Appium vs Ionic comparison

Appium and Ionic are both solutions in the Mobile Development Platforms category. Appium is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.6, while Ionic is ranked #7 with an average rating of 9.0. Appium holds a 4.2% mindshare in MDP, compared to Ionic’s 7.5% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Appium users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Ionic users who would recommend it.

Appium

Read 30 Appium reviews

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510 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Ionic

Read 14 Ionic reviews

840 Views
585 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Appium

Ionic

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Appium and Ionic are tools used in app development, each with unique advantages. Appium holds the upper hand in cross-platform support and ease of scripting, while Ionic appeals with premium options and web-based technologies.

Features: Appium supports automation of native, hybrid, and mobile web apps across Android, iOS, and Windows. It integrates with Selenium, supporting various programming languages and offering scalability and easy scripting. Ionic facilitates hybrid app development, simplifying cross-platform coding for Android and iOS, offering UI components and Capacitor for native device features.

Room for Improvement: Appium could improve its support for Windows Mobile and enhance stability for long-running scripts. Users find setup for iOS challenging and require better documentation. Ionic needs to improve dynamic design capabilities and native mode usability, while expanding plugins and community libraries and refining documentation for version upgrades.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Appium supports versatile deployment scenarios with strong community support due to its open-source nature. Ionic also offers flexible deployment options, community support, but lacks dedicated technical customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Appium is cost-effective with no licensing fees as an open-source tool. Ionic offers enterprise solutions at a premium but is similarly open-source. Both provide more than 60% ROI due to scalability and reduced costs compared to commercial alternatives.

To learn more, read our detailed Appium vs. Ionic Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Appium vs. Ionic

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Appium

Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms

6th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Regression Testing Tools (6th)

Ionic

Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Appium is 4.2%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ionic is 7.5%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Mobile Development Platforms

Featured Reviews

Abhishek-Tiwari

Senior Associate at PwC

Has cross-platform flexibility and a record-and-play option

The challenging part with Appium is that installation can be a bit tricky. It can be challenging to set up in Android versus iOS environments. Appium has some limitations in terms of writing code using simulators and online cloud devices. I faced challenges with native based scenarios, battery turn out percentage, battery charging percentage, and memory capacity. The other challenge I faced involved codes changing from device to device. For example, the piece of code that works in iOS version 10.1 won't work in iOS version 6.0. In upcoming releases, if they can reduce some more of the dependencies like SDK, UIAutomator, etc., it would be great. That is, I'd like to see a consolidated package or bundle release that is much more user-friendly.

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Roche De Kock

Senior Developer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Allows us to create cross-platform mobile apps from a single code base, but should have a complete set of libraries for Capacitor

When they jumped from version 3 to version 4, 5, and 6, they introduced something called Capacitor, which is basically the tool that you use to convert your code to Xcode, etc. They have a few plugins that are still using, for instance, PhoneGap. So, you have to jump between Capacitor and PhoneGap. Their documentation is good, but there are some versioning control issues. For example, if you want to bring up a phone dial-up or a map, you have to decide whether to use Capacitor, PhoneGap, or Cordova. They started writing Capacitor to get rid of PhoneGap and Cordova, but they haven't yet got all the libraries and all the functionalities. They want you to start using Capacitor, but they don't have all the libraries there. They're developing them as they go. So, currently, you have to mix and match the three. When it comes to mobile applications, I would only like to use Capacitor. I don't want to jump between Cordova and Capacitor or have both of them. That's the main thing for me, but they have been working on it. They have started to bring them closer and closer so that you don't have to use two different sets of libraries. They're close to where you don't have to use Cordova or PhoneGap, and you can only use Capacitor. In versions 5 and 6, they have improved it a lot. They can also improve it in terms of publishing to different stores. For instance, I'm using Firebase to make my Ionic app web compatible. If I don't have a Node.js server to host on, I have to host it on Firebase or something like that. Currently, if I need to publish to different stores, such as the Microsoft store or the Huawei store, the only way I can publish to, for instance, the Huawei store is by creating the APK and uploading it. If they can start adding a little bit more integration to publish to different stores, such as the Samsung store, Huawei store, or Microsoft store, it would be good. Currently, there are no problems with iOS and Google Play Store, but for the other stores, you have to do a little bit of a workaround to get things done. Its stability could be better. For me, jumping between versions 3, 4, and 5 was a big problem because it wasn't seamless. Jumping from version 5 to 6 is more seamless. Jumping from version 3 to 5 has been a nightmare because I had to recode quite a lot to be compatible with version 5. I totally skipped version 4 because it was just too quick. Jumping between versions has definitely been a problem for me. If I have to do a lot of plugins and redo a lot of my coding because they're jumping versions, I'm going to look for something else.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Appium helps me to do as much as much as I want to."

