Rumble in the testing jungle

Round 1 – Functional Testing

soapUI Open Source starts off strong in this round by presenting a mean list of automated testing solutions- putting anything from SOAP- and REST-based Web services to JMS enterprise messaging layers, Rich Internet applications and much more to the test.

soapUI Pro isn’t late to catch on, however; By countering with a punch of the same functionality as Open Source it also complements it with point-and-click and data-driven testing.

With its enhanced interface allowing users to easily and quickly do functional tests through the Form and Outline Editors, there’s no need to write a single line of code for your tests.

Data-driven testing is the chin-breaker of soapUI Pro, allowing for testing that’s connected to a number of data sources such as File, XML, Groovy, Excel, Directory, JDBC (Relational Database), or the internal Grid data source. There’s no deflecting that punch!

Round 2 - Security Testing

The brand new security testing features that came in soapUI 4.0 will make this round an interesting one.

Open Source begins with producing a combo of XML Bombs, SQL Injections, and Malformed XML. It continues to do a one-two punch consisting of a Boundary Scan, sending in data at the boundary of allowed values or in direct opposition of the allowed values, and finishing off with some Fuzzing by sending random texts in order to provoke unknown errors, buffer overflows, stack traces, or find string vulnerabilities.

Pro wastes no time in this round. By mirroring Open Source with the same features and doing it even faster with the Security Test Generator it delivers a quick and hard blow. The Security Test Generator allows users to create a complete set of vulnerability scans in just a few seconds, removing the hassle of having the code the security tests themselves.

Round 3 - Load Testing

Both soapUI Open Source and soapUI Pro came to the game with an ace up their sleeves in the form of loadUI. loadUI is the load testing coach of both software, bringing a brand new approach of load testing to the table.

With a visual, drag-and-drop interface, loadUI allows you to create, configure and redistribute your Load Tests interactively and in real-time. In a single test environment, loadUI provides complete test coverage and supports all the standard protocols and technologies. It’s so powerful, it generates scalable, high-volume and real-world load from any number of local and remote computers.

And all your soapUI tests can be imported into loadUI, and tested, with a simple click. Meet loadUI, the future of load testing.

Round 4 - Reporting

This round was, as speculated by many, finished before it even started.

While the Open Source version of soapUI allows for some simple HTML-reports generated through the command line, it doesn’t come close to the powerful and easy-to-manage reports that soapUI Pro offers.

With one click, soapUI Pro can generate detailed reports at Project, TestSuite, TestCase, or LoadTest level. Just as easily, you can print or export them into any standard format, including PDF, HTML, Word and Excel, and customize them any way you like. How’s that for a knockdown?

Round 5 - Pricing and Support

This round will be a close one. soapUI Open Source starts off with the powerful blow of being free and, as its name suggests, open source. It also delivers support through a vibrant user community, manifested in the soapUI Forums, allowing for users to help and receive help from the other 800,000 users of soapUI.

soapUI Pro lands a different punch altogether, giving its users world-class support through email and the Pro-specific boards of the forum. All Pro users are also entitled to any upgrades that are released, for the duration of their license.

This support, together with the productivity enhancing features we’ve seen in this fight, are offered at prices starting at USD 349 $. This makes soapUI Pro a force to be reckoned with.