Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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
10th
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
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Test Management Tools category, the mindshare of SpecFlow is 2.5%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of TFS is 5.0%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Test Management Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
TFS5.0%
SpecFlow2.5%
Other92.5%
Test Management Tools
 

Featured Reviews

SD
Senior QA Automation Engineer at AMCS Group
Ensures efficient testing and validation of both business and technical requirements
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 might require more effort compared to some licensed products that handle everything. However, SpecFlow is a framework, not an automation tool, so the actual automation is carried out through tools like Selenium. Despite setup complexities, the framework itself serves its purpose effectively. In future releases of SpecFlow, it would be beneficial to have some built-in methods for common actions like opening and closing browsers or implementing loops. Having predefined libraries for these functions would save automation engineers time and make the framework more user-friendly. While I'm not sure if such features already exist, they could be valuable, especially for those working on web applications. It would provide a generic and optimized solution that anyone can easily implement without worrying about performance issues.
reviewer2603940 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Easily manage automated builds and releases but security and performance require advancements
TFS has room for improvement as there have been global security issues that many companies, including ours, have experienced. There are glitches, such as runners getting stuck, deployments generating errors, and it's becoming outdated. TFS is not as fast, easy to use, or configurable as GitLab, despite moving into the cloud.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"SpecFlow's best feature is the ability to add additional layers to the programming."
"One of the most valuable features of SpecFlow for us is its risk identification capabilities."
"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."
"The initial setup is easy."
"Build definitions and releases within the product. allow us to put our latest applications in the field."
"I feel that the test plan and test tools are more manageable in TFS."
"Version Control: TFS offers both the centralized “TFVC” version control technology as well as the distributed “Git” version control technology."
"I like the build management features and the integration with Jenkins and many other tools."
"TFS's best features include user-friendly test management, bug reporting, and ID assignment."
"A notable feature of TFS is its ease of creating user stories and tasks, which simplifies the process of adding and editing them."
"The initial setup is easy, it is easy to understand and use."
"Team Foundation Server (TFS) is easy to use, and we have a complete trail and traceability. We also like the access control part."
 

Cons

"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."
"Regarding improvement, it would be good if SpecFlow could provide chain testing, which it currently doesn't allow."
"SpecFlow's installation and configuration can be a bit challenging due to its flexibility as an open-source tool."
"TFS isn't a great tool if you're on the cloud."
"There are glitches, such as runners getting stuck, deployments generating errors, and it's becoming outdated."
"The user interface could be improved to make it simpler and increase usability."
"I would also like a true command prompt like Git."
"Microsoft should discontinue the use of SharePoint as I don’t really see any value add to TFS, document management features can be included in TFS web portal itself, if required!"
"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."
"This solution is quite old and it is already being bundled as Azure DevOps Server."
"TFS should have capabilities similar to Git, like storing all types of artifacts in the repository."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SpecFlow is an open-source product."
"SpecFlow is open-source and free of charge."
"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."
"The overall price of TFS is good."
"It's just as expensive as HPE ALM, without many of the features, best used for development tool only to avoid higher costs."
"It is pretty expensive compared to other project management tools."
"TFS is on the higher side, but if you intend to use the tool as a complete ALM tool, it will reduce your costs in the long run."
"TFS is more competitively priced than some other solutions."
"Use the Microsoft recommended “seat-based” licensing model. This allows a single developer with multiple machines to consume only one client license."
"The pricing is reasonable at this time."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Test Management Tools solutions are best for your needs.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Media Company
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise64
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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: December 2025.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.