With all the test automation frameworks available — proprietary and open source — it can be overwhelming to begin the search for the right solution for your project and team because of budget and time constraints, the learning curve in order to evaluate the tools thoroughly, or a combination of several factors!

If you do get to evaluate new software to use, inevitably the suggestion of using free Open Source software appears. If it's free, it's for me, right?

Despite the low initial cost, many companies have concerns about the longevity of Open Source projects. While many Open Source products with strong track records exist already, such as Red Hat Linux, Apache Web Servers, MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, not all fields in software are created equal. Areas such as testing may not have such well-defined and reliable products. Some well-known projects may exist, but they may not suit your exact needs. There may be others, but their sustainability may come into question.

In order to thoroughly and fairly evaluate each project, we created a rubric for analyzing some of the most well-known Open Source test automation frameworks to help determine which projects will most likely be around for some time, and continue to meet the needs of companies adopting testing frameworks.

We've compiled our findings into a report to help ease the search, and to give you insights on how to find the right tool for your team, (which may not be Open Source after all!)

• A thorough assessment, score, and ranking of the top testing frameworks
• Insights on how to choose the right test automation tool for your team

Here's a sneak peek of how the top open-source test automation frameworks stack up against each other: