Testing multiple browsers on multiple platforms isn’t just difficult, it can be virtually impossible without the correct resources.
Cross Browser Testing can be the biggest pain for Website Developers. But there are some cross browser testing tools available online which help to minimize testing efforts.These tools let you comprehensively test your websites, and check if it successfully displays across various browsers, platforms and resolutions. That way, your users will receive a positive, user-friendly experience no matter what their setups are.
There are free and paid cross browser testing tools available so You need to select the browser compatibility tool depending on your needs. If cross browser testing is critical part of your web project then you must allocate considerable time, resources and budget testing your website on different web browsers.
Paid cross browser testing tools can be also a good option for projects having browser dependent functionality. But for most of the projects, free cross browser testing tools are sufficient to verify cross browser functionality.
Here are some cross browser testing checklist that a Website Developer can follow & testing his web pages on different browsers like Internet explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera & Operating Systems like Windows, Linux and Mac:-
- CSS validation
- HTML or XHTML validation
- Page validations with and without JavaScript enabled
- Ajax and JQeury functionality
- Font size validation
- Page layout in different resolutions
- All images and alignment
- Header and footer sections
- Page content alignment to center, LHS or RHS
- Page styles
- Date formats
- Special characters with HTML character encoding
- Different Operating Systems like Windows, Linux and Mac
- Different browsers (with different versions) like Internet explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera.
1. Spoon Browser Sandbox: The Spoon Browser Sandbox allows you to use almost all web browsers without installing on your machine. You can run all popular browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera on your machine directly from the web. (Note: Currently Internet Explorer is removed temporary from the list of this sandbox)
Spoon Browser Sandbox is a free service currently supporting following browsers:
Mozilla Firefox versions:
Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 3.5, Firefox 3.6, Firefox 4 beta
Internet Explorer versions:
IE6, IE7, IE8
Google Chrome versions:
Chrome, Chrome 5 and Chrome 6 beta
Opera versions:
Opera 9 and Opera 10
2. Browsershots: Browsershots allow you to test website in any browser and operating system. This is widely used cross browser testing tool because of its features and available customizations.
You can run cross browser compatibility tests with great customization options like browser type, operating system, screen size, color depth, JavaScript status and Flash enable/disable settings. Just put your website url, select compatibility test parameters and submit the test request.
You need to repeat the steps for every test. This free browser compatibility test service can be used for taking website screen-shots almost in 61 browsers and various operating systems.
Main drawback of this service is the time taken to display the result when you select many browsers and many times it shows timeout error.
Supported browsers:
IE, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, Minefield, Netscape and many more browsers with all versions.
3. IE NetRenderer: This is a free online browser compatibility check tool to test website on almost all versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Just select the Internet Explorer version from drop down list and put your url to start rendering website. You can instantly verify the screen-shot of the page under test.
There is also a “IE NetRenderer” Firefox add-on available that allows you to render the web page that you are currently reading.
4. IE Tab: A Firefox and Chrome add on to simulate IE browse with a single click of a button. This is a best tool for software testers and developers, since you can easily view how your web page displayed in Internet Explorer with just one click using Firefox or Chrome browsers. Unfortunately this add-on is not available for Firefox 6.0 and above versions. But again a good tool to quickly start your testing on Internet explorer when you have either Firefox or Google Chrome browsers.
5. IE Tester: There are many options available online if you want to check browser compatibility on Internet Explorer versions. IE tester is one of those options that allows you to test your website on multiple Internet Explorer versions at the same time using one application.
IETester, a free cross browser testing tool can be used to test website on IE 5.5, IE6, IE7, IE8 and IE9 preview browsers on Windows 7, Vista and XP operating systems.
6. Microsoft SuperPreview: Microsoft Expression Web SuperPreview free cross browser testing software allows you to test and debug layout issues across different IE browsers and platforms. You can check websites in different browsers simultaneously. Also check how a page renders in a browser and compare it with other standard screen-shots you have.
Expression Web SuperPreview for Internet Explorer shows your web pages rendered in Internet Explorer 6 and either Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8, depending on which version you have installed on your machine.
Currently beta version of SuperPreview for Internet Explorer is available for free for download.
If you can’t rely on these free online cross browser testing tools then using Virtual Desktop is the best solution for you. Using Virtual machine you can simulate live environment for multiple browsers and different operating systems. You can use virtual machine software or can setup a virtual machine in your office network with different operating system images and browsers which can be accessed remotely for browser compatibility testing.
