Top 40 Commercial Alternatives to Percy

Introduction: Where Percy Fits in Visual Testing

Visual testing emerged as front-end teams realized that functional tests alone were not enough to protect the user experience. Even when Selenium and other automation frameworks verified that a button could be clicked, they could not confirm whether it shifted out of place, overlapped text, or adopted the wrong theme. Percy helped popularize practical visual regression testing for the web: capture snapshots, compare against a baseline, and flag pixel-level changes as part of CI.

Percy gained traction because it:

• Integrates with CI and common test frameworks via SDKs and a CLI.

• Makes visual regressions easy to spot in pull requests.

• Provides a simple workflow for establishing and reviewing baselines.

However, baselines need care and feeding. Dynamic content can trigger false positives, and some teams want broader testing (mobile, desktop, or model-based testing), AI-based visual diffs, or an all-in-one solution that also covers end-to-end, API, synthetics, or performance. That is why many teams explore alternatives—either to replace Percy or to complement it.

Overview: The Top 40 Alternatives to Percy

Here are the top 40 commercial alternatives to Percy covered in this guide:

• Applitools Eyes

• Applitools for Mobile

• Automation Anywhere

• BitBar

• BlazeMeter

• Blue Prism

• BrowserStack Automate

• Burp Suite (Enterprise)

• Checkly

• Cypress Cloud

• Datadog Synthetic Tests

• Eggplant Test

• Functionize

• Happo

• IBM Rational Functional Tester

• Kobiton

• LambdaTest

• LoadRunner

• Mabl

• Micro Focus Silk Test

• Microsoft Playwright Testing

• NeoLoad

• New Relic Synthetics

• Perfecto

• Pingdom

• RPA Tools (UiPath)

• Ranorex

• ReadyAPI

• Repeato

• Sahi Pro

• Sauce Labs

• Squish

• TestCafe Studio

• TestComplete

• Testim

• Tricentis Tosca

• UFT One (formerly QTP)

• Virtuoso

• Waldo

• testRigor

Why Look for Percy Alternatives?

• Baseline drift and maintenance: Visual baselines require ongoing review. In fast-moving UI codebases, keeping baselines stable can be time-consuming.

• Dynamic or personalized UIs: Ads, animations, dates, and user-specific content can cause false positives, increasing noise and review overhead.

• Platform scope: Percy focuses on the web. Teams with native iOS/Android, desktop, SAP, or embedded apps may need broader platform coverage.

• Need for AI assistance: Some tools offer AI-based visual diffs and self-healing locators to reduce noise and maintenance burden.

• End-to-end coverage: Teams may want integrated solutions for API, performance, synthetics, security, and device clouds—not just visual checks.

• Scale and cost: Large organizations may require high-parallel execution, on-prem options, or enterprise governance that influence tool selection.

• Debugging and analytics: Deep trace, network logs, root-cause analysis, and model-based debugging can be decisive for complex systems.

Detailed Breakdown of Alternatives

Applitools Eyes

A cross-platform visual testing solution with AI-powered comparison and the Ultrafast Grid.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Similar purpose with more AI assistance and wider platform coverage (web, mobile, desktop), often reducing noise from dynamic UIs.

Applitools for Mobile

Visual testing for iOS and Android, part of the Applitools suite.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Focuses on native mobile visual testing, which goes beyond Percy’s web emphasis.

Automation Anywhere

An RPA platform that automates desktop and web workflows; can be used for regression UI automation.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Not a visual diff tool; better suited when end-to-end desktop workflow automation is the priority.

BitBar

A real-device and browser cloud from SmartBear.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Provides the infrastructure to run tests and capture artifacts, but not purpose-built for visual diffs.

BlazeMeter

A SaaS performance/load testing platform.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Performance rather than visual regression; complements visual testing rather than replaces it.

Blue Prism

Enterprise RPA for Windows that can be applied to repeatable UI workflows.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: A fit for UI workflow automation rather than visual regression diffing.

BrowserStack Automate

A large device/browser cloud for web and mobile automation.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Provides execution infrastructure; Percy handles visual diffs. Use Automate for broad coverage and CI scale.

Burp Suite (Enterprise)

Enterprise DAST that automates security scanning for web and APIs.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Security-focused rather than visual testing; complements visual checks to protect overall quality.

Checkly

Synthetics and end-to-end checks as code using Playwright.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Focuses on uptime and E2E correctness; not a visual diff platform but can capture screenshots and assertions.

Cypress Cloud

SaaS runner and insights for Cypress tests.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Enhances Cypress execution and insights; not a dedicated visual diff engine, though screenshot assertions are possible in Cypress.

Datadog Synthetic Tests

Synthetics for web and API with CI/CD and monitoring integrations.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Prioritizes reliability and performance signals; not a specialized visual diff solution.

Eggplant Test

Model-based testing with image recognition for desktop, web, and mobile.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Uses vision and models to verify UI behavior beyond pixel diffs; a broader scope than Percy’s web snapshots.

Functionize

AI-assisted end-to-end testing for web and mobile.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Focuses on functional E2E with AI; can include visual checks but is not primarily a visual regression tool.

Happo

Component-level visual regression testing for web.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Highly similar use case focused on component snapshots; a strong alternative if you test at the component level.

IBM Rational Functional Tester

Enterprise functional UI testing for desktop and web.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Functional UI automation first, not specialized visual diffs.

Kobiton

Mobile device cloud focused on real-device testing and automation.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Ideal for mobile execution; pair with visual checks if needed. Not a native visual diff engine.

