In this tutorial, we have listed some of the most popular Web Service Testing Tools for your convenience.
What is a Web Service?
A Web Service is a software functionality that supports machine to machine communication over the world wide web.
It generally uses web technology like HTTP for transferring the messages between electronic devices or applications. These messages are mostly in XML and JSON file formats.
A web service is based on the Request-response method.
It can be implemented by either of the two protocols – SOAP (Simple object access protocol) and REST (Representational State Transfer). Both the approaches support XML data transfer.
The concept of Web Service testing:
Web Service testing includes:
- Understanding the functionality offered by the web service. Basically, a web service’s functionality is described by WSDL (web services description language) file.
- Determine the XML request and response format.
- Sending request and then validating the response against request sent.
We have both manual and automation testing tools available to test web services.
For manual testing, we need to write our own code that sends a request and validate the response. Quite the reverse, automation testing saves the coding effort.
Having had a basic understanding of the idea of web service testing, we will now discuss in this article about the different web service testing tools available in the market.
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Table of Contents:
Top 16 Web Service Testing tools
Here is the list of the top online tools for web services testing:
- SoapUI Pro
- TestMaker
- WebInject
- SOAPSonar
- wizdl
- Stylus Studio
- TestingWhiz
- SOAtest
- JMeter
- Storm
- Postman
- vRest
- HttpMaster
- Runscope
- Rapise
- LoadUI NG Pro
- Katalon Platform
Let us discuss each of the above tools one by one.
Here we go!
#1) SoapUI Pro
SoapUI Pro is a very popular and most powerful testing tool for SOAP web services functional testing as well as REST API functional testing. It provides complete API Test Automation Framework for SOAP and REST.
Tool Highlights:
- World’s leading tool for REST & SOAP web service testing
- Easy to use GUI, with features like point-and-click, drag-and-drop, and pre-built security scans
- Quick creation and execution of automated tests – functional, regression, load, and security
- Powerful data-driven testing allows you to use external data sources to keep your tests more maintainable
- Provides end to end test coverage under a single test environment
- Easily reuse functional tests as load tests in LoadUI Pro
- Built on the same foundation as the award-winning SoapUI open source
- Supports all protocols and standards
Source code: SoapUI Pro has both open source and licensed version.
#2) TestMaker
Testmaker supports Web Service testing for SOAP and REST services.
Tool Highlights:
- A single test script can be put as an answer to functional, load & performance testing as well as production monitors.
- Surfaces performance & functional issues in web services
- Works on push to test methodology
- Offers easy migration
- Tests can be executed on grid and cloud.
Source code: Open
Visit PushToTest Website Here
#3) WebInject
This is a free Web service testing tool that provides automated testing for web services and web applications.
Tool Highlights:
- Supports functional, acceptance and regression testing.
- Also, allows testing distinct system modules that possess HTTP interfaces.
- Real-time monitoring of response times.
- Real-time results display.
- Can be used as a completed WebInject GUI test framework.
- Also, offers integration with other test frameworks and applications.
- Suitable for testing web service protocols like SOAP or XML-RPC.
Source code: Open
Visit WebInject Website Here
#4) SOAPSonar
SOAPSonar allows you to rapidly test the web services.
Tool Highlights:
- It is machine independent, sends requests and receives a response directly.
- Test cases can be easily setup and saved to run functional and regression tests of web services.
- Enables rich security testing of web services.
- Test results can be aggregated in pdf, CSV and XML reports.
- Also, lets you perform scalability and robustness testing of web services.
- Can figure out and report interoperability issues while loading WSDL.
- Detects the vulnerabilities in web services.
Source code: Licensed
Visit SOAPSonar Website Here
#5) WizdlW
WizdIW is a.NET program scripted in C# which permits you to rapidly import and test web services.
Tool Highlights:
- Supports calling complex web services.
- Tests the web services with the help of a Windows Forms GUI.
Source code: Open
Visit Wizdl Website Here
#6) Stylus Studio
Stylus studio provides a Web Service call composer that acts as a web service tester.
Tool Highlights:
- Supports most of the web service core technologies – WSDL, SOAP, UDDI.
- An ideal and powerful tool for testing web services.
- Web service methods can be easily located, inspected and invoked through XML IDE.
- Additional features include XML mappers, schema editors and XSLT debuggers.
Source code: Licensed
Visit Stylus Studio Website Here
#7) TestingWhiz
Web service testing can be automated using TestingWhiz.
Tool Highlights:
- Provides both web services functional and non-functional automated testing solution.
- Verifies the behavior of web services connected to the web application functions.
- Tests the interaction of the web service over methods and interfaces provided by WSDL over HTTP.
- Ensures if the web service complies with the business logic and is delivery correct output.
- Reduced test case authoring effort.
- Quickens up the overall process of web service testing.
Source code: Licensed
Visit TestingWhiz Website Here
#8) SOAtest
SOAtest automates the complete testing of web services.
Tool Highlights:
- Provides robust support for REST and web services.
- Good for functional, load and security testing.
- Runtime error detection.
- Offers service virtualization.
- Offers multi-layer validation.
- Supports around 120 plus protocols, message formats, and platforms.
Source code: Licensed
Visit SOATest Website Here
#9) Jmeter
SOAP/REST web services can be performed and load tested using Apache JMeter.
Tool Highlights:
- Highly featured Test IDE
- Fast Test Plan recording
- Dynamic HTML reporting
- Command line mode
- Fully portable
- Allows multithreading
- Highly extensible core
- Caching and offline analysis
Source code: Open
Visit JMeter Website Here
#10) Storm
Strom is a free web service testing tool that is helpful for testing web services.
Tool Highlights:
- This tool is scripted in F#.