"The most valuable feature of Appium is it supports iOS and AOS and is open-source."

"The solution is stable."

"The most valuable features of Appium are the in-built functionality, which we can use in our code. For example, move back, move front, navigate one page before, and navigate one page ahead. You can do this by using the in-built functions from Appium."

"The automation part is extremely helpful in streamlining our processes."

"The way Appium server interacts with mobile apps is fantastic. It provides all the information about the elements inside the app, Android as well as iOS. I can interact with the element quickly, just type some text or get some text values from the element - whether it's a drop-down, or web text, or a native element."

"I haven't explored other solutions in this particular area, but what I like best about Appium is the fact that it shares functions with Selenium. The extension of Selenium functions allows me to use all of the methods that exist in that domain, and it just makes it simpler for me. I've been using Selenium for some time as well, so using Appium just seems like a natural fit for me."

"We develop apps using the React Native framework, and Appium integrates well for testing those apps. The Appium automation framework also has good integration with GitHub Actions and plenty of other tools and frameworks, including BrowserStack."

More Appium pros

"The most valuable feature of Ionic is the ease of use and the simple connection of the applications. Additionally, the documentation is good in the Ionic application, and beginners can easily learn and download their own application using Ionic. Everyone can easily switch out, their domain, from native applications to hybrid applications."

"Because it's a hybrid mobile app framework, it is easy for us to develop iOS as well as Android apps for our customers with the same resource skills. We didn't have to have separate iOS teams and Android teams to build the apps. We still have to use the Apple Xcode for iOS, but the main development happens with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. We don't have to write separate code bases in scripts for iOS and Android. We create apps using web-based technology."

"Ionic's best features are its hybrid app development, design, and tags."

"Ionic is easy to upgrade and is helpful for design purposes. It also is quite common and easy to use. It is a very reliable application. It's easy to write on and print. The UI is easy to use as well. My organization chose to go with Ionic because we can access both Android and iOS applications."

"I like that I can place the code and escalate data storage. I also like that it's user-friendly. Nothing is complex in Ionic."

"The solution can support many languages."

"With the Capacitor feature, you have access to the native attributes of your phone such as your camera. This makes work a lot easier."

"The main value of this solution for our business, is that it is a hybrid product that allows us to write code that is compatible with IOS, Android, and web documents."

More Ionic pros

Cons

"It breaks down."

"Configuration-wise, there is a lot of room for improvement."

"It needs to accommodate applications that use React.js and AngularJS."

"We previously worked with native applications, and there weren't any good mobile app testing tools. We started working with React Native, which works well with Appium, but it would be good to see better integration; the way elements are displayed can be messy. React Native is very popular nowadays, so it's essential to have that compatibility."

"The user interface needs improvement because there are issues when setting up environment variables."

"The deployment process and configuration are quite complex and require improvement."

"I rarely use Appium nowadays because I'm now at the managerial level, but the last time I used it, whenever I selected and clicked on an element, Appium was very slow. I tried to debug it, but I still couldn't find the problem, so this is an area for improvement in the solution. Another area for improvement lies with the connector and server. For example, the effort to get into the local machine sometimes causes the emulator to become slow, which then leads to failure in testing, and this is the usual issue I've encountered from Appium. An additional feature I'd like added to Appium in its next release is being able to do automation in iOS without using XPath and the name of the element. In Xcode, you can use previous UI tests for detecting elements, but in Appium, you have to use Xpath and the element name instead of being able to directly put the X-UiPath, which is what you can do in Xcode. In iOS as well, sometimes the element doesn't have a name or a path. Sometimes, there's also no element."

