With thousands of mobile apps being launched every month, how can you be sure that the app your team is building or has nearly completed, is ready to compete in the market? The same question applies to websites and desktop applications.

Even if you’ve followed every step of the software development life cycle (SDLC), building software isn’t just about following a checklist. The real question is: how do you know if your software measures up against its digital competitors?

The answer lies in Comparison Testing.

 

What is Comparison Testing?

Comparison testing is a technique used to evaluate a software product by comparing its strengths and weaknesses to those of similar products on the market. While it’s impossible to compare your application with every competitor in the domain, you can benchmark it against the most popular ones.

This testing can be applied to the entire software application or specific components, such as individual features, loading speed, database efficiency, or security mechanisms. The scope of the comparison depends on the software, its intended use, and the competitors being analyzed.

In essence, comparison testing helps teams and stakeholders determine whether their software is market-ready and capable of engaging users. It provides an answer to the critical question: 

“How will users perceive this app when it’s released?”

The insights gained from comparison testing help teams decide whether the software is ready for production or if further optimization and tweaks are needed before release.

 

What Do We Compare in Comparison Testing?

Comparison testing can be used to evaluate any aspect of a software system, whether functional or nonfunctional. Common areas of comparison include file contents, databases, authentication mechanisms, UI elements, operability, installation process, device/browser compatibility, aesthetics, usability across different geographies.

It’s also advisable to compare broader elements like software design, architecture, functionality, speed, storage, and performance.

For example, your app may perform as well as a competitor’s in the US. But when you run geolocation testing, you might discover that your app is slower to load in regions like The Netherlands and lacks certain UI elements. Meanwhile, the competitor’s app performs flawlessly.

Typically, QA teams perform comparison testing in two stages:

Benchmark Testing: Comparing the app against industry standards.

Feature Testing: Evaluating the app against specific features offered by competitors.

 

Tools and Techniques in Comparison Testing

Comparison testing tools are designed to identify discrepancies before the app reaches production. These tools allow testers to compare file contents, functionality, and performance against benchmarks or competitor systems.

One key feature of these tools is the ability to mask or ignore specific sections of files, such as date or time stamps. Without this feature, the tool would always flag such sections as discrepancies, as they change with each test iteration. By masking these sections, testers can focus on meaningful differences and ensure accurate results.

 

Why Comparison Testing Matters

By running comparison tests, teams can identify gaps and weaknesses in their software before release. This ensures that the product is market-ready, competitive, and capable of delivering a seamless user experience.

Comparison testing isn’t just about finding flaws, it’s about gaining insights that help your app stand out in a crowded digital landscape.

 

When to Perform Comparison Testing

The timing for comparison testing depends entirely on the nature of the software being developed and the team building it. Unlike regression testing, comparison testing doesn’t have a fixed phase in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). It can be performed at any stage - early, mid, or late or even alongside other forms of testing.

In most cases, comparison testing is conducted on various components throughout the SDLC. This is because software must be compared against its competitors at every stage of development to ensure functionality and competitiveness across all features, as far as is feasible.

 

Criteria to Perform Comparison Testing

The criteria for comparison testing are defined by the software’s nature and its specific use cases. These criteria also form the foundation for designing application- and business-focused test cases.

Generally, comparison testing is divided into two key stages:

  • Comparison Against Industry Benchmarks: Testing the software to ensure it meets standard industry requirements, such as, pages should load within three seconds, there should be no text overlapping with UI elements, text should be concise and user-friendly.
  • Comparison Against Competitor Features: Evaluating the software against specific features offered by competing products.

For example, let’s consider a typical test automation platform.

Most test automation tools are expected to include the following features:

  • A dashboard for a single view of all tests.
  • Support for recording individual projects.
  • Record-and-playback functionality.
  • A search function.
  • A real-time view of the project’s Git.
  • Automatic report generation.

Stage 1: The first step is to ensure the application includes all essential features expected from a test automation tool. Questions to ask include:

  • Does the tool include all the modules required for a test management solution?
  • Are these modules functioning as expected?

Stage 2: The software is compared against other popular tools in the domain. Metrics for comparison could include:

  • Pricing.
  • Application performance.
  • Aesthetic appeal and usability of the UI.

At both stages, comparison tests are designed to identify discrepancies that could lead to business losses. This requires selecting the right tools and deploying effective test design and execution strategies.

 

Example Test Cases for Comparison Testing

Whether you’re building a web app, mobile app, ERP app, or any other type of software, running comparison tests is highly recommended.

Using the “test automation tool” example, here are some sample test cases:

Stage 1: Industry Benchmark Comparison

  • Is all test data stored within the application?
  • Does the system automatically trigger a new ticket when a bug is flagged?

Stage 2: Competitor Comparison

  • Can the application handle maximum traffic loads?
  • Does it perform as well as competitors under limited internet connectivity?
  • Are there flaws in its integration with third-party software?
  • Is its pricing competitive?
  • Does it look as appealing as competitor products?
  • Is it as intuitive, navigable, and user-friendly as its competitors?

