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IBM Rational Test Workbench vs Selenium HQ comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

IBM Rational Test Workbench
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Performance Testing Tools (18th), API Testing Tools (16th), Test Automation Tools (28th)
Selenium HQ
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Functional Testing Tools (5th), Regression Testing Tools (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Quality Assurance solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM Rational Test Workbench is designed for Performance Testing Tools and holds a mindshare of 2.2%, up 1.3% compared to last year.
Selenium HQ, on the other hand, focuses on Functional Testing Tools, holds 4.3% mindshare, up 3.6% since last year.
Performance Testing Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Rational Test Workbench2.2%
OpenText Professional Performance Engineering (LoadRunner Professional)15.6%
Tricentis NeoLoad13.0%
Other69.2%
Performance Testing Tools
Functional Testing Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Selenium HQ4.3%
Tricentis Tosca9.4%
OpenText Functional Testing8.1%
Other78.2%
Functional Testing Tools
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1513668 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist, ITE at a government with 10,001+ employees
Good reporting and interface, but supports limited types of protocols and requires low-level script editing
It should have more interfaces. In terms of interfaces or protocols, what you can do with Rational is far limited as compared to other products out there. What it does, it does great, but it only gives you limited types of protocols. It supports between 8 to 15 types of protocols, whereas other test tools give you 20 to 30 types of protocols with which you can do testing and convert to script. It records Javascript-based scripts, and you got to know a little bit of Java to basically be able to edit them, but the level of editing you got to do is very low. I like that, but the ability to edit the script is not as good as Parasoft or LoadRunner, which have C-Script.
Sujata Sujata Ghadage - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Manager consultant - Digital assurance Services at adrosonic
Automation in testing processes sees improvement with multi-browser support and easier website interactions
Selenium HQ could improve by including a robust reporting framework, eliminating the need for external frameworks. The tool could simplify object identification, enabling users to generate XPaths without requiring detailed DOM understanding. Additionally, an automatic update mechanism for Selenium HQ would be beneficial, eliminating the need for manual downloads and updates of browser drivers when new versions are released.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Reporting is pretty good. Its interface is also good. I'm overall pretty happy with the functionality and use of IBM Rational Test Workbench."
"Using service virtualization, we are able to accelerate the testing and development activity."
"All IBM testing tools are really well integrated."
"This solution provides for API testing, functional UI testing, performance testing, and service virtualization."
"IBM Rational integrates the testing software as Rational Test Workbench, which is quite convenient and efficient as it is able to automate the test scripts."
"Selenium is an open-source tool that has significantly reduced the cost for the company."
"Selenium's open-source nature is a key advantage. Its extensive support for diverse web technologies."
"Selenium is now being implemented for testing in many browsers, e.g. IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, Edge, etc., and we have implemented it in many other features in the form of a framework."
"It is compatible with and supports multiple languages, such as Java and Python. It is open source, and it is widely used."
"It allowed us to be assured that basic functionality works fine and to be informed about bugs quickly."
"Selenium HQ's most valuable feature is its online community support, which is comprehensive and easy to access."
"While it isn't without faults, Selenium is probably the best and most versatile web testing tool available."
"The main characteristic that is useful is that the tool is completely free."
 

Cons

"Implementing custom functions is bit tedious job, as ECMA script does not support some of the standard java-script functions, Also the Script editor window is not user friendly."
"It should have more interfaces. In terms of interfaces or protocols, what you can do with Rational is far limited as compared to other products out there. What it does, it does great, but it only gives you limited types of protocols. It supports between 8 to 15 types of protocols, whereas other test tools give you 20 to 30 types of protocols with which you can do testing and convert to script. It records Javascript-based scripts, and you got to know a little bit of Java to basically be able to edit them, but the level of editing you got to do is very low. I like that, but the ability to edit the script is not as good as Parasoft or LoadRunner, which have C-Script."
"There are a number of things that they can do to simplify the tools, but the most important thing that they need to do is simplify the installation."
"Rational Performance Tester supports cloud technology in the version 8.7, playing test scripts back on the cloud is not stable."
"It should have more interfaces. In terms of interfaces or protocols, what you can do with Rational is far limited as compared to other products out there."
"The free option is very limited, but the pay version is expensive."
"There is no good tool to find the Xpath. They should provide a good tool to find Xpath for dynamic elements and integrate API (REST/ SOAP) testing support."
"For people that don't know about technology, maybe it's difficult to use."
"The installation could be simplified, it is a bit difficult to install."
"Sometimes we face challenges with Selenium HQ. There are third party tools that we use, for example for reading the images, that are not easy to plug in. The third party add-ons are difficult to get good configuration and do not have good support. I would like to see better integration with other products."
"The login could be improved, to obviate the need for relying on another one for integration with Selenium HQ."
"One limitation of Selenium is that it is purely focused on web application testing."
"There's no in-built reporting available."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is a little bit on the higher side, although it is really good."
"It doesn't really concern me. Licensing is on a yearly basis."
"Selenium HQ costs around $1000 per month, which is a bit high based on what they're offering."
"Selenium HQ is a free and open-source solution and is supported by Google."
"This product is open source and free. That was a huge deciding factor for us getting into it."
"We are using Selenium open-source, so there is no need to purchase anything."
"Since it is an open source. It is free to use. However my company see it as the future of load testing."
"Selenium is an open-source product. It is free."
"It is an open-source solution."
"The product is open-source and free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise52
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
How do I choose between Selenium HQ and Eggplant Digital Automation Intelligence?
Selenium HQ’s biggest advantage is that it is customizable. Its other most valuable feature is that the driver interface is really helpful and user-friendly; Selenium HQ makes it easy to navigate t...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Selenium HQ?
I will give an eight for my satisfaction with the pricing and licensing costs of Selenium HQ.
What needs improvement with Selenium HQ?
Some improvements can be implemented as compared to Playwright, which is why I rate it seven out of ten.
 

Also Known As

Rational Test Workbench, IBM Rational Performance Tester, IBM Functional Tester, IBM Rational Test Virtualization Server
SeleniumHQ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Financial Insurance Management Corp.
BrowserStack, Sauce Labs, experitest, Tricentis GmbH, SmartBear Software
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenText, Apache, Tricentis and others in Performance Testing Tools. Updated: August 2026.
911,602 professionals have used our research since 2012.