Most developers nowadays are plagued by cross-browser issues and considering the fact that there are tons of popular browsers and operating systems available, it’s impossible to manually test your website on all of them. That’s why we came up with a list of our favourite ten cross-browser testing tools, including Browsershots. These tools are both free and paid so take your time to check trough each of them.
Browsershots
Browsershots is a very simple yet useful free tool with plenty of functionality to go along. Browsershots’ list of supported browsers is huge. You can select your screen’s depth, colour, size and whether to check for issues or not by using Flash, Java and JavaScript. The free service offered by Browsershots doesn’t include features that handle navigation testing or scripting and in our experience, it also takes a long time to see the results. All in all, it’s still a pretty good tool for showcasing pages to clients – the paid version of Browsershots with priority testing and tons of features will set you back just under $30 a month.
Browser Sandbox
Browser Sandbox is next on our list, featuring a good list of browsers which you can use for testing. Unfortunately, Browser Sandbox is only available for Windows Users but the developers are planning to release a Mac version soon. The list of browsers supported by Browser Sandbox includes Firefox Nightly, Opera, Safari, Firefox Mobile, Chromium Canary, Chrome, Firefox and the ever popular Internet Explorer.
If you go for their free service, the only limitation you’ll have is that Browser Sandbox will only test your page with the latest version of each browser. If you need access to older versions of these browsers you can get started with just a little under $5 a month. That’s quite a bargain!
BrowserStack
Browser Stack is number 3 on our list of cross-browser testing tools – it’s also one of the most popular products by the way. Browser stack is a great tool for mobile testing and it also supports over 700 desktop browsers. Other features include quick screenshots, local testing and resolutions from 800x600 up to 2048x1536.
Browser Stack will set you back between $12.50 to $29 a month, depending on your needs and the type of your organization. Open source projects can get this tool for free.
This tool offers a nice mix of both free and paid services but not all of the paid services are that necessary so you might get the job done with only the free ones.
IE Testers
If you want to test your page on IE, here’s a list of free Internet explorer testers you might want to check out:
Netrenderer
Net Renderer allows you to test websites in IE 5.5 up to IE 11. It’s a pretty simple tool without too many features – it’s free so get testing!
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge offers testing in other browsers as well, not just IE. Microsoft Edge will show screenshots of your website in the browsers you select and on mobile devices as well. The Azure Remote App also allows you to test in IE remotely.
My Debugbar
My Debugbar which is also known as IETester is another tool web developers can use if they want to test in IE. This tool requires a 60MB download and can only work on Windows. Unfortunately, My Debugbar has plenty of limitations and bugs so it’s better to do some research before installing it.
Browsera
Browsera will set you back between $39 and $99 a month, depending on the features you need. Although it might seem a bit expensive at first, you are getting quite a lot for your money. Browsera can test password protected pages, dynamic pages, layout and JavaScript so it’s definitely worth taking a look through it.
Mobile Ready’s Webshot
Webshot is a free tool which you can use to test mobile cross-browser compatibility. All you need to do is register and then you can get started.
CrossBrowserTesting
Interestingly enough, CrossBrowserTesting uses real devices to run the browsers and tests. Emulators do a good job indeed but nothing beats the real thing. CrossBrowserTesting’s features list is extensive and definitely worth its money.
CrossBrowserTesting’s list of supported browsers and operating systems is possibly the largest in the industry – it’s over 900! CBT also supports over 40 operating systems including Mac, Windows, Android and iOS.
Developers can also use its “live testing feature” – it allows you to test pages in a real environment. You can test Flash, JavaScript, HTML forms and AJAX. Other features include screenshot comparisons, Selenium tests and local testing. CrossBrowserTesting will set you back $29 a month, with a 7 days free trial.
Conclusion
Generally speaking, paid services are well worth the effort and there’s really no way of saying which tool is best – it strictly depends on your needs and the type of project you’re working on.
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