IBM Rational Test Workbench vs SmartBear TestComplete comparison

IBM and SmartBear are both solutions in the Test Automation Tools category. IBM is ranked #27, while SmartBear is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.5. IBM holds a 1.2% mindshare in TAt, compared to SmartBear’s 6.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of SmartBear users who would recommend it.

IBM Rational Test Workbench

Read 4 IBM Rational Test Workbench reviews

883 Views
486 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SmartBear TestComplete

Read 76 SmartBear TestComplete reviews

4,628 Views
3,517 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

IBM Rational Test Workbench

SmartBear TestComplete

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

SmartBear TestComplete and IBM Rational Test Workbench are competing in the software testing industry, offering robust automated testing tools. Data shows that SmartBear TestComplete is more competitive in terms of pricing, appealing to budget-conscious buyers, whereas IBM Rational Test Workbench justifies its higher cost with advanced features suitable for complex demands.

Features: SmartBear TestComplete features automated script generation, intuitive keyword-driven testing, and support for desktop, web, and mobile applications. IBM Rational Test Workbench excels in cross-platform testing, offers strong integration with IBM’s development tools, and provides capabilities for complex test environments.

Room for Improvement: SmartBear TestComplete could benefit from improved mobile testing support, enhancing script stability, and broadening integration options. IBM Rational Test Workbench might improve its user interface, simplify its deployment process, and offer more competitive pricing models.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SmartBear TestComplete offers straightforward deployment with extensive documentation and responsive support. In contrast, IBM Rational Test Workbench requires significant setup time and resources due to its complex nature, though it provides robust customer service.

Pricing and ROI: SmartBear TestComplete offers a competitive pricing model with flexible licensing, providing a strong ROI for small to mid-sized markets. IBM Rational Test Workbench, while costly, promises substantial ROI owing to its comprehensive feature set suitable for large-scale environments, making choices dependent on budget constraints and feature requirements.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Rational Test Workbench vs. SmartBear TestComplete Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational Test Workbench vs. SmartBear TestComplete

January 2026

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Helped 881,733 peers since 2012

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

IBM Rational Test Workbench

Ranking in Test Automation Tools

27th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Performance Testing Tools (19th), API Testing Tools (15th)

SmartBear TestComplete

Ranking in Test Automation Tools

6th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Functional Testing Tools (8th), Regression Testing Tools (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Test Automation Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Rational Test Workbench is 1.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SmartBear TestComplete is 6.0%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Test Automation Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SmartBear TestComplete	6.0%
IBM Rational Test Workbench	1.2%
Other	92.8%

Test Automation Tools

Featured Reviews

reviewer1513668

IT Specialist, ITE at a government with 10,001+ employees

Good reporting and interface, but supports limited types of protocols and requires low-level script editing

It should have more interfaces. In terms of interfaces or protocols, what you can do with Rational is far limited as compared to other products out there. What it does, it does great, but it only gives you limited types of protocols. It supports between 8 to 15 types of protocols, whereas other test tools give you 20 to 30 types of protocols with which you can do testing and convert to script. It records Javascript-based scripts, and you got to know a little bit of Java to basically be able to edit them, but the level of editing you got to do is very low. I like that, but the ability to edit the script is not as good as Parasoft or LoadRunner, which have C-Script.

Read full review

Prakhar Goel

Sr Test Lead at Emerson

Used for integration automation, user-based automation, and web automation

The solution's most valuable features are the drag-and-drop feature, keyword-driven approach, and reusability of the scripts. The solution has introduced a new feature that helps us identify objects we cannot normally identify. It gives you a fair idea of objects, resolving the object recognition issue. The solution can be used to perform different tests on different machines.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution provides for API testing, functional UI testing, performance testing, and service virtualization."

"Reporting is pretty good. Its interface is also good. I'm overall pretty happy with the functionality and use of IBM Rational Test Workbench."

"The most valuable features are the desktop and mobile modules."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its ability to integrate with Azure DevOps for continuous integration and deployment."

"The most valuable feature is the integration with Azure DevOps."

"The integration with various tools is important."

"The product is stable for what we are currently using it for, and it is sufficient for us."

"It is very easy to maintain tests with this tool. It covers all necessary items in the test plan. The most painful item in testing is maintenance. When changes occur, the tests should be maintained."

"It is a strong automation tool for desktop, browser, and API testing."

"The initial setup is pretty easy and it's quick to deploy."

More SmartBear TestComplete pros

Cons

"It should have more interfaces. In terms of interfaces or protocols, what you can do with Rational is far limited as compared to other products out there. What it does, it does great, but it only gives you limited types of protocols. It supports between 8 to 15 types of protocols, whereas other test tools give you 20 to 30 types of protocols with which you can do testing and convert to script. It records Javascript-based scripts, and you got to know a little bit of Java to basically be able to edit them, but the level of editing you got to do is very low. I like that, but the ability to edit the script is not as good as Parasoft or LoadRunner, which have C-Script."

"There are a number of things that they can do to simplify the tools, but the most important thing that they need to do is simplify the installation."

"At times, identifying or locating an element can be somewhat challenging. However, in a recent test update, they introduced Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capability. This introduction has reduced the challenges to some extent, as we can now utilize OCR if the normal method doesn't work. Nevertheless, there is still significant potential for improvement in TestComplete's ability to identify various object elements. I don't have any specific concerns to mention. I have observed significant improvements in TestComplete over the past few years, especially in its support for highly dynamic object elements used in products like Salesforce Dynamics 365. In earlier versions, there were numerous challenges, but the current version is far superior to its predecessors."

"Product is not stable enough and it crashes often."

"The solution’s customer support should be improved."

"TestComplete gives support to do requests to a SOAP web service but has no support to do HTTP requests on Restful services."

