appium is 2.4%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Katalon Studio is 9.7%, down from 17.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Regression Testing Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Katalon Studio9.7%
Appium2.4%
Other87.9%
Regression Testing Tools
 

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.
Ramanagowda Hullur - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Automation Engineer at Stryker
Recording limitations and remote access challenges have affected desktop application testing
Katalon Studio has proven effective in our deliverables, particularly in designing the framework where other tools typically require coding in client libraries such as Python or Java. With Katalon Studio, there is no such complexity, allowing us to organize projects modularly based on folder structures without needing to write separate code. The self-healing feature for web application automation and its built-in CI/CD ecosystem integration eliminates the need for external tools for pipeline setup. Katalon Studio excels in CI/CD integration, providing an inbuilt ecosystem without the need for external setup, and it features a postings structure along with keyword and library availability. Newcomers to the team can easily adapt to the setup or project structure, which contributes to its popularity, along with its low-code or no-code capability that allows for a comprehensive platform supporting web, mobile, API, and desktop automation. The self-healing mechanism for test cases autonomously identifies issues with locators and ensures they continue functioning, which is impressive, along with the robust object repository. Katalon Studio has significantly aided our team, especially when clients expect deliveries for CI/CD integration that requires automation test scripts to run on a daily schedule. The self-healing feature automatically identifies available locators for elements in the DOM, ensuring that test cases remain functional. Katalon Studio has positively impacted our organization by facilitating faster delivery when clients have urgent requirements. We can deliver quickly based on urgency due to the features Katalon Studio provides. This has led to significant reductions in time spent on framework configuration, designing, and training individuals who are unfamiliar with the tool, helping us save both time and costs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Appium has easy interaction with mobile."
"It's an open-source solution with a very large community and available documentation."
"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."
"The best feature of Appium is that it allows you to inspect the element. With the Appium Inspector, you don't have to install another application to do the inspection. I also like that Appium has Android device connectivity. Currently, most people use Appium as automation software, and I haven't found any other tool that's more powerful than Appium."
"Appium helps me to do as much as much as I want to."
"The interface is user-friendly, which is beneficial for users, even for those who are new to it."
"The library is extensive so the driver interacts with most functions or actions on mobile devices."
"Obviously because of automation, it reduces manual testing efforts."
"This solution is very user-friendly to learn and implement, and less technical knowledge is required to handle automation."
"The most valuable feature of Katalon Studio is visual testing. It compares the look and feel of an application which is useful."
"I rate Katalon Studio's scalability a four out of five."
"Our clients have requested by all types of testing, including mobile, desktop, and API testing and all of those are covered by Katalon. I find that very valuable, very complete."
"The most valuable feature is its automation security capabilities."
"It has been good so far for API testing on Mac. It is not that hard to learn and use. There is so much support out there, so if anyone wants to start using it, there is enough help."
"Video capture on failure is a must have. A picture is worth a thousand words. A video is worth a thousand pictures (literally)."
"Katalon Studio is easier to use compared to SmartBear TestComplete."
 

Cons

"If it had more facility for configuration it would be a spectacular solution."
"Support-wise, it could be better."
"The deployment process and configuration are quite complex and require improvement."
"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 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."
"An application developed on the Unity platform, such as a gaming application, objects are moving in that case. Interacting with those elements is still lacking in Appium. Appium doesn't have the internal library to play with the Unity platform. That is a huge lack right now."
"The installation part of Appium is somewhat clumsy, requiring numerous dependencies and configurations."
"What needs improvement in Appium is its documentation. It needs to give more context on the libraries that Appium is using under the hood. For example, my team is using Appium for Android automation, and a lot of times, I feel that there's functionality that's available through the Appium interface, that exists within the UIAutomator, but there aren't a lot of useful or helpful resources on the internet to find that information, so it would be good to have some linkage with the underlying platform itself. Another room for improvement in Appium is that it's buggy sometimes. For example, at times, there's a bug in the inspector application that doesn't allow me to save my desired capability set, so it would be nice to get that bug fixed, but overall, Appium is a good tool. The Touch Actions functionality in Appium also needs improvement. For example, if I want to initiate a scroll on the device that I'm running Appium on, sometimes Swipe works, but in other situations, I have to explicitly use action chains, so I'm not too sure what's the better approach. What I'd like to see in the next version of Appium is a more intelligent and more intuitive AppiumLibrary, in terms of identifying menus and scroll bars, etc., because right now, I'm unsure if I have to do a lot of export reversals to get to the elements I'm looking for. It would be nice to have some functionality built in, which would allow me to easily get those exports."
"The pricing could be improved. Offering a discount on Katalon Studio licenses could encourage more users."
"I've seen that our clients are not truly aware of the power behind Katalon."
"We have been seeing some error pop-ups that are difficult to understand why they were triggered."
"My recently-updated Katalon studio version hangs a lot and is not a stable version."
"The price of Katalon Studio is an area of concern where improvement is required."
"The product’s regression testing time could be reduced."
"One needed improvement is that if I run it one time, it works, but if I run it continuously, the application gets stuck."
"Extending the certification validity, especially after the trial period, would be beneficial."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As far as I know, Appium is a free solution. It's not for commercial use."
"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."
"This is an open source solution so it does not cost anything for licensing or otherwise."
"The solution is open source."
"It's completely 100% free, and there are no hidden fees."
"The price is good for people to be able to make a favorable decision for the value."
"The pricing of Appium is fine."
"Its pricing is quite reasonable. If you require their help in getting started, then there is a professional services fee on top of the product license cost."
"In terms of pricing, Katalon, Selenium, and Cypress all represent a similar level of investment. The software for these tools are either true open source or almost open source (because they charge a small fee), so pricing is a neutral point for me."
"The cost of Katalon Studio is expensive but it is less than some of the other solutions, such as Micro Focus UFT or SmartBear TestComplete. The cost is the main reason we are using Katalon Studio."
"The prices are very high."
"It is freeware software, so start using it."
"The price is not high it's good."
"I am using the free version."
"There is a free version of the tool to use and support is available through the community forums, but there is a licensed version as well."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
5%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
6%
 

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 Business21
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise25
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Katalon Studio?
Pricing felt reasonable for the features provided, especially considering the time saved during the automation setup and execution. From a user perspective, Katalon Studio offers good value, partic...
What needs improvement with Katalon Studio?
I feel nothing needs improvement for Katalon Studio, as it is already the best in the industry, providing the best enhancement for users. Katalon Studio is already top-notch with no need to improve.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nuvizz, Coupa Software, Eventbrite, Evernote
Coca-Cola Tesla Black Board TaTa Consultancy Services Sony
Find out what your peers are saying about Appium vs. Katalon Studio and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.