"Appium could improve by enabling record and run techniques similar to what they have in other licensing tools, such as Micro Focus. We have to all write the code, and then we can proceed."

More Appium cons

"Ionic could improve in the Native mode because while we do testing it is difficult to find the root cause of problems. It could be more user-friendly."

"As a developer, I would say one of the improvements is more plugins."

"The navigation within this solution could be improved; it is currently quite complicated to move through the different tabs."

"Documentation for migrations and compatibility is insufficient."

"Ionic is a cross-platform framework, so when we compare Ionic with native Android and iOS, we can see the drawbacks. For example, if you need to work on very high-level aspects of an application such as animation, even if everything else is not putting load on the app, you will still see high load from the server side."

"The documentation could be improved."

"They started writing Capacitor to get rid of PhoneGap and Cordova, but they haven't yet got all the libraries and all the functionalities. They want you to start using Capacitor, but they don't have all the libraries there. They're developing them as they go. So, currently, you have to mix and match the three. When it comes to mobile applications, I would only like to use Capacitor. I don't want to jump between Cordova and Capacitor or have both of them. That's the main thing for me, but they have been working on it."

"In a future release, we would like to have a little more support for the desktop environment. Currently it is still focused on mobile devices."

More Ionic cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is good for people to be able to make a favorable decision for the value."

"The solution is open source."

"There is no license for this solution because it is open-source."

"This is an open source solution so it does not cost anything for licensing or otherwise."

"Appium is free and open-source."

"It's completely 100% free, and there are no hidden fees."

"We found out that we could explore features of the solution for 30 days trial. We can switch to a permanent license later if we want."

"The solution is open source so it is free."

More Appium pricing and cost advice

"I think most of the plugins for Ionic are open source, and you can do a lot with many of the basic features. However, if you need to use a premium plugin for something like extra scroll list functionality, Ionic will ask for a certain sum of money."

"You don't have to pay anything except for certain projects. For example, Appflow has some costs related to it but you don't have to use it. You can also pay for extra support."

"Ionic is an open source solution, and there are no hidden fees."

"Ionic is an open-source solution, it is free."

"The solution's open source option is free with no licensing fees."

"The starting cost for the enterprise option is around one hundred dollars per month."

"We pay 50,000 dinars per month."

"You can use the free version, but if you still want to buy it, the price starts from $499/month."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Computer Software Company

18%

Educational Organization

13%

Comms Service Provider

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend Appium?

I do recommend Appium. It is an open-source solution and completely free of charge. We use Appium and Appium Studio as our base for any type of mobile automation for testing. It has a great interfa...

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What do you like most about Appium?

Appium helps me to do as much as much as I want to.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Appium?

My experience with Appium from a pricing perspective is favorable due to it being open source, making it a cost-effective option.

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Compared 36% of the time

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Compared 21% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Appium

April 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Ionic

April 2025

Download Ionic product report

Overview

Appium is an open-source mobile application development tool that is designed to give users complete control of their application development process. It enables them to optimize the development process when the need calls for it, and create the applications that they want in the most efficient manner they can.

Appium Benefits

Some of the benefits that come from using Appium include:

Ease of deployment. Appium is fairly simple for users to set up for the first time. Developers can download Appium and launch it with only a couple of clicks.

Easily track the results of application tests. Appium automatically creates reports when developers run application tests. These reports can give users insights into every aspect of the tests that they just ran. They can include detailed test results, screenshots of the test as it took place, and videos showing the test while it was in progress. Developers can also recall these reports with ease so that the information that was gathered is always at their disposal.

Gain deep insights into your application. Users can easily gain insight into the way that their application is running and how it might be improved. The reports that the system produces can provide developers with all of the data and insight that they need to improve their applications and make informed decisions.