"The pricing is the constraint."

"The recording function, when using Python, could be improved, as it does not work well in recording testing."

"We were testing handheld barcode scanners running WindowsCE with many menus of warehouse functions, and our biggest problem was the timing between input and responses."

"Headless testing would be a big improvement."

More SmartBear TestComplete cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is a little bit on the higher side, although it is really good."

"It doesn't really concern me. Licensing is on a yearly basis."

"The solution is around $1500. Some are perpetual licenses, and some get a yearly report card."

"The solution's pricing is too high."

"It comes with a high cost."

"The option we chose was around $2,000 USD."

"My advice so far, is that while it’s not quite as powerful and easy to use as UFT, its price tag more than makes up for it."

"The solution's licensing cost has increased because it has moved to some new SLM-based licenses."

"It is approximately $6,000 a year."

"The pricing is a little above average — it could be lower."

More SmartBear TestComplete pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

31%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Non Profit

University

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	32

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about SmartBear TestComplete?

TestComplete has strong reporting capabilities. The reports they generate are really good.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SmartBear TestComplete?

I am not involved in pricing or licensing; our management team handles these aspects.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SmartBear TestComplete?

While using SmartBear TestComplete, we are fine with the current capabilities, however, it would be beneficial to improve some performance aspects, especially the image comparison feature. Occasion...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 10% of the time

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Apache JMeter vs IBM Rational Test Workbench

Compared 9% of the time

Postman Enterprise vs IBM Rational Test Workbench

Compared 8% of the time

Tricentis Tosca vs IBM Rational Test Workbench

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM Rational Test Workbench Competitors

Tricentis Tosca vs SmartBear TestComplete

Compared 24% of the time

Eggplant Test vs SmartBear TestComplete

Compared 12% of the time

Ranorex Studio vs SmartBear TestComplete

Compared 9% of the time

OpenText Functional Testing vs SmartBear TestComplete

Compared 6% of the time

Katalon Studio vs SmartBear TestComplete

Compared 5% of the time

More SmartBear TestComplete Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Performance Testing Tools

February 2026

Download IBM Rational Test Workbench product report

Buyer's Guide

SmartBear TestComplete

January 2026

Download SmartBear TestComplete product report

Also Known As

Rational Test Workbench, IBM Rational Performance Tester, IBM Functional Tester, IBM Rational Test Virtualization Server

No data available

Overview

IBM Rational Test Workbench provides a comprehensive test automation solution for mobile applications, regression testing, integration technologies and performance and scalability testing. It helps you build intelligent and interconnected enterprise applications that can be deployed on traditional and cloud infrastructures. With Rational Test Workbench, you can significantly reduce test cycle times, moving integration testing earlier in the development lifecycle.

IBM

What is SmartBear TestComplete?

TestComplete is a reliable, sturdy automated testing platform created by SmartBear Software. SmartBear Software is a worldwide technological leader known for developing quality enterprise-class development and testing solutions.

TestComplete simplifies the process of creating tests for numerous applications, including, but not limited to; Desktop, Android, IOS, Web browsers, and Windows. Application tests can be manual, scripted, and even recorded by using keyword-driven or data-driven functionality. There are even additional options for error reporting and automated playback. The object repository is extremely accurate and is fully customizable. TestComplete can easily be used by experienced developers and even by manual novice testers to develop quality automated UI tests quickly.

TestComplete offers three different testing scenarios:

Desktop: Users can easily and quickly automate UI tests using today’s most popular desktop applications, such as; Windows, Java, Python,.Net, VBScript, and more.
Web: Users can effortlessly create renewable tests for all of today’s popular web applications, including JavaScript frameworks on 2000+ trusted browser and platform integrations.
Mobile: Users can safely build and automate serviceable UI tests on actual or virtual android or IOS devices, locally or in the cloud. Users can create code or codeless tests. TestComplete seamlessly integrates with many of today’s popular frameworks.

Key Features

Easily create automated UI tests: TestComplete offers scriptless Record and Replay or simple keyword-driven tests to quickly develop any type of UI test users may require. Tests can be recorded once, then replayed when needed across various applications on mobile, web, or desktop environments. TestComplete integrates with many different languages, such as Java, Python, C+, and more.
Keyword driven tests: Users can easily divide testing steps, actions, objects, and data with an integrated keyword-driven test structure. This makes it easy for every user to participate in the test automation process; there is no programming experience needed. Everything is made simple with easy-to-use point-and-click options.
Data driven tests: Easily distinguish data from test commands to keep administrative efforts simple. Users can improve overall coverage by running various automated mobile, desktop, or web UI tests.
Record and Replay: Users can reuse created automated tests across every environment as often as desired. This helps to expand overall test coverage and represents a huge cost and time savings.

Reviews from Real Users

Sandhiya T S., Sr Solutions Engineer at Lexington Soft, relates, “The record and replay aspects of the solution are quite useful for people. With them, you don't have to write any scripts. Basically, you can record your actions and play them back later. The initial setup is also very easy.”

Sai S R., Staff Test Architect at a tech services company, says, "The most valuable features of the SmartBear TestComplete are self-healing, they reduce the maintenance required. The different languages SmartBear TestComplete supports are good because some of our libraries are written in Python, JavaScript, and C#. It's very easy to put them all under one project and use them."

SmartBear

Sample Customers

Financial Insurance Management Corp.

Cisco, J.P. Morgan, Boeing, McAfee, EMC, Intuit, and Thomson Reuters.

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational Test Workbench vs. SmartBear TestComplete

January 2026

Free Report: IBM Rational Test Workbench vs. SmartBear TestComplete

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Rational Test Workbench vs. SmartBear TestComplete and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.

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