Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

soapUI VS Selenium

Compare soapUI VS Selenium and see what are their differences

soapUI logo soapUI

SoapUI Pro is one of the most prominent API testing platforms around, allowing developers to quickly prototype the functions of their apps and get them to market with little hassle.

Selenium logo Selenium

Selenium automates browsers. That's it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that.
  • soapUI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-16
  • Selenium Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-08-22

soapUI features and specs

  • Comprehensive Testing
    soapUI supports a wide range of testing types including functional, security, and load testing, providing a one-stop solution for API testing needs.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The tool features an intuitive graphical user interface, making it accessible for users with varying levels of technical expertise.
  • Extensive Protocol Support
    soapUI supports multiple protocols like SOAP, REST, JMS, AMF, as well as a range of underlying technologies including HTTP, HTTPS, JMS, etc., offering flexibility in testing different kinds of APIs.
  • Scripting Capability
    With Groovy scripting support, users can create custom assertions, automation scripts, and add advanced logic to their tests.
  • Community and Documentation
    A large community of users and extensive documentation and tutorials are available, aiding in faster troubleshooting and learning.
  • Integrations
    soapUI integrates well with other tools such as Jenkins, Maven, and JIRA, streamlining the CI/CD pipeline.
  • Open Source Version
    The availability of an open-source version allows users to start testing without any initial cost.

Possible disadvantages of soapUI

  • Performance Issues
    soapUI can become slow, especially with large and complex projects, which can affect productivity.
  • High Memory Usage
    The application often consumes a significant amount of memory, leading to potential performance degradation on less powerful machines.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic features are user-friendly, mastering advanced functionalities and scripting capabilities can be challenging for beginners.
  • Limited Advanced Reporting
    The reporting capabilities in the open-source version are quite basic compared to other commercial API testing tools.
  • Paid Licensing for Pro Features
    Many advanced features and more efficient workflows are locked behind the paid 'Pro' version, which might not be affordable for smaller teams or individual developers.
  • UI Glitches
    Users occasionally report glitches and bugs in the graphical user interface, which can be inconvenient and interrupt workflow.
  • Lack of Cloud Deployment
    As of now, soapUI does not offer a cloud-native or SaaS version, limiting flexibility for teams that prefer cloud-based tools.

Selenium features and specs

  • Open Source
    Selenium is an open-source tool, which means it is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. This makes it a cost-effective choice for companies of all sizes.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Selenium supports multiple browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. This allows testers to ensure that web applications work seamlessly across different browsers.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Selenium can run on various operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This provides flexibility to test on multiple platforms to ensure consistent user experience.
  • Supports Multiple Programming Languages
    Selenium supports multiple programming languages such as Java, C#, Python, and JavaScript. This allows testers to write their scripts in the language they are most comfortable with.
  • Rich Community and Documentation
    Being a widely-used tool, Selenium has extensive community support and a wealth of documentation and tutorials available. This makes it easier for new users to get started and find solutions to problems.
  • Integration with Other Tools
    Selenium integrates well with various testing frameworks and tools like TestNG, JUnit, and Maven, as well as CI/CD tools like Jenkins and Docker. This makes it a versatile and comprehensive automation solution.

Possible disadvantages of Selenium

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Selenium requires knowledge of programming to create and maintain test scripts. For those new to automation or coding, the learning curve can be quite steep.
  • No Built-in Reporting
    Selenium does not come with built-in reporting features. Testers must rely on third-party tools or build custom reporting solutions to generate test reports.
  • Limited Support for Desktop Applications
    Selenium is designed primarily for web application testing and offers limited support for desktop applications. This limits its use in scenarios where desktop application testing is needed.
  • Manual Effort for Maintenance
    Test scripts require regular maintenance to accommodate changes in the web application, such as updates to the UI or changes in element identifiers. This can lead to significant manual effort.
  • Performance Issues
    Selenium can be slower compared to other automation tools, especially when running extensive test suites. This can affect the speed of the overall testing process.
  • Browser Compatibility Issues
    Although Selenium supports multiple browsers, each browser's implementation of WebDriver may have unique quirks and bugs. This occasionally leads to test script compatibility issues across different browsers.

soapUI videos

REST API Automation - SoapUI OpenSource Review - Mac

More videos:

  • Review - Testing REST API with SoapUI OpenSource - Part 6 - Assertions - Mac
  • Review - SoapUI Certification : Basic details about certification

Selenium videos

What is Selenium | Selenium Explained in 2-minutes | Introduction to Selenium | Intellipaat

