I can't recommend Karate enough. It's really transformed the way my organization tackles API projects, and enabled our QA engineers to focus more on what they do best -- ensure quality in our products -- and less on learning to become Java developers.

Karate is well documented and well supported. [sensitive content hidden] is all over Stack Overflow, so if you run into an issue, chances are he's already answered your question, or will have an answer for you within hours. But the DSL is so simple to learn, chances are you won't have any issues getting up and running with it. And unlike other solutions, Karate offers a full range of automation capabilities: client-side assertions for API, UI & desktop testing, server-side mocks/simulators, and even performance testing (executed by Gatling).

This is hard to answer, as Karate's Java interop capabilities make calling Java code incredibly easy, which means if Karate doesn't offer something "out of the box," you can simply spin up a custom Java class that accomplishes what you need it to. That said, it would be nice if Karate offered some built-in Kafka capabilities (e.g. the ability to write to and read from a specified topic using a REST endpoint).

This solution is easy to teach to people without a lot of coding experience, but it is capable of being extended by those with a deeper skillset. Because Karate also uses Scenarios in Feature files, teams who are using a Cucumber framework can create Karate tests which live alongside legacy Cucumber tests, enabling a team to increase productivity by developing tests which are faster and more stable, while continuing to run their legacy tests. Both tests can exist side-by-side, in the same repository, so the team doesn't have to switch all at once. As Cucumber tests are rewritten in Karate, tags can be adjusted to coordinate which tests are run by which framework.

Karate is an excellent solution for API testing and works well for UI testing as well. I have used it with both Selenium and Playwright for browser automation. It has an extensive set of features with lots of useful capabilities built-in. When more advanced, custom capabilities are needed, the built-in functionality can be augmented using Java and/or JavaScript. We can easily make use of any available Java library and we can manipulate Java objects while debugging in a way which is not typical when working with Java. New code can be written and executed at runtime, while debugging, which makes for very quick development in a very productive, interactive workflow. The framework is very well documented.

There are some aspects of working with Karate that take some getting used to. For instance, it is a bit odd at first for one scenario to call another scenario as if it were a function, but once you learn how it works, it is easy to work with.

I am a very happy customer of karate labs especially because of Low No-code with bdd feature helping even capability building for manual test engineers towards automation.

Simple & Ease of useEase of Onboarding (project and engineers)ReportingBDD

Performance testing scripts if that can be in Java instead of Scala, Same tech stack could help maintenance.

Karate DSL is seriously mind-blowing for test automation, especially when it comes to API testing. Brace yourself for multi thread parallel execution, reusable tests, crazy and powerful assertions, jaw-dropping reports with detailed logs , easy customization, immediate support on social platforms like Stackoverflow and lightning-fast onboarding. I mean, in less than a month, I had over 120 API services automated with Karate for my first project and after that, Karate became essential tool in my further assignments up until now. It's legit one of the best decisions I've made in my life. And guess what? Karate rocks not only at API testing but also performance testing with integration to Gatling. Yeah, you heard it right. Same code, double the power. Don't even think twice-Karate DSL is the ultimate choice for the next-gen testers out there. Go for it, You won't regret it, trust me.

If you're not familiar with programming, you might hit a bit of a learning curve. Yeah, the syntax and structure can be a tad daunting for newbies or those shifting from non-technical backgrounds.

When I started using Karate I barely knew any programming. Seven years later I've landed jobs to work on advanced automation projects. I owe it to the great mentors I've had along the way, one of those being Karate. The product, the creators, and the community have helped make my career the success it is today.

The framework makes it possible for none technical people to learn automation and contribute to testing efforts as they go. It's a framework that was built not on buzzwords or industry trends, but on solid quality assurance fundamentals.It's the only framework I'm aware of that can bring unskilled and highly skilled QA automation folks together, without imposing rigid UI's, and without requiring in-depth knowledge of a programming language.Karate also has the best customer support of any open source framework I've used. Responses to questions are quick, and there is an openness to improve and enhance the framework that has led to many of it's best features.

For more advanced users, having to be constrained by the DSL can be a bit difficult. Also the lack of a built in reporting tool that works across all major CI companies means you may have to write your own. If your a JS shop, I believe node support is still in the early stages.