Best API Testing Frameworks and Tools: Features and Approaches Overview

One of the most important things in our industry is to know if the product your team is developing entirely satisfies the client’s requirements and business needs. And that is the reason why it is essential for software development teams to perform API testing. We are here to discover the most popular API automation testing frameworks and top API testing tools. So, let’s proceed.

What is API testing?

First of all, it’s a crucial component quality assurance process and an integral part of any software development lifecycle that aims to detect bugs and improve code quality in the early stages. An API itself or Application Programming Interface is a collection of functions through which other software applications can be accessed.

API testing is a process of checking whether the software meets performance, functionality, security, and reliability. Validating the accuracy of data, HTTP status codes, and error codes. Also, among the benefits of test automation is that it identifies bugs, security vulnerabilities, and inconsistencies before it goes to UI and saves your team from spending extra expense, time, and effort on manual regression testing. Failure to test an API may lead to inefficient software.

The types of testing that you perform for an API testing are

• Functionality: Does the API work?
• Load: Does it load appropriately?
• Reliability: Can users connect to the API and achieve results?
• Usability: Is it easy to work with?
• Security Testing: How well data is encrypted?
• API documentation: how to guide a user into the purpose of the API

Read more: data quality management

Web API testing tools: how to choose the one

There are lots of API testing tools available on the market, so it’s a challenge to pick the one. Here are a few tips from our experts on features you have to pay attention to:

• Easy-to-use, rich interface
• Integration with a constant integration pipeline
• Ability to organize group API requests into collections
• Possibility to run asynchronous tests to improve the execution time
• Synchronization options for teams
• Ability to generate API reports directly from the platform

Read more: cloud infrastructure management

The best API testing tools on the market

To make the automation testing process efficient, it is important to use the best API testing platforms available for your project. Let’s review a few of them.

Postman

Being initially a Google Chrome plugin, now Postman is a cross-platform service that can be used as a web version as well as a desktop app either on Mac or Windows. It is easy to set up parameters on method calls. Here you can create automated tests, perform debugging, monitor the API, and manage requests. (But bear in mind that you can’t test more than one API simultaneously) Postman includes built-in tools and collections and supports several formats, including Swagger and RAML.

The service is a free-to-use API testing tool, but extra features cost $12 for each user per month.

SoapUI

SoapUI is also among the top REST API test tools. The service offers free and fixed packages. The first one provides users with the full source code, other features include load tests for functional test cases and the capacity to reuse security scans. The fixed package offers additional features:

• Asynchronous testing
• Data-driven testing
• Tests on GraphQL, REST, JDBC, SOAP, JMS, and other web services
• Integrated API security testing
• Seamless integration with the js frameworks
• Extensive language support (Python, Java, etc.)

Apigee

It is a cross-cloud platform, powered by JavaScript, that enables the measuring and testing of API performance. It includes the following features:

• Tracking API traffic, error rates, and response times to identify performance issues
• Ability to create API proxies and their deployment in the cloud
• Adaptation with APIs containing data

Apigee allows a trial period for users to try its features. Then you can choose a package that satisfies your needs.

Karate DSL

Karate DSL combines API test-automation, performance-testing, mocks, and UI automation. It helps users get on with API testing quickly by allowing them to create scenarios for API-based BDD tests and perform them with no need to write down step definitions. Karate DSL is one of the open-source API testing tools which means that you can use it for free, but the solution costs depend on the requirements.

API Fortress

Among other API testing platforms, we’ve decided to highlight API Fortress as it is a great monitoring tool for REST, SOAP, GraphQL, Web Services, and Microservices. It also offers simple test integration and facilitates the automation of performance and functional testing. The price of API Fortress depends on specific project needs.

Testim

Testim is the platform for the functional, load, and security testing of SOAP REST, GraphQL, and other web services. It employs AI to help with test suite execution, maintenance, and even creation. One of the cool features here is a framework that learns with each test maintenance activity and suite execution Testim works by a freemium model, and different plans designed to fit your team.

Hopscotch

Hopscotch is an open-source API testing tool with a minimalistic user interface. A platform makes testing easier by offering a standard package of features. Some of them include the possibility of creating collections for storing API requests, REST, GraphQL, SOAP, JMS, and JDBC testing, sending and receiving data with a SocketIO server, etc. You can use it for free.

Why conduct performance testing? Check what we have to say about it!

API testing frameworks

Some of the tools we’ve listed above are better for writing an automation framework while others can be used as they are. Here are a few reasons to consider writing your own framework to test API. It’s:

• Customizable
• Gives you more flexibility in managing your test data
• Avoids any type of limitations of a ready-made tool
• Allows you to add any specific features and libraries that you need
• Takes away the question of cost

In any way, remember that it’s important when hiring QA engineers to involve them in the project from the very beginning.

Consider Inoxoft your trusted partner

Inoxoft is a company providing custom software development services and creating industry-specific software to satisfy your business needs Take advantage of our QA automation testing services and get

• Team of certified QA engineers
• Stable code and great performance
• Cost-effectiveness
• Risk elimination
• Efficiency and Accuracy
• On-time Delivery

Final Thoughts

In this article, we have covered basic information about API testing, and API testing tools. We know that it is difficult to make a choice as there is no one perfect tool for everyone.

Some may find the features of the commercial platforms sufficient but their price is pretty high. Open-source tools are more affordable but require experience and effort to implement the right frameworks. A perfect match between the API testing tool and the project’s specific requirements will simplify a process for the whole team and more importantly, it will make the software even more efficient.

Need to transfer your data safely? Consider data migration methodology!