Share your experience using Apica

I use it for developing scripts - UI scripts and API tests. 

We use it for both API testing and UI testing. It's been okay. Apica claims to have expertise similar to LoadRunner, and we were interested in trying it. 

Overall, it's functional, and we get good support from the Apica team since it's a newer product. 

I like the transcript download feature. And with UI scripting, it's helpful that Apica handles a lot of the backend work automatically. I don't have to tag everything manually, though I can tag elements later if needed. It's really good at recording the steps.

Moreover, it is easy to set up and configure tests in Apica.  I really like how it presents the results in a sheet format. That's very helpful.

It's not very user-friendly.

There are more areas of improvement as well. We could use more detailed information in the request and response sections. 

Also, with correlation, there are times we can't correlate values in the header, and that would be a helpful improvement.

I have been using it for more than one and a half year. 

It doesn't crash. So, for me, the stability is good. 

Scalability is not bad. We have more than 20 end users using it in my company. 

I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. 

The customer service and support are really helpful. 

Positive

I used LoadRunner and JMeter. 

The initial setup is easy. 

It is not a famous product, and it still needs to be worked on. JMeter is the best tool in this space. Like for API testing. 

Overall, I would rate Apica a seven out of ten. 

I used Apica to perform load testing. We switched a project from London to Africa, and I used Apica to develop performance test scripts, design load tests, execute them, and generate reports.

Even though Apica was new, I could do everything with it that I could do with LoadRunner. Some areas, like encryption and code customization, were actually easier in Apica. It uses a basic scripting language, which is easy to learn and customize as needed. Compared to LoadRunner, I found writing and customizing code much easier in Apica.

Moreover, I found it easy to use it. Like once you learn it, it's easy to use.

Apica was a relatively new tool when I started using it. Although Apica had good documentation, it still felt less developed or advanced than a tool like LoadRunner.

It seemed like Apica was in the development phase, so my team and I faced some challenges when using it. We were familiar with LoadRunner, which has been around for over a decade. We were used to the ways that LoadRunner solved the kinds of problems you face when designing test scripts and load scenarios.

Because of that, we were always comparing Apica to LoadRunner. We'd look for solutions in Apica that mirrored those in LoadRunner. We actually suggested features to the Apica team based on how we did things in LoadRunner.

Apica implemented a lot of those features, which ultimately made our job easier. Apica isn't as developed as LoadRunner, but it was a new tool with its own benefits. The feedback we gave to the Apica team helped improve the product.

I used Apica when I was at IBM (my previous company). I used it for a year. 

We found several bugs and reported them to the Apica team. There were a couple of issues. Sometimes, the server was down, and maintenance was ongoing. 

Also, we were getting new builds because they were implementing new features. So, when I used it, the solution was down four to five times.

I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten.

The customer service and support were pretty good. They implemented most of the features we asked for.

However, there is a bit room for improvement. With the support team, it just took some time. They wouldn't always immediately fix issues that I or other teams reported. 

There were a lot of features in that tool, and they were implementing those or enhancing the tool based on priority. So, depending on the issue, I might get the solution after one release.

But they would definitely provide a solution if they agreed it was a real issue in the tool. It might just take a bit longer.

Neutral

I found it easy to use and configure. 

My team purchased Apica to complete our tasks, so I was essentially an end-user of the tool.

From what I've noticed in the job market, not many companies use Apica for performance testing. The more common tools are things like LoadRunner and JMeter. 

Other than IBM, I haven't heard of companies using Apica. If I want to switch companies, I need to stay familiar with LoadRunner and JMeter or learn them before joining a new organization. 

So, from that perspective, Apica needs to be adopted by more companies, so I don't have to learn another tool.

Overall, I would rate the solution a six out of ten.