Updated June 19, 2023
Differences Between Selenium vs QTP
The main difference that the organizations observe during or after the implementation of Selenium against QTP is ‘Selenium is more innovative in performance and efficiency when compared to QTP, which is ‘slow in performance and less efficient. On the other hand, Selenium can be used for testing only web-based applications with any programming language like Java, .net, PHP, etc. However, QTP can be used to test any type of application, including the system and application software but can support only VB Script for programming.
What is Selenium?
Selenium is an open-source automated tool for testing. Selenium has four components as follows: 1) Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE), 2) Selenium Remote Control (RC), 3) Web Driver, and 4) Selenium Grid. However, Selenium RC and web driver merged into the single framework as Selenium 2. Jason Huggins created Selenium in 2004. As it is open-source, there is no licensing cost, a significant advantage over other testing tools. We can write test scripts using any language like Java, Python, Ruby, C#, Perl, etc. Selenium is suited for the agile methodology of coding and testing.
What is QTP?
QTP is a Quick Test Professional, an automation functional testing tool. With QTP, we can automate user actions, windows, and web-based computer applications and test the same actions for different users. For testing, we can start QTP and login activity; it will record steps and be able to run the same steps in the future. QTP comes with a license; when we installed it for the first time, 60 days fully functional demo license is given; after that, we need to buy the license. Using QTP, we can test web-based and desktop applications, and it provides both record and playback facilities. It is based on the VB scripting language. Both technical and non-technical users can use QTP.
Head-to-Head Comparison Between Selenium and QTP
Below are the top 9 Comparisons between Selenium and QTP:
Key Differences Between Selenium and QTP
Below is the list of points that explain Some key differences between Selenium and QTP:
- In Selenium, we can execute tests when a browser is minimized, whereas in QTP, we need to have an application under test to be visible on the desktop.
- QTP comes with a built-in object repository, whereas Selenium has no built-in object repository.
- In QTP, data-driven testing is more accessible as it has built-in global and local tables, whereas, in Selenium, we need to rely on programming language capabilities.
- In Selenium, we can execute multiple tests in parallel, whereas in QTP, we can execute only one test simultaneously. We can run tests in parallel in QTP, but we need to use a quality center, a paid product.
- In QTP, we can access controls within the browser, whereas in Selenium, we can’t access elements outside the web application.
- Using Selenium, we can run our tests in 9 different types of browsers, whereas in QTP, we can run only in Chrome, Firefox, IE 11, and Safari.
- QTP has a built-in capability to export test data into an external format, whereas Selenium cannot export runtime data to an external format.
- Selenium supports mobile devices like Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and Headless WebKit, whereas QTP uses a commercial product for mobile app test automation, i.e., HP UFT Mobile.
- In QTP, we can easily integrate with the HP quality center or HP ALAM, which are commercial products. We can set up a framework in Selenium using Eclipse, Maven/Ant, Jenkins, TestNG/JUnit, SVN/GIT, etc.
- QTP has dedicated HP support and online forums, whereas Selenium has an open-source community and several online forums.
- Selenium has zero maintenance cost as it is open source, whereas QTP has a license and annual maintenance charges.
- Image-based tests are possible in QTP, whereas in Selenium also possible but not easy.
Selenium and QTP Comparison Table
Following is the Comparison Table Between Selenium and QTP.
| Basis of Comparison Between Selenium vs QTP | Selenium | QTP |
| License | Selenium is a free open source, so there will be less maintenance cost and testing costs. | QTP is a commercial product with a 60-day free trial, and users should buy the product later. So testing may be costly compared to Selenium. |
| AUT Technologies | Selenium supports HTML 5 and web2.0 | QTP supports visual basic, HTML 5, web 2.0, Active, SAP, QT, etc. |
| Operating System | Selenium supports Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Linux, Mac OS, etc. It supports Windows PC/MAC/LINUX/UNIX platforms. | QTP supports Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, etc.
It supports only the Windows platform. |
| Programming Language | In Selenium, we can develop tests in different programming languages like Python, Java, C#, Ruby, Perl, PHP, .net, etc. | In QTP, we can develop tests only using one language, i.e., VB Scripting. |
| Browser Compatibility | Selenium is compatible with nine different types of browsers, of which two are headless browsers such as Chrome, IE 11, Firefox, Safari, Android, Opera, HtmlUnit, Phantom JS, etc. | QTP is compatible with only four browsers, such as Chrome, IE 11, Firefox, and Safari. |
| Cloud Execution | In Selenium, we can run multiple and simultaneous tests at a time per machine. It will require medium setup and maintenance time, and Linux VMs are cheap. | In QTP, we can run only one test on a single machine. It has a higher setup cost and maintenance time. Windows VMs are costly. |
| Test Management | We don’t have inbuilt functionality in Selenium to track tests and generate reports. We need to follow separately by using testing frameworks. | In QTP, we have TD/QC, which can be easily integrated and track the test runs and generate reports. |
| Environment/Workspace | In Selenium, we have a wide range of IDEs, like Eclipse, Netbeans, Visual Studio, etc., for test development. | In QTP we don’t have any IDEs with QTP. We need a separate environment for test case development. |
| Application Support | In Selenium, we can test only web-based applications. | In QTP, we can test both desktop and web-based applications. |
Conclusion
Finally, it overviews the difference between Selenium and QTP test automation tools. I hope you better understand Selenium vs QTP tools after reading this difference between Selenium and QTP articles. Even though QTP has more capabilities, Selenium dominates cost, flexibility, and parallel testing. If we use Selenium as a Functional test automation tool, we can reduce the cost of licensing QTP. Selenium vs QTP will almost require the same efforts for automation once all solutions are in place.
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