LambdaTest

Cross-browser testing cloud for web and mobile.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Provides infrastructure for execution; visual regression may require additional tooling.

LoadRunner

Enterprise load and performance testing.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Focused on performance, not visual diffs; a complementary discipline.

Mabl

Low-code, AI-assisted web and API testing with self-healing.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Includes visual change detection alongside E2E and API, offering a more integrated approach.

Micro Focus Silk Test

Functional UI testing for desktop and web (enterprise-focused).

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Functional-first tool; visual regression would be secondary.

Microsoft Playwright Testing

Managed cloud service for running Playwright tests at scale.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Execution and insights for Playwright, not visual diffs; can pair with Playwright’s screenshot assertions.

NeoLoad

Enterprise load and performance testing.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Performance-oriented; complements visual tests rather than replaces them.

New Relic Synthetics

Scripted browser and API checks within an observability platform.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Synthetics and monitoring over visual diffing; targets reliability in production.

Perfecto

Enterprise device and browser cloud (real devices and emulators).

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Execution cloud rather than visual regression; often used alongside visual tools.

Pingdom

Uptime and transactional checks for web and APIs.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Focused on uptime and basic flows, not visual differences.

RPA Tools (UiPath)

RPA platform that can be used for regression UI automation across desktop and web.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: End-to-end process automation rather than visual regression testing.

Ranorex

Codeless/scripted testing for desktop, web, and mobile with strong object repositories.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Functional automation first; can perform image-based checks but not focused on snapshot diffing like Percy.

ReadyAPI

Commercial API testing for SOAP/REST/GraphQL.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: API-focused and does not test the UI layer visually.

Repeato

Codeless, computer vision-based testing for iOS and Android.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Built for mobile with CV-based assertions; ideal when native apps change frequently and selectors are brittle.

Sahi Pro

End-to-end UI testing for web and desktop, known for enterprise web app stability.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Functional automation tool; visual diffs would be secondary or custom.

Sauce Labs

Cloud device and browser platform with real devices, emulators, and analytics.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Execution cloud; visual regression typically requires an additional tool or service.

Squish

GUI testing across Qt, QML, embedded, desktop, and web.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Ideal for Qt/embedded/desktop; different scope than Percy’s web-first visual diffs.

TestCafe Studio

Codeless IDE variant of TestCafe for web testing.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Functional web automation with screenshots; not a dedicated visual diff tool.

TestComplete

Codeless/scripted testing for desktop, web, and mobile by SmartBear.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: E2E functional suite; can validate visuals but not primarily snapshot diffs.

Testim

AI-assisted web testing by SmartBear with self-healing locators.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Functional-first with some visual assertions; broader E2E focus.

Tricentis Tosca

Model-based test automation for web, mobile, desktop, and SAP.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Enterprise E2E coverage across platforms; visual checks are part of a larger MBT strategy.

UFT One (formerly QTP)

Enterprise GUI automation for desktop and web.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Functional and enterprise-focused, not specialized in visual diffs.

Virtuoso

AI-assisted testing for web and mobile with vision and NLP-driven authoring.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Broader AI-driven E2E testing; can include visual validations without focusing solely on snapshot diffs.

Waldo

No-code mobile UI testing for iOS and Android with cloud execution.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: Mobile-only E2E and regression; not a dedicated visual diff service.

testRigor

Natural-language end-to-end testing for web and mobile.

• Strengths:

• Compared to Percy: E2E functional focus with possible visual checks; not primarily a visual diff engine.

Things to Consider Before Choosing a Percy Alternative

• Application scope: Are you testing web only, or do you also need native mobile, desktop, SAP, or embedded UI support?

• Visual strategy: Do you need pixel-precise diffs, AI-based visual comparisons to reduce noise, or component-level visual review?

• Language and framework support: Ensure SDKs, languages, and frameworks (JS, Java, Python, .NET, Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, Appium) match your stack.

• Ease of setup and maintenance: Consider recorder/low-code options, self-healing locators, and tools that minimize baseline drift.

• Execution speed and scale: Look for parallelization, grid capabilities, and cross-browser/device execution that match your CI throughput needs.

• CI/CD integration: Verify native integrations with your pipeline tools, VCS, and build systems, plus features like annotations in pull requests.

• Debugging and analytics: Prioritize screenshots, videos, network logs, traces, and root-cause analysis to reduce mean time to resolution.

• Environment parity: Do you need real devices, emulators/simulators, or on-prem options for compliance?

• Team workflow: Consider code-first versus low/no-code, collaboration features, review workflows, and baseline approval processes.

• Cost and licensing: Model your run volumes, concurrency, team seats, and data retention to forecast total cost of ownership.

Conclusion

Percy helped make visual regression testing accessible in CI, and it remains a solid choice for web teams that want fast visual feedback on UI changes. But modern QA needs vary: some teams want AI-powered visual baselines across web and mobile, others want an all-in-one platform for E2E, API, synthetics, or performance, and many need a large device/browser cloud to scale execution.

• Choose AI-first visual testing when dynamic UIs generate noise and review overhead.

• Choose a device/browser cloud when you need broad coverage and fast parallel runs.

• Choose low-code or model-based tools when you want to reduce maintenance and align with enterprise governance.

• Choose synthetics and observability-led tools when production reliability and alerting are key.

• Choose performance or security platforms when the goal is resilience beyond the UI layer.

In practice, many organizations combine tools: a visual testing platform for UI appearance, a cloud grid for scale, an E2E framework for functional coverage, and synthetics or performance for continuous assurance. Pick the mix that aligns with your scope, stack, and workflow, and you’ll get faster feedback with fewer gaps in coverage.