- Also, supports other languages like.NET, Java, etc.
- It invokes the complex web service methods dynamically.
- Multiple web services can be tested from a single User Interface.
- Lowers the testing cost.
- Raw SOAP requests can be edited.
Source code: Open
Visit Storm Website Here
#11) Postman
Postman is a powerful GUI based application that can test HTTP/ REST web services.
Tool Highlights:
- Supports Mac, Windows, Linux and Chrome platforms.
- Quickens up API testing.
- Intuitive GUI.
- It is a free tool.
Source code: Licensed
Visit Postman Website Here
#12) vREST
REST is the right tool for you if your need is to automate testing of HTTP/REST web services.
Tool Highlights:
- Record and replay feature
- Independent of the front-end and back-end of the application
- Mocks APIs
- Great response validation
- Integration with JIRA and Jenkins
- Works on all – localhost, internet, and intranet.
- Can be used for web, mobile and desktop applications
- Easy setup
- Less testing effort
- Version control
- Efficient test management
Source code: Licensed
Visit vREST Website Here
#13) HttpMaster
HttpMaster provides advanced support for web services testing.
Tool Highlights:
- Supports RESTful web services.
- Responsive user interface.
- Codeless testing.
- Easy test management.
- Supports automated execution through command line interface.
- Global and multi-value parameters support.
- Can run batches of a request.
Source code: Licensed
Visit HttpMaster Website Here
#14) Runscope
Runscope is very helpful in determining if the API breaks anywhere.
Tool Highlights:
- This tool is employed by many big companies like Samsung, Adobe, etc. for web service testing & API monitoring.
- Tests the complex APIs dynamically.
- Validates the data very well.
- Supports OS X, Linux and Windows platform.
- Gives a complete picture of the API health.
- Support for many notification services.
Source code: Licensed
Visit Runscope Website Here
#15) Rapise
Rapise provides easy and automated testing for web services.
Tool Highlights:
- Supports almost all the technologies, platforms and device types.
- Can test desktop, mobile and web applications.
- Record and playback feature
- Robust automation
- Flexible and extensible
- Supports regression testing in Agile
Source code: Licensed
Visit Rapise Website Here
#16) LoadUI NG Pro
LaadUI NG Pro facilitates the API load testing of REST and SOAP-based web services.
Tool Highlights:
- Creates API load tests quickly.
- Real-time testing.
- Works on a cloud as well.
- Mocks API.
- Uses dynamic data for testing.
- Also used for functional testing.
- Real-time feedback of test results.
Source code: Licensed
Visit LoadUI Ng Pro Website Here
#17) Katalon Platform
Katalon Platform is an all-in-one automation tool that has simplified API and web testing for over 850,000 teams and businesses.
Also extending capabilities to help scale mobile and desktop testing, some of it key features are:
- A friendly UI and simple test creation with record & playback, built-in keywords, pre-defined project templates.
- Easy tests migration from SoapUI, Postman and WSDL.
- Handles REST, SOAP/1.1 and SOAP/1.2 requests.
- Support self-healing mechanism, data-driven testing, page-object model pattern and BDD to ease maintenance efforts.
- Maximize test reusability with shared capabilities and test objects across projects.
- Generate reports with insightful graphs of essential metrics and real-time notifications after each execution (Slack, Git & Microsoft Teams).
Additional Tools
Apart from the above tools, we have some other web service testing tools that are worth for some discussion here:
#18) Apache Axis2 API: Apache Axis2 API(java) is helpful for testing SOAP web services. It can create web services and receive/respond to SOAP messages.
#19) Assertible: Assertible is an open source tool for continuous testing of web services. Web service’s deployment can be easily tested automatically across environments using this tool.
#20) Bench Rest: Bench rest stands for Benchmark REST (HTTP/HTTPS) APIs. It is a java based open source client module for load testing.
#21) Sinon.JS: It is an open source and standalone tool helpful for unit testing the web services. It can mock the calls to SOAP web services.
#22) Dyson: This is another node.js solution for getting a full fake server for your app. Using Dyson, JSON endpoints can be defined based on a single template.
#23) Canned: This is one more open source node.js server that responds with fake API responses by mapping a directory structure to REST-API responses.
#24) Betamax: This is an open source tool to test web services, which is capable of mocking web services in the tests. Basically, it can simulate external HTTP resources and thus helps in the testing.
#25) Wiremock: It acts as a service virtualization tool thus aiding in web service testing. It provides fast, robust and end-to-end testing of web services. It’s an open source tool.
#26) REST – driver: This is an open source tool for testing RESTful services and clients.
#27) Advanced REST Client: It is an open source API testing tool. This is available as a google chrome extension.
#28) REST Test: This is another open source tool for testing REST/CORS web services. It’s a native in-browser tool that builds on and Bootstrap.
#29) Fault Factory: It is an active debugging licensed tool that can imitate HTTP/SOAP socket faults. It is quite safe and very easy to use.
#30) XML – Simulator: XML-Simulator is a Java-based application that can be used to test web services.
#31) Mocky: It mocks the HTTP responses and thus aids in testing REST API
#32) Mockable: It is a fast, simple, secure and scalable tool that mocks the API and helps in testing.
#33) Mock server: This open source tool can be used to mock and test web services (such as REST or RPC services) that we connect to over HTTP/HTTPS.
Conclusion
Having had a discussion over so many web service testing tools above, we have come to know that a big choice of tools is available in the market to test web services.
Some of the web service testing tools are open source tools while some are licensed. Depending upon the factors like your need and depth of testing, type of application, team skills, testing budget, testing timelines, etc., you can choose the best tool as per your convenience.
Hope, the above list of tools will be helpful for you while making this selection.