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SpecFlow vs TFS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

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

SpecFlow
Ranking in Test Management Tools
12th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
TFS
Ranking in Test Management Tools
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
98
Ranking in other categories
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Test Management Tools category, the mindshare of SpecFlow is 1.7%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of TFS is 7.1%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Test Management Tools
 

Featured Reviews

KreshenAmourdon - PeerSpot reviewer
An automation solution with good integration capabilities that needs to focus on providing an option for chain testing to its users
In our company, we need to maintain the scripts of the product daily, and in case of failures, we need to check out the scripts. I would recommend the product to those planning to use it based on both they are planning to build. If you are going for unit testing or small scripts, then you can go with SpecFlow. I don't have much experience with the solution. It is a good and straightforward product. It is also an easy-to-use and user-friendly product that can easily adapt to any framework. I rate the overall solution a seven out of ten.
Pmurki@Micron.Com Praveen - PeerSpot reviewer
Version control is excellent and good for code review, branching, merging strategies and more
I've worked with TFS for source control and Agile project management. We also used TFS for seamless team collaboration and tracking.  I used TFS for a couple of years. Now, we use Azure DevOps. It's a wonderful tool for source control and CI/CD pipelines It's a really valuable tool for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the most valuable features of SpecFlow for us is its risk identification capabilities."
"The initial setup is easy."
"SpecFlow's best feature is the ability to add additional layers to the programming."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is unit testing...It is also an easy-to-use and user-friendly product that can easily adapt to any framework."
"I feel that the test plan and test tools are more manageable in TFS."
"We use TFS for forecast management."
"The most valuable features are the dashboard and task-selection capability."
"A notable feature of TFS is its ease of creating user stories and tasks, which simplifies the process of adding and editing them."
"The most valuable feature from my point of view is project management, which includes user stories as well as task management."
"A notable feature of TFS is its ease of creating user stories and tasks, which simplifies the process of adding and editing them."
"User alerts are very helpful for knowing when work is required."
"What I like the most is that you can set permissions on just one folder."
 

Cons

"SpecFlow's installation and configuration can be a bit challenging due to its flexibility as an open-source tool."
"Regarding improvement, it would be good if SpecFlow could provide chain testing, which it currently doesn't allow."
"SpecFlow would be improved with the addition of functionality reporting, which would be really helpful for automation testing."
"I'd prefer in TFS if we could be writing test cases, not in the old classical version. We should be writing in Gherkin and then automatically have it convert that Gherkin test case into SpecFlow feature files."
"There might be some complexity in its off-cloud versions."
"TFS is scalable with different Microsoft tools for test management but it is not scalable with other third-party tools."
"TFS needs to be stable."
"TFS isn't a great tool if you're on the cloud."
"They should have design patterns in TFS for the development team, and design patterns for the QA."
"One of the areas that could be improved is to have an effective full lifecycle management."
"Overall, I think it would be useful to have something similar where Microsoft comes up with supporting concepts of scaling Agile in TFS so that clients don't have to look for a separate tool."
"Merging branches is definitely one of the more challenging aspects for people new to TFS."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SpecFlow is an open-source product."
"SpecFlow is open-source and free of charge."
"It's just as expensive as HPE ALM, without many of the features, best used for development tool only to avoid higher costs."
"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."
"There are different prices depending on the configurations. There is a free version available. There is no extra cost for the solution. However, the hardware could be something that needs to be considered."
"If running TFS on-premise is expensive, maybe you could consider moving to the Cloud and use the Visual Studio Team Services."
"We are using the open-source version."
"I was working with the engineering team, and that was not under my umbrella. From what I can remember, its license was yearly. They had the licenses on a per-user basis, and they included MTM."
"TFS is expensive, and the licensing costs are yearly. I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
"TFS is not cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Healthcare Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
67%
Computer Software Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SpecFlow?
One of the most valuable features of SpecFlow for us is its risk identification capabilities.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SpecFlow?
SpecFlow is an open-source product. You just use SpecFlow's plugin capabilities or add it to your existing framework.
What needs improvement with SpecFlow?
In terms of improvement, SpecFlow's installation and configuration can be a bit challenging due to its flexibility as an open-source tool. While it offers a balanced flexibility, setting it up migh...
Which is better - TFS or Azure DevOps?
TFS and Azure DevOps are different in many ways. TFS was designed for admins, and only offers incremental improvements. In addition, TFS seems complicated to use and I don’t think it has a very fri...
What do you like most about TFS?
Microsoft's technical team is supportive.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TFS?
While I do not know the exact pricing, TFS is likely more expensive than GitLab.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

SpecFlow+
Team Foundation Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft, Caterpillar, Siemens, Charles Schwab, IBM, Deloitte, Accenture, Philips, Dell, Deutsche Bank
Vendex KBB IT Services, Info Support, Fujitsu Consulting, TCSC, Airways New Zealand, HP
Find out what your peers are saying about SpecFlow vs. TFS and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.