Robot Framework vs Tricentis Tosca

Free and open source

Quote on request

Free and open source. You pay in engineering time and CI minutes.

Enterprise licensing only, negotiated annually. Six-figure contracts are normal at scale.

Everything, self-hosted

Widely used

Robot Framework Foundation · since 2008

Widely used

Tricentis · since 2007

• Non-developers can read and often write the tests, which matters in QA-led organisations.
• Extends far beyond browsers: databases, SSH, serial, network equipment.
• Extremely stable and well-supported in regulated and telecom environments.

• Unmatched coverage of enterprise packaged software, especially SAP end-to-end processes.
• Model-based design means one change updates every affected test case.
• Risk-based prioritisation is a real answer to eight-hour regression packs.

• The keyword abstraction fights you once logic gets complex; you end up writing Python behind the keywords anyway.
• Verbose syntax and whitespace-sensitive files that are awkward to review in a diff.
• Feels dated next to modern JavaScript tooling, and hiring is harder.

• Expensive, and priced for organisations with a procurement department.
• Steep learning curve; most customers buy consulting alongside the licence.
• Heavy and slow compared to modern code-first tools for plain web applications.

QA-led and regulated organisations where readability by non-programmers is a requirement.

Large enterprises running SAP or similar packaged systems where no open-source tool reaches.