Behat vs Concordion

Behat is free, open-source software for writing executable specifications in plain language on Linux. It is the PHP implementation of Cucumber and runs Gherkin feature files. Those files can describe complete application behavior and be exercised through browser automation, HTTP API calls, shell commands, databases, filesystems, or PHP code. Behat is intended to work with any PHP framework or without one. Installation uses Composer or a PHAR executable, both running with PHP. An extension system can expand or replace nearly any part of the tool, with extensions covering framework integrations, browser automation, test reporting, and data fixtures. Behat does not provide its own assertion tool, so an external assertion library is needed. It supports current PHP and third-party dependency versions; Symfony 8 support begins with Behat 4.0. Each major version receives security fixes for 24 months after the next major release.

Concordion is a free, open-source tool for turning written specifications into executable checks and living documentation. Those checks run against the system under test; when they run, Concordion generates documentation that marks passing and failing assertions and shows expected and actual values for failures. The output can include tables and links to other specifications. The project offers Java specifications in Markdown or HTML, along with C# options. Java fixtures use JUnit, and Concordion.NET is documented with NUnit. Integrations include IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, Gradle, Maven, command-line execution, Jenkins, and Spring. The IntelliJ plugin supports HTML and Markdown, while Eclipse supports HTML specifications but not Markdown. Extensions can add commands, event listeners, or documentation changes, with examples such as Excel specifications, parallel runs, screenshots, and logging tools. Concordion runs locally on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and is licensed under Apache License 2.0. It is maintained by volunteers.