The more innovative and detailed your test cases, the better your chances of identifying bugs, anomalies, and functional issues.

 

How Comparison Testing Can Help the Business

Comparison testing offers several advantages to businesses, including:

  • Market Readiness: Ensures the app is marketable and worth the investment.
  • Gap Analysis: Identifies functional gaps, leading to optimization, bug fixes, and enhanced product quality.
  • Competitiveness: Helps make the software durable, competitive, and genuinely valuable to end users.
  • Release Decisions: Provides stakeholders with actionable insights on whether the product is ready for production.
  • Damage Prevention: Prevents backlash, credibility loss, and revenue dips by identifying flaws before release.
  • Market Insights: Offers valuable learnings about user preferences and market trends, enabling teams to create more desirable and marketable software.

Comparison testing plays a vital role in ensuring that a software product is competitive, functional, and ready to meet user expectations. By integrating it into your QA process, you can build a product that not only meets industry standards but also excels in its target market.

 

Comparison Testing Advantages

  • Evaluates Software Quality: Helps assess the software’s quality compared to competitors and industry standards.
  • Judges Usability and Performance: Offers insights into the software’s usability, performance, and user-friendliness.
  • Analyzes Competitive Value: Assesses the product’s actual competitive edge in digital marketing.
  • Identifies Improvement Areas: Pinpoints areas that require optimization before product release.
  • Supports Market Insights: Evaluates the software’s desirability, aiding future development and marketing strategies.
  • Checks Portability: Helps determine the product’s portability across platforms.
  • Ensures Profitability: Guides teams toward creating a product with real market potential.
  • Detects Bugs: Acts as a form of traditional testing to confirm that the system is free of critical bugs.
  • Ensures Component Compatibility: Answers whether all components fit and function seamlessly together.

 

Disadvantages of Comparison Testing

  • Competitor Insights: If competitors conduct comparison tests on your released products, they may discover your product’s weaknesses.
  • Late-Stage Challenges: Running comparison tests late in the SDLC makes bug fixes difficult, potentially delaying the release.
  • Risk of Disruption: Adjustments based on comparison testing can disrupt existing functionalities, requiring additional regression testing.
  • Increased Testing Requirements: After changes are made, other testing types (e.g., black-box, white-box, performance, and security testing) must be conducted to validate stability.
  • Business Risks: Revealing significant flaws during comparison testing could deter clients from investing in the product altogether.

 

How to Perform Comparison Testing

One effective method for comparison testing involves working with a control group of potential end-users. This approach includes:

Gather a Target Audience Group: Select a control group representing your app’s end-users.

Side-by-Side Comparison: Have the group compare specific aspects of your app and a competitor’s app.

Ranking Features: Ask users to rank features, UI elements, or processes for both applications.

Analyze Results: Aggregate scores and pinpoint specific areas for improvement.

 

Sample Questions for User-Facing Comparison Tests:

  • Do you (the user) prefer the UI feature in option A (your app) or option B (competitor app)?
  • Do you (the user) find the text or images more appealing in option A or option B?
  • Do you (the user) experience more satisfaction during this process (e.g., purchasing) in option A or option B?

 

Manual Comparison Testing

The process described above is essentially manual comparison testing, making it ideal for evaluating user-facing elements like UI design, aesthetics, and load speed. It also provides genuine feedback on users’ impressions of the software.

In its manual form, comparison testing can be viewed as a form of user acceptance testing. By listening to users’ opinions, QA teams gather valuable insights that ultimately determine the software’s profitability.

Important Note: Comprehensive testing of a modern, multi-featured application is not feasible with manual testing alone. For evaluating aspects such as performance, integration, global usability, and other critical functionalities, automated testing tools are more effective.

 

Automated Comparison Testing

Using automation tools for comparison testing allows QA teams to replicate the user journey and simulate real-world app behavior with accuracy and ease. This method is especially useful for evaluating:

  • Integration with third-party applications.
  • Performance across different geographic locations.
  • Critical functionality under various conditions.

Key Reminder: Automation doesn’t eliminate the need for human testers. Human expertise is essential for writing test scripts, overseeing automated tests, analyzing test results, making final decisions about software quality.

Automation and human intervention must work hand-in-hand to ensure a successful outcome.

 

Conclusion

In today’s fiercely competitive digital landscape, no company can afford to leave the success of its software to chance. Products can no longer be released into the market on the hope that they will succeed.

Comparison testing offers a reliable, data-driven approach to evaluate an app’s potential for success. By comparing your software with competitors, developers and business stakeholders gain the opportunity to release a product that stands out—one that satisfies users and delivers profitable results.

Ankur Shrivastav
Ankur Shrivastav
CEO
Ankur is a seasoned entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience in developing successful web and app products for startups, small and medium enterprises, and large corporations. He is passionate about technology leadership and building robust engineering teams.