Ginkgo vs Karate
Ginkgo
onsi.github.io
Karate
karatelabs.ioSide by side
| Figure | Ginkgo | Karate |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · BDD Testing Tools | 8.2 (#7) | 9.0 (#1) |
| Founded | 2013 | 2021 |
| Integrations | Ginkgo exposes GinkgoT() and GinkgoTB() so many Go testing libraries, including Testify and Gomock, can be used with it. | The integrations directory lists more than 40 native integrations and more than 15 protocols or formats. |
| License | The repository states that Ginkgo is MIT-Licensed. | The core Karate framework is MIT licensed and free forever; enterprise components use a commercial license. |
| Purpose | Ginkgo is a testing framework for Go for writing expressive tests, including unit, integration, acceptance, and performance tests. | Karate combines API, UI, mock, and performance testing in one framework with readable syntax. |
| Support | The project directs users with questions, bug reports, and feature requests to GitHub Issues or its Slack channel. | The free tier includes community support, Pro includes priority email support, and Enterprise includes commercial support with an SLA and dedicated Slack channel. |
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
Ginkgo
Ginkgo is a free, MIT-licensed testing framework for Go that helps developers write expressive specifications. Its BDD-style DSL uses nested Describe, Context, and When containers, along with setup, cleanup, and spec nodes. Developers can use it for unit, integration, and performance specs. Independent specs can run in parallel or in reproducibly randomized order. The bundled ginkgo command can generate, run, filter, and profile suites, and watch for changes to rerun specs. Reporting can produce machine-readable output in multiple formats and supports custom reporting infrastructure. Ginkgo builds on Go’s testing foundation and is designed to pair with the Gomega matcher library. Its GinkgoT() and GinkgoTB() interfaces also allow use of Go testing libraries such as Testify and Gomock. Documentation lists completions for Sublime Text and VS Code, plus a VS Code extension for running specs. The current supported major version is V2; V1 is no longer supported. Ginkgo states compatibility with Go versions currently supported under Go’s release policy, N and N−1.
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.