Top 9 Integration Testing Tools in 2023

Integration is an indispensable aspect of modern software development. As software applications become more complex and interconnected, every component must work seamlessly together like a game of Tetris. This is where integration testing comes into play, allowing developers to test whether different parts of an application play nicely together. 

This article will discuss what integration testing tools are, the types, benefits, and key features to look for when choosing one. Also, we will list the top nine integration testing tools, their main features, and how much they cost. 

What are integration testing tools?

Integration testing tools are software tools designed to enable the creation of test scenarios, datasets, and test cases that simulate the expected integration behavior. They also automate the execution of these test cases and provide reporting and analysis of the test results. 

Types of Integration Testing Tools

There are various types of integration testing tools, and each of them follows one or more of the following types of integration testing:

• Top-down: Starts with testing the highest-level modules or components and gradually integrates lower-level modules or components. 
• Bottom-up: The opposite of top-down. It starts with testing the lowest-level modules or components and gradually integrates higher-level modules. 
• Mixed or sandwich: Also known as hybrid integration testing, it is an integration testing approach that combines top-down and bottom-up elements for comprehensive integration testing.

There are other types of integration testing that focus on specific aspects of the software application and its integration, such as big bang Integration testing, regression integration testing, etc. 

Benefits of Integration Testing Tools

Integration testing tools offer several benefits that can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of integration testing. Here are three key benefits:

• Automation: Automation capabilities allow tests to be executed without manual intervention, saving time and effort.
• Defect identification: Integration testing tools aid in the early identification and detection of defects related to component interactions.
• Collaboration and reporting: Enhance collaboration among development and testing teams by providing a centralized platform for test case management, execution, and result sharing. 

Key Features to Look for in an Integration Testing Tool

When evaluating integration testing tools, you’ll need to consider the key features they offer. A great integration testing tool must:

• Support various integration technologies such as REST, SOAP, messaging queues, databases, APIs, etc., ensuring compatibility with your specific integration architecture and allowing you to test different types of integration scenarios.
• Provide test data management features, including data generation, data masking, data-driven testing, and the ability to handle positive and negative test scenarios. After all, integration testing involves handling large volumes of test data. 
• Have a user-friendly interface for designing and executing integration test cases, so you can easily define test steps, inputs, expected outputs, and assertions. The tool should also support the creation of reusable test cases and provide options for test case prioritization, scheduling, and parallel execution.
• Integrate well with your CI pipeline, allowing automated integration testing and seamless integration with other DevOps tools. This feature lets you perform integration testing as part of the overall continuous delivery workflow.

9 Top Integration Testing Tools

Let’s round up the top tools you should know about. 

1. Tessy

TESSY is a complete test system that performs automated dynamic integration testing of embedded software and determines the code coverage along the way. 

Main features:

• Code coverage analysis capabilities allow users to measure the extent to which their test cases cover the source code.
• Supports generating test data using different strategies, including boundary value analysis, equivalence partitioning, and random testing. 
• Offers different types of automatically created and well-designed test reports in PDF. 

Best for: Embedded software systems.

Price: TESSY requires a valid license. You can request a license after installing and starting.

2. Citrus Framework

Citrus Framework is a Java-based integration testing framework that supports testing various messaging protocols and data formats, including HTTP, JMS, and FTP. 

Main features:

• Offers a declarative approach to configuring integration tests, allowing users to define test scenarios using XML, JSON, etc.
• Integrates seamlessly with popular CI tools like Jenkins.
• Provides extensive capabilities for validating messages exchanged between systems during integration testing.

Best for: Microservices testing and message-based system integration.

Price: The Citrus Framework is open-source, so it’s free.

3. FitNesse

FitNesse is an open-source testing framework and wiki-based collaboration tool designed for software acceptance testing and documentation. You can also use FitNesse for integration testing, as it allows you to define test cases that cover the integration points between different components or systems.

Main features:

• Provides a collaborative environment for multiple team members to contribute to test development and documentation.
• Integrates with version-control systems like Git, allowing users to manage test cases, specifications, and changes in a version-controlled environment.
• Users can develop custom plugins and extensions to meet their specific testing requirements or integrate with other tools.

Best for: Collaboration among various stakeholders involved in software development. 

