Espresso vs Maestro
Espresso
developer.android.com
Maestro
maestro.devSide by side
| Figure | Espresso | Maestro |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $250/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Automated Testing | 8.8 (#4) | 8.4 (#13) |
| Spec score · Mobile App Testing Software | 8.7 (#6) | 8.4 (#15) |
| Audience | Espresso targets developers who consider automated testing an integral part of the development lifecycle. | The product is aimed at testers, developers, engineers, and DevOps teams working on mobile and web test automation. |
Plans
In their own words
Espresso
Espresso is a free, open-source framework for writing automated user-interface tests for Android apps. Before a test acts or checks a screen, it waits for the app’s message queue, AsyncTask work and developer-defined idling resources to become idle. Its packages cover core testing, WebView components, idling resources, intents and other testing support. Espresso-Web tests Android WebViews, while Espresso-Intents can validate and stub app intents. Multiprocess Espresso supports interactions across processes within an app, but it requires Android 8.0/API 26 or later and does not test external processes. Tests run in Android Studio or from the command line with Gradle; installation uses the SDK Manager and Gradle, and Android Studio is recommended. The framework supports Android 4.0.1/API 14 or higher. Test Recorder can capture device interactions and assertions to generate a UI test, while AccessibilityChecks can evaluate views during actions. The listed stable release and core dependency are version 3.7.0. Espresso is Apache-2.0 licensed.
Maestro
Maestro is an open-source UI testing framework for mobile and web apps. Tests use human-readable YAML flows, which the local CLI can run on a developer’s own devices or in CI. Maestro Studio is a desktop app for building and running tests, with screen inspection, command suggestions and an embedded emulator. Maestro Cloud runs tests in parallel on hosted devices and provides video playback, detailed logs and flake detection. Supported targets include Android, iOS, React Native, Flutter and web applications. Web testing is in beta and limited to Chromium, with preset locale and screen dimensions. Cloud integrations include GitHub Actions, Bitrise, Bitbucket Pipelines, CircleCI and generic CI providers; test results can go to pull requests, Slack, email or webhooks. Cloud offers a seven-day trial without a credit card. Its monthly price depends on maximum concurrent executions; the Cloud plan is listed at $250 a month per device. Web or Chromium device pricing is available by inquiry.