# AscentialTest Reviews **Vendor:** Zeenyx **Category:** [Automation Testing Tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/automation-testing-tools) **Average Rating:** 4.9/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 10 ## About AscentialTest AscentialTest is an enterprise level Test Management System that encompasses test planning, automated and manual test development, test data management and test execution for applications running on Windows, the web, java, dotNet, terminals, Omnis and PowerBuilder. ## AscentialTest Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users praise the **automation capabilities** of AscentialTest, enabling efficient testing for complex applications with ease. (3 reviews) - Users value the **intuitive drag and drop functionality** of AscentialTest, enhancing their test development experience. (3 reviews) - Users commend the **excellent customer support** from Zeenyx, enhancing their experience with AscentialTest significantly. (3 reviews) - Users find **AscentialTest easy to use** , allowing for efficient test automation and customization suited to their needs. (3 reviews) - Users value the **automation flexibility** of AscentialTest, enabling both simple and complex testing setups efficiently. (2 reviews) - Automation Ease (1 reviews) - Cross-Browser Testing (1 reviews) - Customer Satisfaction (1 reviews) - Customization (1 reviews) - Debugging Features (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users note a **steeper learning curve** with AscentialTest, requiring time and training to master its complexities. (2 reviews) - Users find the **UI to be cramped and complex** , making it challenging to master despite its feature abundance. (2 reviews) - Users find the **steeper learning curve** challenging, requiring additional training to fully utilize AscentialTest's capabilities. (1 reviews) - Users find it **inconvenient to manage device interactions** due to limitations in debugging tests and screen captures. (1 reviews) - Users find **editing difficulties** , such as step-by-step debugging and managing screen captures, challenge their testing experience. (1 reviews) - Licensing Issues (1 reviews) - Poor UI Design (1 reviews) - Recording Issues (1 reviews) - Users find the **testing issues** of AscentialTest, including debugging challenges and screen capture management, quite frustrating. (1 reviews) ## AscentialTest Reviews ### 1. AscentialTest is a comprehensive testing tool for PowerBuilder **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Gordon W. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 31, 2025 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** Most visual components can be defined by simple drag and drop operations. Reusing the defined objects is intuitive. For more complicated components, Identifying windows and window components is flexible and powerful. Complicated test steps can be defined and reused, particularly helpful for test setup. Adding functionality to visual object classes has helped us extend features of AscentialTest. The most valuable feature of AscentialTest for us is that it fully supports PowerBuilder Product support is amazing. AscentialTest is not an easy tool to master but the patient and helpful support provided what I needed to get everything done and continues to be an essential and reliable resource. **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** Classes are not as object-oriented as I would like, but I am a programmer and not QA so I expect a lot. The interface has a lot of features and took a while to master, although even my part-time student programmers were able to master it and be very productive. **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have a desktop software solution written in PowerBuilder. We have limited personnel available and need to automate as much testing as we can. ### 2. Very useful test tool for Powerbuilder applications **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Waldemar v. | Software Tester, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 11, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** We use the tool for several complex Powerbuilder applications. You can set up the Ascential Test test suite entirely in your own way. In the editor you can perform simple test steps on objects that you can simply indicate in a screenshot. On the other hand, you can also automate complete processes and call them in a test with parameters, or for example generate current test data with your own scripts. It is also very useful to save used test data and read it from externally stored .ini files. If you have a little programming knowledge, you can create a script for all kinds of common actions to simplify the construction of a test. For example, writing and reading test data to an .ini file. Or opening or closing a screen, clicking on certain buttons on the screen, etc. Interaction with an external database is also possible to prepare test data, for example. There are various reporting options, but we prefer to log everything that is important ourselves in the output of the test, again using small scripts. So yes, you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. Fortunately, there is an extensive help file available. The Ascential Test interface is very extensive so it is handy to have an extra large screen. And not to forget, the support from Zeenyx is excellent! **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** It is a bit inconvenient that you cannot debug a test step by step. You will have to comment out test instructions to reach a certain phase in the test. But this is apparently being worked on at Zeenyx. Also managing the screen captures is sometimes a bit difficult if there are many screen captures and you prefer to have as small a collection as possible with all used objects. However, technically it does not matter how many screen captures you have. Also finding specific objects in a screen capture is not always easy, but it does not get in the way of working with the tool. It is good to know that once the tool is running, the computer can no longer be used for other work, because Ascential Test simulates mouse movements and key strokes. Also, running in the background in a virtual environment does not work well (as far as we have determined) when the hosting workstation is used. It