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to soapUI and Selenium)
Website Testing
35 35%
65% 65
Automated Testing
0 0%
100% 100
API Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Browser Testing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare soapUI and Selenium

soapUI Reviews

Top 20 Open Source & Cloud Free Postman Alternatives (2024 Updated)
Product Introduction: SoapUI is a robust tool for testing SOAP and REST APIs, known for its extensive testing capabilities, including functional, load, and security testing, which makes it the perfect postman alternative.
Source: medium.com
Best Postman Alternatives To Consider in 2025
This open-source tool caters specifically to SOAP and RESTful web services. SoapUI excels in security testing, with features like load testing and functional testing. While not as beginner friendly as Postman, SoapUI offers a comprehensive solution for more complex API testing needs.
Postman Alternatives for API Testing and Monitoring
SoapUI is a popular open-source and commercial API testing tool (the commercial is called ReadyAPI), due to its powerful capabilities, flexibility and user-friendly platform. It’s particularly effective for testing SOAP, REST and GraphQL APIs. SoapUI allows inputting the WSDL or endpoint URL, configuring the requests with headers, parameters, or body content and sending the...
15 Best Postman Alternatives for Automated API Testing [2022 Updated]
SoapUI provides security and load testing features, and its functional testing supports SOAP and REST API. Users can use SoapUI’s drag-and-drop or point-and-click for scripting features, creating and running automated regression, compliance, and load tests on Web API.
Source: testsigma.com
15 BEST SoapUI Alternatives (2022 Update)
SoapUI is a widely popular API testing tool. It allows you to test REST and SOAP protocols. It facilitates seamless integrations and reusability of scripts. However, load and workflow testing is difficult with SoapUI.
Source: www.guru99.com

Selenium Reviews

Top Selenium Alternatives
Nightwatch.js simplifies the setup and use of Selenium WebDriver, providing an abstraction layer that is easier to work with for JavaScript developers. While it offers the broad compatibility and standardization of Selenium WebDriver, it aims to improve the development experience with its simplified syntax and support for the Page Object pattern, making it a middle ground...
Source: bugbug.io
Top 5 Selenium Alternatives for Less Maintenance
And that’s why code-free test automation is important. Implementing codeless Selenium alternatives can address the challenges posed by traditional Selenium testing. They help testers with various skill sets to contribute to the testing process, enhancing collaboration and accelerating the testing lifecycle. For an in-depth discussion on the significance of codeless Selenium,...
Best Automation Testing Tools (Free and Paid) | July 2022
Automation testing is the process of testing the software using an automation tool to find the defects. In this process, executing the test scripts and generating the results are performed automatically by automation tools. Some most popular tools to do automation testing are HP QTP/UFT, Selenium WebDriver, etc.,
20 BEST Selenium Alternatives in 2021
Selenium is an open-source automated testing tool. It can perform functional, regression, load testing on web applications across different browsers and platforms. Selenium is one of the finest tools, but it does have some drawbacks.
Source: www.guru99.com
Top 10 Best Selenium Alternatives You Should Try
Selenium is a convenient and portable software testing tool specifically used for testing web applications. It acts as an API (Application Program Interface) for browser automation. Selenium is the widely used free and open-source tool used for automation testing of web applications through various browsers and platforms.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Selenium seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 8 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

soapUI mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of soapUI yet. Tracking of soapUI recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Selenium mentions (8)

  • How to write tests in Django for JavaScript fetch
    You won't be able to test the javascript function itself from within python, but you can exercise the front-end code using something like cypress (https://cypress.io) or the older but still respectable selenium (https://selenium.dev). Source: about 2 years ago
  • Having Issues with selenium
    In addition, .find_element_by_class_name is deprecated since selenium 4.3.0 and the replacement is .find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "class"). Check selenium's site for more info. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Issues with Selenium 4.8.0
    This is the code again after checking selenium's official site :. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Having Issues with selenium
    I also tried the following code seen on the selenium.dev website. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Document Object Model Specification
    The following functions are defined within the Selenium project, at revision 1721e627e3b5ab90a06e82df1b088a33a8d11c20. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing soapUI and Selenium, you can also consider the following products

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

Cypress.io - Slow, difficult and unreliable testing for anything that runs in a browser. Install Cypress in seconds and take the pain out of front-end testing.

Sauce Labs - Test mobile or web apps instantly across 700+ browser/OS/device platform combinations - without infrastructure setup.

Katalon - Built on the top of Selenium and Appium, Katalon Studio is a free and powerful automated testing tool for web testing, mobile testing, and API testing.

TestComplete - TestComplete Desktop, Web, and Mobile helps you create repeatable and accurate automated tests across multiple devices, platforms, and environments easily and quickly.

BrowserStack - BrowserStack is a software testing platform for developers to comprehensively test websites and mobile applications for quality.