Citrus vs Pact
Citrus
citrusframework.org
Pact
pact.ioSide by side
| Figure | Citrus | Pact |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $115.42/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · Integration Testing Tools | 7.8 (#16) | 8.8 (#5) |
| Spec score · Contract Testing Tools | 7.7 (#14) | 8.7 (#2) |
| Spec score · API Testing Tools | 7.8 (#23) | 8.8 (#6) |
| Languages | Tests can be written in Java, XML, YAML, or as Cucumber BDD features. | The Pact site lists implementations for JavaScript, Java and JVM languages, .NET, Go, Python, Swift and Objective-C, Ruby, PHP, and C++. |
| Purpose | Citrus is a test framework focused on messaging applications and microservices, for automated integration tests. | Pact is a code-first tool for testing HTTP and message integrations with contract tests. |
| Support | The project invites users to contribute, submit feature requests, and report issues through its community repository. | Pact's official site directs users to documentation, a Slack channel and partner support; PactFlow plans list email support for Team and dedicated account and customer care for Enterprise. |
Plans
Pact
- PactFlow StarterFree
- Pact open-source toolingFree
- PactFlow Team (yearly)$115.42 a month
- PactFlow Team (monthly)$127 a month
- PactFlow EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Citrus
Citrus is a free integration-test framework for messaging applications and microservices. It can make a test act as both client and server across messaging interfaces, send and sequence messages, and validate payloads and other elements. Supported endpoints include HTTP, Kafka, JMS, Apache Camel, mail, FTP/SFTP, OpenAPI, SOAP, Docker, Kubernetes, Knative, SQL, and SSH. Validation covers JSON and XML, XML schemas, DTDs, and database data. Test cases can use loops, delays, retries, parallel sections, and timeouts. Tests are written in Java, XML, YAML, or Cucumber BDD features. Citrus integrates with JUnit 5, Cucumber, JBang, Quarkus, Spring Boot, TestNG, and JUnit 4, with Maven and Gradle setup guidance. It runs on Linux and requires Java 17 or newer since version 4.0. Citrus is Apache-licensed freeware for testing commercial applications.
Pact
Pact is a free, code-first tool for testing HTTP and message integrations with contract tests. Automated consumer tests create contracts describing concrete interactions between consumer and provider applications. Teams can then test each side in isolation against that shared contract, without deploying the entire system. Pact implementations are available for more than 10 languages, including JavaScript, Java, .NET, Go, Python, Ruby, Swift and Objective-C, Scala, Rust, PHP, and C++. Its CLI includes mock and stub servers, a provider verifier, a broker client, and a plugin CLI. The open-source Pact Broker shares contracts and verification results; teams can host and administer it themselves, and use its CI/CD workflows to check whether application versions can be deployed together. The verifier supports HTTP and asynchronous and synchronous messages, while plugins include gRPC, Avro, and CSV support. Documentation includes recipes for tools and scenarios such as GraphQL, Cypress, Kafka, and AWS Lambda. Pact is most useful when teams control both consumer and provider development. The free Broker is self-hosted, leaving its security, maintenance, and upgrades to its operator.