is best to use a dedicated workstation and run the test there. **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** Because the application to be tested is very extensive, a lot of regression testing is needed when changing software. This is often not the most interesting work to do as a tester, so the automatic regression test saves a lot of time. ### 3. The best automated tool for PowerBuilder Applications **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jérémy D. | Test Leader, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 10, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** The full support of PowerBuilder applications and support other technologies as well like web applications. Easy to integrate. The object oriented method reduced the maintenance cost of your automated tests. Multiple options to organize your plan and your automated tests. The element recognition is really good and you have alwas a solution to detect elements just need to be inventive in rare cases. The support team is fantastic always responsive. **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** The user interface can be overwhelming to understand at first but it is intuitive and the learning curve is very satisfying and once you are confortable with the tool, the options to automate test are great. **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** AscentialTest benefited us in terms of saving time creating the tests faster than before and helped us to have a better coverage of all the features developped. We used to work on Tosca and because of major compatibility problems with our application we choose AscentialTest. The maintenance of our Regression Tests is faster than before. This enabled the development team to continuously add new features to the product and to achieve a better quality of the deliveries. We had a target of achieving more than a thousand automated tests in two years with 2 resources and we are on the way to do it. The training sessions we took helped us to understand the basics and we deepened our knowledge by using the tool. Most of the custom tables that were part of the application were easily resolved by AscentialTest path statements which helped our productivity to scale day by day. Managing the version control SVN with the guidance of what files need to shared to team members helped us to mitigate the merging issues and to work together. ### 4. Most Reliable and Scalable for Enterprise & Heterogenous Applications **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Debasish S. | Software Architect, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 22, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** It’s the UA server engine which allows us to work on embedded IE and Desktop based applications simultaneously. As ours is a healthcare application identifying the smallest icon in the scanned image was of significance which was resolved using render image concept which was very easy to implement. We have been using AscentialTest from past 7 years and developed around 2k tests and each test takes around 8 minutes to execute. Host Target Model allowed us to run tests in parallel which made Smoke and Regression test smoother. Maintenance of these suites have been efficient with the snapshot technology resolving most of the object issues at ease. This has allowed us to finish the regression within the sprint everytime. The Customer support was at its best from both Matrysoft and Zeenyx. **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** Sometimes, while working with steps, the UI appears more cramped because snapshots need to be opened in order to create the step **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** AscentialTest resolved the major challenges of identifying the small icons in the image which was key for our application using render image concept. It has increased the execution speed when compared to our inbuilt test automation framework in our organization. Working with heterogenous enterprise application was very smooth when compared to earlier tool Test complete. It benefitted in developing tests faster which helped us to complete the tests quicker. As the regression suites became bigger, thought the maintenance will be a challenge but with the inbuilt snapshot technology & the support from Matryxsoft & Zeenyx helped us resolve most of the issues quicker. Until now the regression tests are so reliable and productive in our sprint cycle. ### 5. An excellent tool for speeding up the development of PowerBuilder tests **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Supritha R. | Automation Test Lead, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 26, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** AscentialTest's powerful path statement which has the ability to identify the custom tables and dynamic controls which is always the challenge in testing tools. It resolved most of our application challenges. Features which best suits us are: a) Advanced Element Recognition b) Intuitive Test Creation c) Reduced Maintenance d) Seamless Integration e) Exceptional Customer Support f) Easy to Implement **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** The interface appears somewhat cumbersome occasionally while creating Steps. **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** AscentialTest resolved the major challenges of handling custom tables and dynamic controls through its path techniques. It benefitted in developing tests faster which helped in test coverage. More tests were created quickly helped in creating plans & regression suites. As the regression suites build, we assumed the maintenance will be more but eventually with the snapshot technology could maintain the tests easily within hours to a day. This enabled the development team to continuously add new features to the product. We had a target of achieving 1200 tests in a year with 4 resources including myself in the team. Our team had the training of AscentialTest prior which helped us achieving the target. Most of the custom tables that were part of the application was easily resolved by AscentialTest path statements which helped our productivity to scale day by day. Managing the version control SVN with the guidance of what files need to shared to team members helped us to mitigate the merging issues. Overall, the integration run weekly with runtime licenses helped to achieved the target within a year. ### 6. Great partner and software. