Ever since cross-browser testing became a standard in the industry and automated ways of testing started being developed, there’s this contradictory discussion about manual and automated testing. While some testers and developers claim manual testing is actually faster since it allows you to test exactly what you want, others claim there’s no way a human can get faster results than a dedicated testing software or app. We’re here to settle the score on this debate once and for all. Let’s start by looking at the ups and downs of each testing method to get to the bottom of it.

Ups and Downs of Automated Web Testing

The biggest advantage that automated testing has is the speed with which a wide array of tests can be performed. You just have to plan and configure the tests and then the software will work its magic and perform all the tests in record times. Also, if you add a little AI to the mix, an automated testing app can even implement its own tests depending on the features you want to check.

Another benefit of automated testing is that it gives a lot of extra time for your tester or developer to work on new features or improving the website or app instead of being involved in manual testing all day.

For all the benefits it brings, automated testing also has one major downside - it’s not cheap. Smaller companies or developers that are just starting on this path will surely see the cost of automated testing as being too steep. And while it’s not cheap, for a bigger company the price is more than justified since you’d be spending a lot more on an entire team of testers.

Ups and Downs of Manual Testing

The myth that manual testing takes less than the automated procedure is false and here’s why: you can program the automated testing software to test for just one thing that can also be done manually. Then, you can easily compare the times to see that machine testing is always going to be faster and more accurate. Speaking of accuracy, you can’t always be sure there’s no human error involved when talking about manual testing. Studies show we’re not great at doing repetitive tasks since monotony sets in and we can easily miss important stuff during the testing protocols. The major advantage that manual testing brings compared to automated testing is the intuition of the human tester. That’s something that you just can’t teach to an automated testing software system. The feeling that a button would look better a few pixels to the left or that font size is too big. You can’t get that through automated testing, however, with the extra time your developers get from not being involved in testing all the time, these can be tweaked easily.

Conclusion

If you’re all about saving time and freeing up resources in your team, automated testing is the way to go. It may not be cheap to get a fully-automated testing system, however, startups can always rely on Comparium for fast automated testing. Make sure your website performs excellently on any browser and operating system for incredible results!