BBC Consumer Contracts vs Karate
BBC Consumer Contracts
github.com
Karate
karatelabs.ioSide by side
| Figure | BBC Consumer Contracts | Karate |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · Contract Testing Tools | 8.1 (#8) | 9.1 (#1) |
| Founded | 2017 | 2021 |
| Integrations | The project uses the request HTTP client and Joi for response validation. | The integrations directory lists more than 40 native integrations and more than 15 protocols or formats. |
| License | The repository license identifies Apache License 2.0 and says to contact the BBC for an alternative licence. | The core Karate framework is MIT licensed and free forever; enterprise components use a commercial license. |
| Purpose | Consumer Contracts lets API consumers define executable JavaScript contracts describing the responses they expect from services. | Karate combines API, UI, mock, and performance testing in one framework with readable syntax. |
| Security | The README shows SSL request configuration options, including client certificates and a strictSSL setting, but states no security certification or compliance claim. | Karate Labs says its products run locally or in customer infrastructure, store no customer test data, and ship with zero telemetry. |
Plans
Karate
- FreeFree
- IDE Plus$100 a year
- Xplorer Premium$200 a year
- Pro$640 a year
- Karate EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
BBC Consumer Contracts
BBC Consumer Contracts is a free JavaScript package for executable consumer-driven API contracts. It describes the requests a consumer makes and the responses expected in return. Every contract requires consumer, name, request, and response properties. The package uses the request HTTP client and Joi schemas to check response status codes, headers, and JSON bodies. Optional before and after functions support setup and cleanup, using callbacks or asynchronous functions. Retry behavior accepts numeric or custom settings; the documented default maximum is zero. The consumer-contracts run command validates contracts recursively in a contracts directory or runs one named file. Programmatic callers can pass an array to validateContracts, which runs every contract instead of stopping at the first failure. Installation instructions cover global CLI use and local pnpm development dependencies. It requires Node.js 18 or later and pnpm 10 or later, and supports API and self-hosted use under Apache License 2.0.
Karate
Karate is a testing framework for API, UI, mock, and performance work. Its MIT-licensed core is free for commercial projects and supports REST, GraphQL, and SOAP testing, with JSON and XML assertions and schema validation. It can automate browsers and desktop apps, and combine UI and API steps in one test. Built-in Gatling integration lets teams reuse API tests for performance testing. The Free plan costs nothing and includes community support. Paid plans include IDE Plus at $100 a year, Xplorer Premium at $200 a year, and Pro at $640 a year; Pro adds IDE plugins, debugging, enhanced autocomplete, development async protocol testing, and priority email support. The platform lists integrations including AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Maven, Gradle, Docker, IntelliJ, VS Code, and Gatling. Enterprise async protocol testing covers Kafka, gRPC, and WebSocket, but production CI/CD execution requires an Enterprise runtime license. Platforms include API, extension, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, and Windows.