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Chad F. | IT Manager, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 03, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** The product works and does its job well. Zeenyx did an awesome job of supporting us with training, product onboarding, and ongoing support. We have expanded our licensing to do more tests and volume. Everything from Zeenyx and everyone at the company have been a pleasure to work with. **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** The software works verry well. There are a few tricks and fine tuning steps that can be taken to smooth out the automations. These are sometimes unclear or have a steeper learning curve. Given the complexity of this tool that is expected and can be overcome with training. **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** We need regression test our software as it changes. AscentialTest has enabled us to do over a month's worth of transactions in just a few days. We can simply kick off the tests and generate month end reports to tie-out with our live system. This saves our employees countless hours of entering thousands of transactions to test the software. ### 7. A great product with excellent support. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Robert C. | Software Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 30, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** The tool is fun and easy to use. Very customizable. Support is also top notch. **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** More options for creating reports would be nice (how and what things are displayed, etc.). Initial set up is quite extensive, defining objects for your application and creating steps (but that should pay off in the long run with less maintenance). The UI can be quite cluttered at times as there is so much information that needs to be displayed on one screen. **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** A great tool for creating automated tests for Power Builder. I found it was easy to learn and very powerful. The scripting language that is provided enables a huge amount of customization for your tests. The support for the product is also phenomenal, they are willing to spend any amount of time needed to get you up and running or back on track. ### 8. Best automated testing tool for increasing the usability and maintenability of your applications! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Carmina G. | Product Manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 23, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** The object oriented method helps you reduce the maintenance cost of your Test Sets. You can do automate and manual test on the same tool, and you can obviouslly run test on non visible objects. AscentialTest is the only tool to fully support PB applications, it also supports other technologies. Last but not least, the support team is always there to help you. **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** The learning curve can be long, but once you are confortable with the tool, the options for automate test are unlimited! **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** Reduce the cost of automate testing, helps us with our CI/CD, improves our product quality. ### 9. Superb PowerBuilder Testing Tool **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 04, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** It is very robust and intelligent. Once you understand the basics, it is quite intuitive making quick, repeatable tests. The customer service is prompt and extremely helpful. Works very well recognizing and implementing PowerBuilder objects. **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** Small issue, but lack of Testing data persistence requires you to set up ini files and some configuration to pass data between Tests, as opposed to how it just works with Steps. **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** Our platform is large and requires a lot of repetitive testing of many windows and screens. This tool is helping us quickly create testing to handle the mundane testing so we can focus on new areas and edge case testing, as a lot of our work is custom from client to client. ### 10. My AscentialTest Journey **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Florence F. | Senior Lead Software Testing, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 01, 2024 **What do you like best about AscentialTest?** It’s been really easy to automate the same application TestComplete struggled with. I was able to created automated regression for two of our key applications in just a few months. I haven’t even taken their training. **What do you dislike about AscentialTest?** My only challenge is I only have one license. **What problems is AscentialTest solving and how is that benefiting you?** I'm free to test manually including exploratory testing while my automated regression tests run. - [View AscentialTest pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/zeenyx-ascentialtest/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-16+05%3A11%3A51+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=b6b63152-aef3-488b-baa1-5330a9ea543c&secure%5Btoken%5D=2d0e496f28543e79e8e34c71347133364183c00b9075141b7fdaa66ee6cf3b4c&format=llm_user) ## AscentialTest Features **Functionality ** - Test Feedback - Test History - Customization - Test Variety **Agentic AI - Software Testing** - Autonomous Task Execution - Natural Language Interaction - Proactive Assistance **Automation** - Organization - Reliability - Thoroughness **Agentic AI - Automation Testing** - Autonomous Task Execution - Natural Language Interaction - Proactive Assistance ## Top AscentialTest Alternatives - [BrowserStack](https://www.g2.com/products/browserstack/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (3,240 reviews) - [Panaya Smart Testing and Change Intelligence](https://www.g2.com/products/panaya-smart-testing-and-change-intelligence/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (500 reviews) - [UiPath Agentic Automation](https://www.g2.com/products/uipath-agentic-automation/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (6,012 reviews)