Here’s what you need to know about cross-browser testing and the list of the top browsers for performing cross-browser tests on different browsers and operating systems in 2021.
Coming to the consumption of web content, there are various different choices depending upon the user’s preference. There are a number of browsers, screen resolutions available that a software developer needs to consider while developing a web application.
But how can you be sure that the web application you have built looks and functions similarly for your users as it did for you?
Cross-browser testing is the only way to test the appearance and functionality of a web application in different browsers and devices.
Why Do You Need To Perform Cross-Browser Testing?
Different browsers and devices interpret code differently because each browser has a different rendering engine and pairing them with different devices and operating systems leads to multiple ways to enjoy the web.
Effects such as styling, fonts, image transparency can vary significantly across different browsers and cross-browsers testing ensures that all your users can access all the basic functions on your web application.
Note: It is also suggested to mention which browsers your web application supports, it will help users to understand which browser to use and provide clarity
There are infinite cross-browser testing tools available in the market, which are paid as well as free for you to choose from. Depending upon your accessibility and requirements you can choose any compatibility test tool.
Cross Browser Testing Checklist
Here is a basic cross-browser testing checklist for you to go through, so that you do not miss out on the basic functions:
- Font size
- Page layout
- Page style
- Page content alignment
- Images alignment
- Date formats and special characters
- CSS
- HTML
- Zoom-in/ zoom-out functionality
- Header and footer sections
Go through these tests on different operating systems and different browsers with different versions depending upon your preference.
Best 9 Cross Browser Testing Tools In 2021
We value your time and effort, therefore, here is a curated list of both paid and free best cross-browser testing tools for you to choose from.
LambdaTest is a one of the best cross browser testing tool that helps you to perform both manual and automated browser compatibility testing for your website and web applications. It also helps you to test and debug website on 45+ mobile and desktop views.
With LambdaTest you can test your website on 2000+ browsers and operating systems.
It is a cloud-based cross-browser testing platform where you can interact with real browsers in real-time. You can also integrate LambdaTest with your favorite bug or project management tools.
Key Features:
- With its Automation Browser Testing Grid, the testers can run selenium and appium test automation on online desktop, Android, and iOS mobile browsers.
- It has integrated developer tools that help the testers to debug issues in live testing and also test locally hosted pages.
- You can perform tests in parallel to cut short test execution time.
- Users can also perform testing of their locally hosted websites in a jiffy.
- Create your custom device and check two devices simultaneously.
- It provides you 24*7 chat support.
Selenium Box is an Enterprise Selenium Grid designed for enterprises, which is fully scalable and managed. It is specially designed for organizations that are security-sensitive (ex. Banking and insurance sectors).
Key Features:
- Runs on-premises and corporate cloud deployment.
- It is fully scalable, highly managed, maintenance-free, and secured (no external access required).
- It is supported by popular CI/CD tools like Jenkins, Travis CI, and many others.
- Allows execution of automated tests inside the corporate firewall and runs on your corporate physical servers such as Google Cloud, AWS, and more.
Ranorex Studio is a compatibility test tool built to help everyone from the novice to expert in performing sophisticated tests for desktop, web, and mobile. It automates the compatibility test with various different web technologies and frameworks ( e.g. HTML, JavaScript, etc.).
Along with it, it also supports cross-domain iframes. It helps in accelerating GUI testing by providing testers with a complete toolset for end-to-end testing of desktop, web, and mobile applications in a single place.
Key Features:
- It provides data-driven and keyword-driven testing along with reliable object identification.
- It has reusable code modules for efficient testing and reduced maintenance and provides you with a customizable test report with video reporting which means you do not have to re-run the test.
- It integrates with tools like Jenkins, Travis CI, and many others, and runs cross-browser in parallel.
Chrome Dev Tools is a set of web developer tools that can help you to choose from a wide range of mobile-screen sizes, resolutions, and orientations to test the compatibility of your web application. Though there are so many tabs in the DevTools UI, it might take some time for you to get familiar with it, but once it’s done it can increase your productivity and help you build better websites, faster.
Key Features:
- It has different panels such as elements, console, sources, network, performance, and more which gives you a wide range of features (optimizing website speed, viewing and debugging network activities, editing DOM and CSS, console API references, and many more features).
- You can increase productivity by changing the DOM, CSS, debug JavaScript, optimize speed, and inspect network activity.
- Smart Bear Cross Browser Testing
With Smartbear Cross Browser Testing Tool, testers can easily perform manual, visual, and selenium tests on more than 2050 real devices and mobile browsers. It has a wide range of different browsers and their versions along with multiple operating systems for you to perform the compatibility test for your web application.
Key Features:
- It provides features such as live testing (interactive, visual testing), visual testing (automated screenshots and comparisons), automated testing (selenium and appium test automation), record and replay (automation testing).
- It provides access to the extensions such as Chrome Dev tools, FireBug, and many more to the testers.
- It provides simple CI integrations with great tools like Jenkins, GitHub, TeamCity, and more.
- BrowserStack
BrowserStack is a mobile application and browser testing tool, that gives you a seamless experience by testing your website on 2000+ real browsers and devices. It is a cloud-based platform which means it does not require any installation.
Key Features:
- No setup required and the pre-installed developer tools are useful for quick testing and debugging.
- It has two services: live and automate. In live, you can test your website on any real-time browser-device combination, and automate allows you to automate your testing through selenium.
- It is a highly secure and private network that enables you to test your web application remotely.
- Browser Shots
Browser Shots is a free open-source application that is a widely used compatibility test tool with a variety of features and customizations. It is easy-to-use, all you have to do is put your website URL, select compatibility test parameters, and submit the request.
Key Features:
- It supports over 200 different browser versions and takes screenshots of your web design in different OS and browsers.
- It allows you to test your web application with any browser and operating system providing you with great customization options like screen size, color, JavaScript status, and many more features.
- eRA Browser
eRA Browser is an automated compatibility testing tool to test cross-browser layouts and scripting errors on your web application. This service is easy-to-use for testers at different stages from novice to expert to test their websites and their elements in multiple browsers.
Key Features:
- It allows you to discover layout problems and locate JavaScript errors.
- With its site crawling feature, you can test the entire website.
- Without installation, you can perform dynamic page testing, also there is no authentication required.
- Ghostlab
Ghostlab is one of the most easy-to-use cross-browser testing tools which works with any site and device, enabling you to test your website with multiple browsers and mobile devices simultaneously. You can open locally installed browsers directly from within Ghostlab and all you have to do is start and then drag the URL of your website into Ghostlab and click the “Play” button. You’re done. It offers synchronized testing for clicks, scrolls, and reloads across all your connected browsers and devices.
Key Features:
- It keeps all your connected browsers and devices in sync through navigating, scrolling, filling out forms, and other interactions.
- It performs remote and synced inspection and helps you in getting to the bottom of any CSS problem, thus speeding up testing and improving development.
- It keeps the track of changes and enables you to take screenshots directly from within Ghostlab and annotate them in the integrated image editor. You can drag it to whichever bug tracker you use and perform debugging. It is as simple as that.
Wrapping Up
There are infinite cross-browser testing tools available in the market and each tool has its advantages and disadvantages, and you need to select what suits the best for your application, is accessible to you, and fulfills your requirements. You don’t need to have all of these tools, all you need is the one specific tool that helps you in accomplishing your specified tasks.
With this, we conclude our comparison of top browsers for cross-browser tests in 2021. We tried to bring the best tools for you. Hopefully, it will help you in automating the cross-browser testing for your web application.
Let us know, which tool did you use or if there is any other method that you use to test the cross-browser compatibility test!
