Karma vs Poku

Karma is a JavaScript test runner that starts a web server, connects browsers, runs tests, and reports results to developers. It can watch configured files and rerun tests when they change. Plugins connect frameworks such as Jasmine, Mocha, and QUnit, alongside preprocessors, reporters, and browser launchers. Documented launchers include Chrome, Firefox, Safari, PhantomJS, JSDOM, Opera, Internet Explorer, SauceLabs, and BrowserStack. A browser on another device on the same network, including a phone or tablet, can be captured by visiting the Karma server URL. Karma runs on Node.js and is distributed as an npm package; its installation guide recommends installing it locally in a project. Documentation includes integration guides for Travis CI, Jenkins, and Semaphore CI. The project describes Karma as primarily designed for low-level unit testing and points to Protractor for high-level testing. Karma is free and MIT-licensed, but deprecated: it accepts no new features or general bug fixes. Critical security fixes continue until 12 months after Angular CLI’s Web Test Runner support is marked stable.

Poku is a free, open-source JavaScript test runner for Node.js, Bun, and Deno. It runs ESM and CommonJS tests, with TypeScript usage documented, and isolates test files. An assertion API based on Node.js assert methods provides human-readable output. Helpers start services and scripts, manage processes and ports, and handle containers during tests. Official coverage plugins support c8, Monocart, Istanbul, and one-double-zero. React and Vue plugins add component testing with DOM environments and Testing Library helpers. The Multi Suite plugin runs separately configured suites sequentially and creates a consolidated report. Shared Resources can expose stateful resources such as database connections across files and processes. Custom plugins and reporters are supported. Poku documents running one suite across all three runtimes for compatibility checks. It is licensed under MIT.