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SpecFlow vs Visual Studio Test Professional comparison

Tricentis and Microsoft are both solutions in the Test Management Tools category. Tricentis is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.5, while Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.6. Tricentis holds a 1.7% mindshare in TMT, compared to Microsoft’s 2.6% 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
  • 483 Views
  • 256 Comparison Views
75% willing to recommend
Visual Studio Test Professi...
Read 52 Visual Studio Test Professional reviews
  • 949 Views
  • 256 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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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.

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To learn more, read our detailed SpecFlow vs. Visual Studio Test Professional Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
SpecFlow vs. Visual Studio Test Professional
July 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

SpecFlow
Ranking in Test Management Tools
11th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
4
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
52
Ranking in other categories
Functional Testing Tools (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Test Management Tools category, the mindshare of SpecFlow is 1.7%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visual Studio Test Professional is 2.6%, down from 3.4% 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.
Read full review
CharlesChang - PeerSpot reviewer
Valuable performance and libraries but needs compatibility improvements
We use Visual Studio Test Professional to develop our internal applications for our company The performance of Visual Studio Test Professional is valuable. Additionally, there are many libraries that I can use, and it supports cross-platform functionality. Visual Studio Test Professional is…
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

"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."
"One of the most valuable features of SpecFlow for us is its risk identification capabilities."
"The initial setup is easy."
"It is very easy to use. You can handle a lot of things together at once in one package, which is a good point for us."
"The most valuable feature is the in-built support for C# and .NET projects."
"Visual Studio is an exemplary integrated development environment that stands out due to its exceptional features. It allows for the seamless selection of the appropriate programming language for the specific development tasks at hand. This facilitates a swift and effortless transition between languages, providing a highly efficient development experience."
"The interface is easy to use."
"The integrated unit testing and extensive search features have made things easier."
"Visual Studio Test Professional is a user-friendly solution."
"You can easily write code, test, and deploy within the same environment. It is a mature tool. It regularly receives new updates and versions. In my opinion, it's one of the best products by Microsoft for developers."
"The solution is very stable; there's nothing in relation to stability to complain about."
More Visual Studio Test Professional pros
 

Cons

"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."
"SpecFlow would be improved with the addition of functionality reporting, which would be really helpful for automation testing."
"The product needs contextual help integrated within its interface. Currently, I need to search online to find out how to use certain functions."
"It could be available for multiple platforms and other operating systems like Mac with a native port."
"In Visual Studio we still don't have anything which can pinpoint memory leaks on a certain code line."
"Visual Studio Test Professional needs to improve its stability."
"Visual Studio Test Professional needs to improve its scalability."
"The data flow can be improved."
"The Git extensions are very basic and can be more extensive compared to other software focused on Git, like GitTower or SmartGit."
"It would be great to support other languages and applications, and that is one of the things we can improve."
More Visual Studio Test Professional cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SpecFlow is an open-source product."
"SpecFlow is open-source and free of charge."
"We pay for the solution annually and the price could be reduced."
"We use the solution’s community version, and the solution’s pricing could be cheaper."
"The product is very expensive."
"Visual Studio Test Professional is a very expensive solution."
"We have licensing for Visual Studio Community edition."
"I positioned it at a mid-range level. It isn't an inexpensive solution, but considering its capabilities, it represents excellent value for the functionalities it offers."
"The pricing is expensive."
"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."
More Visual Studio Test Professional pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Healthcare Company
16%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Non Profit
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Performing Arts
9%
 

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 Logo
Tricentis Tosca vs SpecFlow
Compared 100% of the time
More SpecFlow Competitors
Tricentis Tosca vs Visual Studio Test Professional Logo
Tricentis Tosca vs Visual Studio Test Professional
Compared 16% of the time
SmartBear TestComplete vs Visual Studio Test Professional Logo
SmartBear TestComplete vs Visual Studio Test Professional
Compared 14% of the time
Apache JMeter vs Visual Studio Test Professional Logo
Apache JMeter vs Visual Studio Test Professional
Compared 14% of the time
OpenText Functional Testing vs Visual Studio Test Professional Logo
OpenText Functional Testing vs Visual Studio Test Professional
Compared 13% of the time
Tricentis qTest vs Visual Studio Test Professional Logo
Tricentis qTest vs Visual Studio Test Professional
Compared 13% of the time
More Visual Studio Test Professional Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
SpecFlow
July 2025
SpecFlow reportDownload SpecFlow product report
Buyer's Guide
Visual Studio Test Professional
July 2025
Visual Studio Test Professional reportDownload 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
July 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: July 2025.
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