Paid Cross Browser Testing Tools:
7. Ghostlab: Ghostlab offers synchronized testing for scrolls, clicks, reloads and form input across all your connected devices, meaning you can test the entire user experience, not just a simple page. Using the superior built-in inspector, you can discover and fix problems quickly, connected to the DOM or JavaScript output on any device.
8. BrowserStack: BrowserStack provides live, web-based browser testing with instant access to every desktop and mobile browser (currently more than 300), with the ability to test local and internal servers, providing a secure setup. The cloud-based access means no installation is required, and the pre-installed developer tools (including Firebug Lite, Microsoft Script Debugger and many more) are useful for quick cross-browser testing and debugging.
The official iOS, Android and Opera mobile and tablet emulators help you test across a huge range of devices. Using the BrowserStack infrastructure, you can quickly setup a comprehensive testing environment with support for firewalls, proxies and Active Directory.
9. BrowserCam: BrowserCam is a paid online service that allows you to view your web pages across different platforms and browsers, either by automatically taking the screen-shot or manually navigating web pages in different browsers. Free trial is available for 200 screen captures in a day.
10. Browserseal: BrowserSeal cross browser testing tool allows you to capture an image of your website under different browsers with a single click of a mouse. You can navigate images to spot layout and UI issues. Browserseal tool support almost all major versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari.
Free Trial version of Browserseal is also available, limited to two browsers (Firefox and Internet Explorer) and one screen-shot per session.
11. Cross Browser Testing: Test your website live on different operating systems and browsers. You just need to login to Cross Browser Testing platform, select operating system, browser and start testing your website for Ajax, JavaScript and flash functionality. You can also check your website design using automated screen-shot tool to view website’s design across every browser. Free trial of this cross browser testing software is available for one week.
12. Cloud Testing: Cloud Testing tool allows you to check website look and feel and the functionality on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari. Opera and Google Chrome browsers on real operating systems in the cloud.
13. Rapise: There are many free and paid cross browser testing tools available in the market. Tools range from automated software testing tools to tools that will combine multiple testing tools, which will speed up the QA process.
14. Litmus: Litmus offers one-stop email and cross-browser testing. Once you enter your URL, Litmus will show how it appears in the most popular web browsers. Link validation means you can verify all of your links and also make sure the URLs you’re linking to aren’t blacklisted. The flexible setup allows you to add team members, clients and partners to a testing project, without limits on users or tests and unlimited access to all the features available.
If you’re a Mac OS X user, you have the added advantage of using Alkaline, a free Mac app to run email and browser tests right from your desktop. With a range of plugins, Alkaline lets you test page designs across multiple browsers without dealing with virtual machines.
15. Spoon.net Browser Sandbox: makes cross-browser testing and backwards compatibility easy. Just click Run for any browser to launch it instantly.
16. Sauce Labs: Sauce Labs allows you to run tests in the cloud on more than 260 different browser platforms and devices, providing a comprehensive test infrastructure including Selenium, JavaScript, Mobile and Manual testing facilities. There’s no VM setup or maintenance required, with access to live breakpoints while the tests are running so you can jump in and take control to investigate a problem manually.
Sauce Labs lists your recently run tests chronologically, with info about the testing platform, runtime, build and whether they passed or failed. Once a test is complete, you’ll receive a full report with the metadata and log files, and you can flip through screenshots to diagnose errors and verify layouts, or even watch a screencast of the whole test.
17. Mogotest: No coding required. Designed for everyone from PMs to QA to devs.Mogotest visually analyzes your website or app to help you ship better products, providing cross-browser compatibility reports to see in which browsers your pages may appear broken, and drill down for more information. There’s no programming knowledge required; just enter a set or URLs and the results are delivered quickly.
18. Browsera: This is an automated browser compatibility testing tool used to test website and its elements in multiple browsers. You can use this service to test website and all web pages for layout and scripting errors.
19. BrowseEmAll: BrowseEmAll helps you find cross-browser issues quickly, optimize your site for mobile devices, test local pages and even run different browsers side-by-side for layout comparison. There’s support for all major browsers, with BrowseEmAll keeping track of new browser releases and updates. The simulators for iOS and Android allow you to scroll, zoom and interact as if you were on the real device, and switch between landscape and portrait mode.
20. TestingBot: TestingBot provides easy cross-browser testing with Selenium, either manually or automated, with more than 100 browser and OS combinations. The live, manual testing allows you to control any browser in the cloud interactively from your own browser. You can run automated tests in the cloud by specifying which browsers you want to test, when the test should run and for how long.
Each browser test features advanced reporting, multiple screenshots and even a video of your test, to verify the test has run correctly and, if a test fails, to check why. A secure testing environment allows you to run tests on your local computer, on a LAN or on a server via VPN.