PropCheck vs QCheck
PropCheck
github.comQCheck
github.comSide by side
| Figure | PropCheck | QCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Property-Based Testing Tools | 8.0 (#7) | 7.9 (#9) |
| Generators | It includes generators for common Ruby data types and a DSL for defining custom generators. | QCheck includes combinators for constructing random generators, including generators for lists, arrays, recursive types, algebraic types, and tuples. |
| Installation | The README says to add `gem 'prop_check'` to a Gemfile or install it with `gem install prop_check`. | QCheck can be installed through opam, and the README recommends qcheck-core for a minimal dependency set. |
| License | The project is released under the MIT License. | The repository identifies its license as BSD-2-Clause and says the code is released under the BSD license. |
| Purpose | PropCheck is a Ruby library for property-based testing that checks assertions against generated inputs. | QCheck is a QuickCheck-inspired property-based testing library for OCaml. |
Plans
In their own words
PropCheck
PropCheck is a Ruby library for property-based testing: it generates inputs and checks whether assertions hold across them. When a generated example fails, it tries to simplify that case into a smaller counterexample. Built-in generators cover integers, floats, strings, symbols, arrays, hashes, sets, dates, times and datetimes. A generator DSL lets developers define their own, while the API also supports mapping and binding values, alternatives and weighted frequency choices.
Before, after and around hooks provide setup and cleanup around generated examples. The README gives usage examples for RSpec, MiniTest, test-unit and vanilla Ruby, and says the library has no external dependencies. PropCheck requires Ruby 2.5.1 or later and is released under the MIT License. It is available as a free Community library. Installation can be done through a Gemfile or with `gem install prop_check`. For generated examples involving a database, the README recommends cleaning database state around each example and mentions DatabaseCleaner. Stateful property testing is described as a possible future separate add-on.
QCheck
QCheck is a property-based testing library for OCaml, inspired by QuickCheck. Rather than relying only on hand-picked examples, it provides combinators to generate values such as lists, arrays, tuples, recursive types, and algebraic types for checking properties. When a check fails, generators can be paired with printers and shrinkers to show and reduce counterexamples. QCheck2 builds shrinking into its generators, though the project describes that API as less battle-tested than QCheck. The package family includes qcheck-core, qcheck-ounit, qcheck-alcotest, qcheck, and ppx_deriving_qcheck; the last can derive generators from type declarations. Runner options include QCheck_base_runner in qcheck-core and QCheck_runner with OUnit compatibility in qcheck, with integration layers for OUnit and Alcotest. The project also points to qcheck-stm for sequential and parallel model-based tests and qcheck-lin for sequential consistency testing. Installation is available through opam, and the source can be built with make. The minimal qcheck-core package depends only on unix and dune. QCheck is free and licensed under BSD-2-Clause.