Appium Features

When users choose to employ Appium’s mobile development solution, they gain access to many different capabilities. These features include:

Remote testing capability. Teams that are spread across the globe can collaborate and run tests from wherever they happen to be at the time. They can connect to Appium’s cloud testing feature and always have access to the latest iteration of the project they are working on.

Customizable test reporting capability. Appium enables users to customize the way that information from their tests is reported. They can create the kinds of reports that best reflect their objectives and needs. When specific information is needed, the reports can be formatted to show that particular aspect when the solution generates it.

Parallel testing capabilities. Developers who use Appium can run multiple application tests at the same time. This enables them to save time and resources while still accounting for every scenario that their applications might experience. Users can run all of the tests necessary to ensure that their applications are successful while spending the minimum amount of time doing so.

Reviews from Real Users

Appium is a solution that has a great deal to offer its users. It is a very complete mobile development solution that gives users the capabilities that they need to design their mobile applications with the greatest level of ease possible. Users can scale their application scripts to meet their needs. Additionally, developers can automate testing protocols, which reduces the amount of time and other resources that need to be devoted to the testing process. These two features make Appium a leader in the field of mobile application development.

Jayanta K., automation and nft manager at a computer software company, writes, “The interface for mobile automation is helpful for scripting and execution. It's scalable and there are many testers who would like to automate. In terms of scripting, scalability is very good.”

The head of solutions delivery (systems) at a wellness & fitness company writes, “Obviously, because of automation, it reduces manual testing efforts.”

Appium

Ionic is an open-source UI toolkit for developing high-quality mobile and desktop apps with web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Ionic focuses on the frontend UX and UI interaction of an app – UI controls, interactions, gestures, and animations. It is simple to learn and can be used without any frontend framework by utilizing a simple script inclusion.

While previous versions of Ionic were strongly connected to Angular, version 4.x of the framework was re-engineered to serve as an independent Web Component library, with integrations for the newest JavaScript frameworks, such as Angular. Ionic works well in most frontend frameworks, including React and Vue, however some frontend frameworks require a shim to enable full Web Component support.

The official Ionic CLI, or Command Line Interface, is a tool that enables developers to easily construct Ionic apps and offers a number of useful commands. The CLI installs and updates Ionic and also includes a built-in development server, build and debugging tools, and much more. If you are an Appflow member, you may manage your account and carry out cloud builds and deployments via the CLI.

Ionic Features

Ionic has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

One codebase: Ionic is the first mobile app stack that allows web developers to use a single codebase to create apps for all major app stores and the mobile web. Ionic apps look and feel natural on every device thanks to Adaptive Styling.
High performance: Ionic is designed to run and behave well on the latest mobile devices, using best practices such as efficient hardware accelerated transitions and touch-optimized gestures.
Simple, clean design: Ionic is built to function and display well across all popular mobile platforms and devices. You'll be building in style thanks to pre-made components, typography, and an attractive (but flexible) base theme that adjusts to each platform.
Native and web-friendly: Ionic uses native SDKs and emulates native app UI guidelines to combine native app device features and UI standards with the full flexibility and power of the open web. Ionic operates as a Progressive Web App in the browser or deploys natively via Capacitor (or Cordova).

Ionic Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Ionic. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Cross-platform: Create and distribute apps with a single code base. Apps run natively on iOS, Android, desktop, and the web as Progressive Web Apps. Publish once and go anywhere.

Based on web standards: Ionic is developed using cutting-edge web APIs like Custom Elements and Shadow DOM on top of reliable, industry-standard web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Ionic components have a solid API as a result, and they aren't subject to the whims of a single platform vendor.

Good design: Ionic is made to operate and look great right out of the box across all platforms. Start with typography, interactive paradigms, pre-designed elements, and an attractive (yet extensible) base theme.

Simplicity: Ionic was created with simplicity in mind, making it fun, simple to learn, and available to almost anyone with basic web development skills.

Ionic

Sample Customers

Nuvizz, Coupa Software, Eventbrite, Evernote

MRA, Napa Group, Sworkit, Airbus, Sense Corp, Interactive Gaming Company, Pacifica, Untapp'd, Diesel, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Buyer's Guide

Appium vs. Ionic

April 2025

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