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BrowserStack is out of beta: super-easy multi-browser testing

browserstack.com

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Re: BrowserStack is out of beta: super-easy multi-browser testing

#11

Post by DougWebb »

This looks cool, but I'm not sure about the long-term value.

Looking at their browser list, I could test all Firefox, Opera, and Chrome versions, one version of IE, and the Windows versions of Safari on one Windows 7 box.

I could add to that three VMs for older versions of IE, and a Mac (maybe with a VM) for Mac Safari versions. If the main Win7 machine is also a VM, I could do this all on the Mac.

So, that's a total of 5-6 OS licenses, which would cost $750-$1000.

At $19/month for a single user, BrowserStack becomes more expensive after 2-3 years. At the small team rate of $68/year it becomes more expensive after one year. (I could host VMs on a server and have my testers RDP into it; they can't use the VMs simultaneously but with 4 testers and 5-6 VMs that's not a problem.)

To me, the pricing is right on the edge, which forces me to evaluate the effort of maintaining local VMs and browsers (an invisible cost is most organizations) vs the potential risks of running my in-development software and providing access to my development environments to a third-party over the internet. If the pricing was lower and clearly less expensive than maintaining my own VMs, it'd be a slam-dunk decision and the other factors wouldn't even be considered. (I'm thinking about this from a "how does a developer sell this to corporate management" perspective.)

Re: BrowserStack is out of beta: super-easy multi-browser testing

#12

Post by jcampbell1 »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #10
jcampbell1 wrote: post #6

I used to be interested in this type of service, but then I got an SSD. With an SSD it takes about 5 seconds to boot windows through parallels, and now cross browser testing is no longer a chore. I am willing to admit that I pirate windows for the sole purpose of supporting IE with my webapps. It would be too expensive to do it legitimately, so my solution is not for everyone.

Do you test all of IE6, 7, 8, and 9 like that?

Yes, I do. Which is part of the reason I pirate windows, because it is the only way I know how to get an IE6 install.

It is reasonably fast to setup, because once you install XP, you can copy the VM, and install IE 7, copy the VM and install IE 8. I then do the same thing for Vista/Windows 7.

With 8 Gb of ram, I have no problem running 3 Xps, and 2 Windows 7, at the same time.

Re: BrowserStack is out of beta: super-easy multi-browser testing

#13

Post by gizmo »

DougWebb wrote: post #11

This looks cool, but I'm not sure about the long-term value. Looking at their browser list, I could test all Firefox, Opera, and Chrome versions, one version of IE, and the Windows versions of Safari on one Windows 7 box. I could add to that three VMs for older versions of IE, and a Mac (maybe with a VM) for Mac Safari versions. If the main Win7 machine is also a VM, I could do this all on the Mac. So, that's a total…

Installing and configuring VMs up to the point where you can do good testing with them is a painful and tedious work. Why waste the time of expensive professionals on something if you can fix the problem for $70-$150 a month?

$70 bucks a month is only real money if you're a broke startup. Otherwise it's peanuts.

Re: BrowserStack is out of beta: super-easy multi-browser testing

#14

Post by jcampbell1 »

npollock wrote: post #9
jcampbell1 wrote: post #6

I used to be interested in this type of service, but then I got an SSD. With an SSD it takes about 5 seconds to boot windows through parallels, and now cross browser testing is no longer a chore. I am willing to admit that I pirate windows for the sole purpose of supporting IE with my webapps. It would be too expensive to do it legitimately, so my solution is not for everyone.

Here's a great discussion about how to run multiple versions of IE on a single windows instance, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/574463/running-internet-e...

I have found multiple IE just doesn't work the same a real IE install, and it is hard to duplicate the same bugs as users see. As you can see the top rated answer is "don't do it, use VMs".

Re: BrowserStack is out of beta: super-easy multi-browser testing

#16

Post by ritesharora »

chefsurfing wrote: post #8

Bravo BrowserStack team! I am using this to test IE7 on our staging environment. Your signup process was great, I was able to jump-in and start testing immediately. I think you could add better communication and assurances about security and private information. Keep up the good work.

All user information is kept private and everything is erased once user stops testing. Sure, the security document is coming soon!

Re: BrowserStack is out of beta: super-easy multi-browser testing

#19

Post by jordanlev »

DougWebb wrote: post #11

This looks cool, but I'm not sure about the long-term value. Looking at their browser list, I could test all Firefox, Opera, and Chrome versions, one version of IE, and the Windows versions of Safari on one Windows 7 box. I could add to that three VMs for older versions of IE, and a Mac (maybe with a VM) for Mac Safari versions. If the main Win7 machine is also a VM, I could do this all on the Mac. So, that's a total…

maintaining local VM's and browsers may be "an invisible cost" to organizations, but what about the zillions of web designers out there?

Re: BrowserStack is out of beta: super-easy multi-browser testing

#20

Post by ritesharora »

ghc wrote: post #4

Just tried this on my in-development web app. The good news is that it works like a charm. The bad news is that the browsers keep prompting to save the password of my test account. I wish they'd turned of password manager for all of the browsers. I also feel a little weird typing in my test account password into their site.

Though all passwords/history/etc are cleaned. Your idea seems like a better one!
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