Price: Open-source – another free tool. 

4. GitLab CI

You can effectively incorporate integration testing into a GitLab CI/CD pipeline to ensure seamless integration and proper functioning of various components or systems. The steps to set up GitLab for integration testing can be summarized as follows:

1. Configure a GitLab CI/CD pipeline. Using a .gitlab-ci.yml file, define the integration test job.
2. Set up the test environment. This will include provisioning resources and services like Docker and Kubernetes.
3. Within the integration test job, you can use tools or frameworks appropriate for your specific technology stack and integration requirements, like Jest, Selenium WebDriver, Postman, or custom scripts. 
4. Execute the integration tests and capture the test results.

Best for: Organizations that already use GitLab in their DevOps workflow.

Price: GitLab offers different pricing options based on the edition and the hosting method you choose. See its pricing page to learn about each option.

5. VectorCAST/C++

VectorCAST/C++ is a widely-used testing tool developed by Vector Software that facilitates unit and integration testing processes. With VectorCAST/C++, each software unit is tested separately to ensure they perform as planned and are independent. Then, these units are joined during integration testing to check all integrated modules work properly.

Main features:

• Automated test scripting.
• Supports compliance with safety-critical standards such as DO-178C, ISO 26262, and IEC 61508, providing the necessary tools and documentation to support certification processes.
• Provides capabilities to generate test cases automatically based on the code under test.

Best for: Safety-critical industries such as aerospace, automotive, medical, and industrial control systems.

Price: By inquiry.

6. Postman

Postman is primarily known for its API testing capabilities, but it can also effectively support integration testing. 

Main features:

• Provides a wide range of test assertion options to validate the responses received from API calls. 
• Provides collaboration features that allow team members to share collections, environments, and test suites.
• Supports importing data files, such as CSV or JSON, and uses them to drive iterative tests.

Best for: Testing integrations of multiple APIs.

Price: It’s free at first, then the Basic plan is $12/user/month, Professional is $29, nd Enterprise is custom. 

7. IBM Rational Integration Tester

IBM Rational Integration Tester (formerly known as Green Hat Tester) is a comprehensive testing tool designed for the integration testing of complex systems.

Main features:

• Supports testing various integration points such as APIs, message queues, databases, and more.
• Provides a graphical interface for creating and executing tests.
• Offers virtualization capabilities to simulate systems that are unavailable or costly to access.
• Enables end-to-end testing by integrating with other testing and development tools.

Best For: Complex integration environments and enterprises with a need for virtualization and comprehensive integration testing.

Price: By inquiry. 

8. Jasmine

Jasmine is a popular behavior-driven development (BDD) framework for writing unit tests for JavaScript applications. While Jasmine is primarily designed for unit testing, it can also be used to some extent for integration testing. 

Main features:

• Provides a rich set of built-in assertion functions that allow you to define expectations and verify the behavior of integrated components. 
• Includes the ability to create spies and mocks, which can be helpful in integration testing. Spies allow you to monitor function calls and capture information such as arguments and return values, enabling you to verify that the expected interactions are occurring. Mocks can be used to replace dependencies with controlled implementations, so you can simulate specific integration scenarios and test the behavior of the system.

Best for: Testing JavaScript applications.

Price: Open-source and free. 

9. LDRA TBrun

For more than 40 years, LDRA has been the market leader in software quality tools. LDRA provides integration testing through its TBrun tool. 

Main features:

• Automated generation of test case documentation, including pass/fail and regression analysis reports.
• Automated detection of source code changes.
• Execution of tests in host, target, and simulated environments.
• Storage and maintenance of test data and results for fully automated regression analysis.

Best for: Testing embedded system software. 

Price: LDRA offers a 30-day free trial to evaluate its tools set, and after the price is by inquiry. 

Beyond Integration Testing: Software Quality Assurance 

While integration testing can help ensure that individual components of a software system work together correctly, it cannot guarantee code security on its own. You also need a powerful security scanning engine like Spectral. 

Spectral helps developers to ensure code security without sacrificing simplicity and development velocity. Spectral’s scanning engine combines AI and hundreds of detectors to monitor, classify, and protect you from exposed API keys, tokens, credentials, and security misconfigurations at build time. Launch a free code scan and get started today to see Spectral in action.