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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 (7th)
Katalon Studio
Ranking in Regression Testing Tools
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
API Testing Tools (4th), Test Automation Tools (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Regression Testing Tools category, the mindshare of Appium is 3.7%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Katalon Studio is 16.0%, down from 17.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Regression Testing Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Luis Gerardo Meneses Hernandez - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows for direct interaction with an application's DOM but complex configuration
What I like about Appium right now is that it's like Cypress in the sense that I can get to the new DOM of the application and select the components and create the functions to test the components in the way I want them to be tested. That's why I like it right now.
Appu Ashok - PeerSpot reviewer
Expansive integrations boost automation potential across devices
I am in the field of product research and am familiar with Katalon Studio for product comparisons and test automation. Even though I am not an active tester, I have created a few tests using Katalon Studio Some of our customers use Katalon Studio, however, our own product, Tangene, is a…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We get a list that shows all devices that are connected to the system."
"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."
"The solution is easy to use."
"We do not need to pay for the solution. It’s free."
"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."
"The automation part is extremely helpful in streamlining our processes."
"The solution helps with test automation. We focus mostly on Java."
"What I like about Appium right now is that it's like Cypress in the sense that............. to test the components in the way I want them to be tested."
"One of the features that I like is Object Recognition. It worked very well, and it allowed me to create a dynamic expert based on my requirements."
"I would recommend Katalon Studio, especially if you do not require a license."
"It is easy for a non-technical person to use and adopt."
"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."
"Katalon Studio has the highest number of integrations compared to other tools at a similar price point, such as Jira, Brokerstack, and Jenkins."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward and easy enough to complete."
"It is good for API testing. It is also good for continuous integration testing. You can connect it to Jenkins."
"Video capture on failure is a must have. A picture is worth a thousand words. A video is worth a thousand pictures (literally)."
 

Cons

"Configuration-wise, there is a lot of room for improvement."
"It breaks down."
"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."
"Configuring the project to be used in Appium is a little bit tedious."
"Stability is an area that needs some improvement."
"Appium can improve when the case fails, there should be a feature where you can generate the report from Appium. Once you're on a test case, automatically the screenshot should be captured which would avoid manual intervention. These features would be beneficial to migrate to Appium."
"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 tool needs to add a dependency manager."
"I would like Katalon Studio to develop manual test case generation using AI capabilities, as other tools like those using OpenAI are already doing this."
"The product’s regression testing time could be reduced."
"The pricing could be improved. Offering a discount on Katalon Studio licenses could encourage more users."
"One aspect that can be improved is testing for desktop applications. I would like to see them support more technologies in this area."
"Support options need improvement. It is sometimes hard to find a solution to any given problem, thus you are forced to use another solution."
"Katalon lacks integration with other software, including integrating other languages like .NET and PHP."
"Extending the certification validity, especially after the trial period, would be beneficial."
"They need to work on documentation to make it more centralized and easier to find what you are looking for."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open source."
"Appium is free and open-source."
"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."
"Appium is open source; we can use it for free."
"The pricing of Appium is fine."
"The solution is open-source."
"The price is good for people to be able to make a favorable decision for the value."
"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."
"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 pricing is good. It is the market average."
"There is no cost for setup or licensing."
"I am using the free version."
"The tool's pricing is cheap compared to other alternatives. I would rate the tool's pricing a three out of ten."
"We are using the free version. We plan on getting a paid version because there is a limitation in terms of the number of users. We want to maximize it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
5%
Computer Software Company
17%
Educational Organization
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Appium?
Appium helps me to do as much as much as I want to.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Katalon Studio?
Katalon Studio is on the expensive side. I rated it eight on a scale where ten is very expensive. I recommend optimizing the pricing, as a moderate value around five would be preferred.
What needs improvement with Katalon Studio?
The pricing could be improved. Offering a discount on Katalon Studio licenses could encourage more users. There is significant competition, so providing a good offer with extra features could be be...
 

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: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.