SpecFlow vs Visual Studio Test Professional comparison

Tricentis and Microsoft are both solutions in the Test Management Tools category. Tricentis is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.5, while Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.5. Tricentis holds a 1.7% mindshare in TMT, compared to Microsoft’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Tricentis users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

SpecFlow

Read 4 SpecFlow reviews

272 Views
115 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Visual Studio Test Professi...

Read 52 Visual Studio Test Professional reviews

357 Views
292 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

SpecFlow

Visual Studio Test Professi...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Visual Studio Test Professional and SpecFlow are two prominent testing tools with distinct strengths. SpecFlow often has the upper hand owing to its advanced features tailored for BDD practices.

Features: Visual Studio Test Professional is known for its integration with Microsoft's ecosystem, extensive testing capabilities, and seamless deployment. SpecFlow offers a BDD framework, Gherkin language for writing tests, and ease of communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Room for Improvement: Users of Visual Studio Test Professional desire more intuitive test case management, enhanced reporting features, and better usability. SpecFlow feedback includes requests for better documentation, improved integration with certain CI/CD pipelines, and additional support resources.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Visual Studio Test Professional is praised for its seamless deployment within Microsoft environments and responsive customer support. SpecFlow is noted for its straightforward setup and accessible online resources, but some users find the initial learning curve steep.

Pricing and ROI: Visual Studio Test Professional's pricing is seen as favorable, and many users report satisfactory ROI. SpecFlow, being open source, offers a cost-effective solution with high long-term ROI, especially in agile environments.

To learn more, read our detailed SpecFlow vs. Visual Studio Test Professional Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SpecFlow vs. Visual Studio Test Professional

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 850,028 peers since 2012

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

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Visual Studio Test Professi...

Ranking in Test Management Tools

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Functional Testing Tools (6th)

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 Visual Studio Test Professional is 2.5%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Test Management Tools

Featured Reviews

KreshenAmourdon

Software Automation Test Engineer at I2era

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.

Read full review

ALFONSO LORENZO-RODRÍGUEZ

Chief Product Officer at Gradiant

Provides extensive extensions and plugins for seamless AI product development

Our primary use case for Visual Studio Test Professional is as a development tool. We develop software primarily in Python, specifically for applications related to artificial intelligence. We use frameworks like PyTorch for training models and developing applications using these models. This tool…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"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."

"It is a good and user-friendly tool."

"Visual Studio Test Professional is a scalable solution."

"The ability to quickly make your own components has been valuable."

"The stability has always been very good."

"The tool has highly detailed debugging features."

"Visual Studio is the easiest to use."

"Visual Studio is highly powerful. It's probably the best software development tool on the market."

"Its initial setup process is easy."

More Visual Studio Test Professional pros

Cons

"SpecFlow's installation and configuration can be a bit challenging due to its flexibility as an open-source tool."

"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 would be improved with the addition of functionality reporting, which would be really helpful for automation testing."

"The performance could be faster."

"The solution's documentation could be improved for beginners."

"The product must provide more integration."

"The solution's documentation could be improved because it keeps disappearing from the solution."

"The price could be improved."

"Sometimes, the product is too complex to use."

"The product needs contextual help integrated within its interface. Currently, I need to search online to find out how to use certain functions."

"Over the years, I haven't identified any specific enhancements that I desire; Visual Studio has consistently met my requirements seamlessly and flawlessly."

More Visual Studio Test Professional cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SpecFlow is an open-source product."

"SpecFlow is open-source and free of charge."

"There are two versions of Visual Studio Test Professional: Community and Professional. We are currently using the Community version, but if we start working on a commercial product, we will consider upgrading to the Professional version. We need to identify how we will proceed with our projects, and based on that, we will decide on our licensing."

"We have licensing for Visual Studio Community edition."

"Visual Studio Test Professional is not an expensive solution."

"The pricing is expensive."

"Our company pays a yearly licensing fee for Visual Studio Test Professional."

"Users have to pay a licensing fee for Visual Studio Test Professional."

"There is a paid version of the solution as well as a community version that is free."

"It is a price-effective solution"

More Visual Studio Test Professional pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Test Management Tools solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Healthcare Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Visual Studio Test Professional?

The most valuable features of the solution are its ease of use and availability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visual Studio Test Professional?

The tool is free, resulting in no costs associated with its use. The absence of price makes it cost-effective.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Visual Studio Test Professional?

The product needs contextual help integrated within its interface. Currently, I need to search online to find out how to use certain functions. This feature would save time by providing direct assi...

See all answers

Comparisons

Tricentis Tosca vs SpecFlow

Compared 100% of the time

More SpecFlow Competitors

Apache JMeter vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 23% of the time

SmartBear TestComplete vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 16% of the time

Tricentis Tosca vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 14% of the time

Qt Squish vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 13% of the time

Tricentis qTest vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 13% of the time

More Visual Studio Test Professional Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

SpecFlow

April 2025

Download SpecFlow product report

Buyer's Guide

Visual Studio Test Professional

April 2025

Download Visual Studio Test Professional product report

Also Known As

SpecFlow+

No data available

Overview

SpecFlow is a testing framework that supports Behaviour Driven Development (BDD). It lets us define application behavior in plain meaningful English text using a simple grammar defined by a language called Gherkin.

Tricentis

Visual Studio Professional Edition provides an IDE for all supported development languages. As of Visual Studio 2010, the Standard edition was dropped. MSDN support is available as MSDN Essentials or the full MSDN library depending on licensing. It supports XML and XSLT editing, and can create deployment packages that only use ClickOnce and MSI. It includes tools like Server Explorer and integration with Microsoft SQL Server also. Windows Mobile development support was included in Visual Studio 2005 Standard, however, with Visual Studio 2008, it is only available in Professional and higher editions. Windows Phone 7 development support was added to all editions in Visual Studio 2010. Development for Windows Mobile is no longer supported in Visual Studio 2010; it is superseded by Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Microsoft, Caterpillar, Siemens, Charles Schwab, IBM, Deloitte, Accenture, Philips, Dell, Deutsche Bank

Transport for Greater Manchester, Ordina, Bluegarden A/S, CLEAResult, Jet.com, OSIsoft, Australian Taxation Office, BookedOut, Tracasa

Buyer's Guide

SpecFlow vs. Visual Studio Test Professional

April 2025

Free Report: SpecFlow vs. Visual Studio Test Professional

Find out what your peers are saying about SpecFlow vs. Visual Studio Test Professional and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our SpecFlow vs. Visual Studio Test Professional report.

See our list of best Test Management Tools vendors.

We monitor all Test Management Tools reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.