Karate vs Step CI
Karate
karatelabs.ioStep CI
stepci.comSide by side
| Figure | Karate | Step CI |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $8.33/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 2 |
| Spec score · Integration Testing Tools | 9.2 (#2) | 7.1 (#23) |
| Spec score · API Testing Tools | 9.1 (#4) | 7.0 (#33) |
| API coverage | Enterprise API Coverage links requirements to tests and grades exercised coverage against claimed coverage. | Step CI says it can test REST, GraphQL, gRPC, SOAP, and other APIs. |
| Integrations | The integrations directory lists more than 40 native integrations and more than 15 protocols or formats. | The homepage lists Node.js, Docker, GitHub, GitLab, and Jest integrations. |
| Purpose | Karate combines API, UI, mock, and performance testing in one framework with readable syntax. | Step CI describes itself as an open-source API test automation framework for security, performance, and load testing. |
| Security | Karate Labs says its products run locally or in customer infrastructure, store no customer test data, and ship with zero telemetry. | The homepage says tests can run on a user's local network and CI/CD; the support plan includes a monthly security report. |
| Support | The free tier includes community support, Pro includes priority email support, and Enterprise includes commercial support with an SLA and dedicated Slack channel. | The support plan covers support with an SLA, onboarding, training hours, prioritized feature requests and bug fixes, and early access to new features. |
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
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.